17 DHC 2025
22 - 24 January 2025
Immunology Abstracts (1)
Abstract
Overcoming immune escape in TCR therapy for multiple myeloma by engineering NK cells
22 January
09:30 09:45
Paper

Self-sufficient primary natural killer cells to express a T cell receptor and interleukin-15 exhibit improved effector functions and prevent tumor immune evasion in Multiple Myeloma

Els van Hees (1), Laura Morton (1), Tassilo Wachsmann (1), Dennis Remst (1), Anne Wouters (1), Renate Hagedoorn (1), Astrid Van den Eynde (2), Fred Falkenburg (1), Mirjam Heemskerk (1)
(1) Leiden University Medical Centre, Hematology, Leiden, (2) Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network (IPPON), Center for Oncological Research (CORE), Antwerp
No potential conflicts of interest
Introduction

TCR-engineered cells can be powerful tools in the treatment of malignancies. In contrast to CAR-engineered cells, TCR-engineered cells can recognize intracellular peptides presented in HLA-class I molecules, thereby broadening the potential tumor specific targets. One potential target candidate for TCR therapy in Multiple Myeloma is BOB1, a transcription factor highly expressed in all healthy and malignant B-cell lineages. Previous research showed that Multiple Myeloma cells cannot survive when BOB1 is not expressed, which prevents immune escape of the tumor cells by downregulating this target. However, tumor-resistance by HLA-class I downregulation can still negatively-impact the success of any TCR-mediated cell therapy. To overcome this, TCR therapy can be combined with NK therapy. Allogeneic NK-cells have demonstrated efficacy and safety against malignancies without inducing GvHD highlighting the feasibility for an “off the shelf” cellular therapeutic. They are capable of recognizing HLA-negative tumors, using a broad array of intrinsic activation mechanisms. However, expansion and survival of NK cells relies on the presence of cytokines, especially interleukin-15. This dependence on interleukin-15 may hamper NK cell persistence in vivo and consequently, the success of NK cell therapies. In here, we combined the anti-tumor effector functions of NK cells with TCR-engineering (NK:TCR), producing endogenous soluble interleukin-15, creating a novel therapeutic strategy to avoid TCR-associated immune resistance. 

Methods

Expression of an HLA-B*07:02 restricted BOB1-specific TCR and the interleukin-15 gene in peripheral blood derived NK-cells was achieved following a 3-week retroviral transduction protocol. NK:BOB1-TCR/IL-15 cells were compared with control NK:BOB1-TCR and NK:CMV-TCR/IL-15 cells for effector function against HLA-B*07:02+ multiple myeloma and other malignant B-cell lines in vitro and in vivo.

Results

Firstly, the TCR could be reproducibly expressed in NK-cells isolated from peripheral blood of multiple healthy donors generating pure NK:BOB1-TCR cell products. Secondly, NK:BOB1-TCR cells demonstrated antigen-specific effector functions against malignancies which were previously resistant to NK-mediated lysis and enhanced NK-efficacy in vivo using a preclinical xenograft model of multiple myeloma. Furthermore, in a model of HLA-class I loss, tumor cells with β-2-microglobulin knock-out were lysed by NK:BOB1-TCR in an NK-mediated manner while resistant to T-cell based killing. Viral incorporation of the interleukin-15 gene (NK:BOB1-TCR/IL-15) demonstrated a marked enhancement of TCR-mediated cytotoxicity as well as enhanced NK-mediated cytotoxicity resulting in improved persistence and performance of NK:BOB1-TCR/IL-15 compared to NK:BOB1-TCR in an orthotopic multiple myeloma mouse model.

Conclusion

NK:BOB1-TCR/IL-15 cell therapy enhances NK-cell efficacy and provides additional TCR-mediated lysis of Multiple Myeloma. Distinctively, the dual efficacy of NK:BOB1-TCR permits specific tumor targeting and the bypassing of TCR-associated immune-resistance, making NK:BOB1-TCR/15 cells a unique cellular therapeutic. 

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