Enhancing the Efficacy of T Cell Receptor (TCR) Gene Therapy by Co-Transfer of TCR and Additional CD3 Molecules Into CD4+ T Cells

The specificity of T cells can be redirected using retroviral T cell receptor (TCR) gene transfer. This has the potential to generate tumour specific T cells that can be adoptively transferred to target defined tumour antigens. The majority of TCR gene therapy studies have focused on the transfer of TCR genes into CD8 T cells. However the transfer of antigen specific CD8 T cells in the absence of antigen specific CD4 T cells leads to impaired anti-tumour responses and impaired memory development in vivo. Class I restricted TCR can be used to transduce CD4 T cells for use in adoptive transfer. The majority of class I restricted TCRs are CD8 dependent and thus require co-transduction of CD8 to be fully functional in CD4 T cells. CD4 T cells transduced with the class I restricted F5-TCR (specific for influenza peptide NP presented by H2-D^bclass I molecules) produce IL-2 and proliferate in vitro in response to class II negative tumour cells expressing NP peptide but these cells were not able to generate an IFN-γ response. In vivo, F5-TCR CD4 T cells could provide help for F5-TCR CD8 T cell mediated tumour eradication. These F5-TCR CD4 T cells persisted in vivo for up to 90 days post tumour regression and were able to re-expand following tumour challenge. In order to improve the function of class I restricted TCR expressing CD4 T cells, we co-transduced a vector containing all 4 chains of the CD3 complex. High surface expression of TCR has been shown to correlate with increased responsiveness to specific antigen. When additional TCR is introduced into a T cell, the introduced T cell must compete with the endogenous TCR for binding to CD3. The amount of CD3 within the cell will thus be rate limiting for the level of surface expression of the introduced TCR.

The retroviral vectors pMP71-F5α-2A-F5β (F5-TCR) and pMP71-CD3-ζ-2A-ε-2A-δ-2A-γ-IRES-GFP (CD3) were used for retroviral transduction. CD4 splenocytes obtained from C57BL/6 mice were activated with CD3/CD28 magnetic beads for 24 hours prior to transduction with either F5-TCR alone or F5-TCR and CD3. 5 days post transduction, transduced T cells were stimulated with C57BL/6 splenocytes loaded with NP (relevant) peptide or WT1 (irrelevant) peptide and cytokine production was measured by ELISA and intracellular cytokine staining and proliferation by [³H] thymidine incorporation. For in vivo tumour challenge, C57BL/6 recipient mice were irradiated with 5.5Gy and injected subcutaneously with 1 × 10⁶ EL4-NP-luciferase cells (a lymphoma cell line stably transfected with NP peptide and luciferase) on day 0. On day 1, mice received 1 × 10⁶ F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells or 1 × 10⁶ F5-TCR CD4 T cells or 1 × 10⁶ Mock Transduced T cells. Tumour area was measured by calipers and by bioluminescence imaging. For T cell trafficking experiments, the experimental set up was as above but transgenic CD4 luciferase T cells were used for adoptive transfer and EL4-NP luciferase negative cells were used for tumour challenge.

CD4 T cells transduced with F5-TCR and CD3 had a 5-fold higher expression of F5-TCR compared to cells transduced with F5-TCR alone. In vitro, F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells showed increased proliferation and increased production of IL-2 and IFN-γ in response to specific antigen compared to F5-TCR CD4 T cells. F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells responded to at a 2-fold lower concentration of specific peptide than F5-TCR CD4 T cells. Following adoptive transfer in murine models, F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells eradicated NP expressing EL4 tumours but transfer of equivalent doses of F5-TCR CD4 T cells did not lead to tumour regression. Using bioluminescence imaging, F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells trafficked to tumour site faster and accumulated in greater numbers than F5-TCR CD4 T cells. Following tumour challenge, there were higher numbers of F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells persisting in bone marrow, lymph node and peripheral blood than in mice that received F5-TCR CD4 T cells.

Increased surface expression of class I restricted TCR in CD4 T cells leads to increased sensitivity to peptide in vitro and higher levels of proliferation and cytokine production in response to specific peptide. This translates in vivo to enhanced persistence of F5-TCR CD3 CD4 T cells and more efficient trafficking to tumour site and superior tumour protection. Therefore, the co-transduction of additional CD3 can improve the function of class I restricted TCR in CD4 T cells.

Stauss:Cell Medica: Scientific Advisor Other.