In:
Cancer Research, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), Vol. 76, No. 9 ( 2016-05-01), p. 2540-2551
Abstract:
Telomerase (TERT) is overexpressed in 80% to 90% of primary tumors and contributes to sustaining the transformed phenotype. The identification of several TERT epitopes in tumor cells has elevated the status of TERT as a potential universal target for selective and broad adoptive immunotherapy. TERT-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) have been detected in the peripheral blood of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients, but display low functional avidity, which limits their clinical utility in adoptive cell transfer approaches. To overcome this key obstacle hindering effective immunotherapy, we isolated an HLA-A2–restricted T-cell receptor (TCR) with high avidity for human TERT from vaccinated HLA-A*0201 transgenic mice. Using several relevant humanized mouse models, we demonstrate that TCR-transduced T cells were able to control human B-CLL progression in vivo and limited tumor growth in several human, solid transplantable cancers. TERT-based adoptive immunotherapy selectively eliminated tumor cells, failed to trigger a self–MHC-restricted fratricide of T cells, and was associated with toxicity against mature granulocytes, but not toward human hematopoietic progenitors in humanized immune reconstituted mice. These data support the feasibility of TERT-based adoptive immunotherapy in clinical oncology, highlighting, for the first time, the possibility of utilizing a high-avidity TCR specific for human TERT. Cancer Res; 76(9); 2540–51. ©2016 AACR.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0008-5472
,
1538-7445
DOI:
10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-2318
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Publication Date:
2016
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2036785-5
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1432-1
detail.hit.zdb_id:
410466-3
