Adoptive T cell therapy can be an effective and highly specific approach to the treatment of cancer. Introduction of receptors that recognize cancer antigens provides sufficient numbers of T cells with the appropriate specificity to destroy large, established tumors. The receptors used to date include either T cell receptors (TCRs) against pepMHC or antibody (scFv)-directed chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) against conventional cell surface cancer antigens. The purpose of this proposal is to improve upon current therapies and to develop a robust strategy that combines the advantages of each of these targeting approaches. The strategy involves a single-chain TCR (V-linker-V, called scTv) fused to signaling domains of CD28 (or 4-1BB) and CD3?. When endowed with a high-affinity scTv, this novel signaling receptor, which we call TCR-SCS (TCR-Single-Chain Signaling fusions), redirects activity of both CD4 and CD8 T cells. The TCR-SCS can be used without some of the risks associated with conventional TCRs. For example, TCR-SCS receptors limit self-peptide, off-target reactivities and they avoid mis-pairing with endogenous TCR chains. The reduced levels of off-target reactivities arise from the inability of the single-chain signaling protein to synergize with CD8, a process that enhances sensitivity in CD8 T cells but also increases the level of stimulation by other pepMHC. To enable the rapid use of these TCR-SCS receptors in human therapies, we will also use structure-guided design to engineer high-affinity TCRs against specific pep/HLA-A2 antigens. Our central hypotheses are that TCR-SCS (TCR-Single-Chain Signaling fusions) can be rapidly engineered against many different pepMHC target antigens, and that the TCR-SCS will mediate effective CD4 and CD8 T cell activity without off-target cross-reactivity. Accordingly, the specific aims are:
Aim 1. To isolate human T cell receptors against diverse peptide/HLA-A2 antigens using a single TCR scaffold. The approach will involve a combination of structure-based design, taking advantage of computational analyses for library construction and advanced techniques of yeast display for the rapid isolation and evolution of the TCRs.
Aim 2. To determine if a TCR-SCS (TCR-Single-Chain Signaling fusion) influences T cell persistence and function in mice. Because the TCR-SCS format is a completely novel approach, we will use the model system involving the peptide SIY, and the high-affinity m33 TCR-SCS against SIY/Kb, to further examine in vivo properties of transduced CD4 and CD8 T cells (collaboration with Dr. Hans Schreiber). Tumor models will include an inducible B-Raf/PTEN-/- melanoma that expresses SIY/Kb (collaboration with Dr. Tom Gajewski).
Aim 3. To use TCR-SCS (TCR-Single-Chain Signaling fusions) with high-affinity, human TCRs against WT1 to target tumors. Established, transplanted WT1/HLA-A2 human tumors will be used to examine effectiveness of CD4 and CD8 T cells, transduced with WT1-specific TCR-SCS receptors (collaboration with Dr. Philip Greenberg). Preliminary studies with TCRs isolated in Aim 1 will also extend results to other human tumor antigens.

Public Health Relevance

The T cell receptor on peripheral T cells is responsible for recognition of foreign antigens, including those from viruses or cancers. Our lab is interested in engineering these T cell receptors so that they can specifically target cancer cells, without harming normal tissue.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA178844-03
Application #
8989977
Study Section
Cancer Immunopathology and Immunotherapy Study Section (CII)
Program Officer
Welch, Anthony R
Project Start
2014-01-01
Project End
2018-12-31
Budget Start
2016-01-01
Budget End
2016-12-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
$320,517
Indirect Cost
$113,017
Name
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Department
Biochemistry
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
041544081
City
Champaign
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
61820
Harris, Daniel T; Hager, Marlies V; Smith, Sheena N et al. (2018) Comparison of T Cell Activities Mediated by Human TCRs and CARs That Use the Same Recognition Domains. J Immunol 200:1088-1100
Sharma, Preeti; Kranz, David M (2018) Subtle changes at the variable domain interface of the T-cell receptor can strongly increase affinity. J Biol Chem 293:1820-1834
Blaha, Dylan T; Anderson, Scott D; Yoakum, Daniel M et al. (2018) High-throughput stability screening of neoantigen/HLA complexes improves immunogenicity predictions. Cancer Immunol Res :
Schmitt, Thomas M; Aggen, David H; Ishida-Tsubota, Kumiko et al. (2017) Generation of higher affinity T cell receptors by antigen-driven differentiation of progenitor T cells in vitro. Nat Biotechnol 35:1188-1195
Harris, Daniel T; Kranz, David M (2016) Adoptive T Cell Therapies: A Comparison of T Cell Receptors and Chimeric Antigen Receptors. Trends Pharmacol Sci 37:220-230
Harris, Daniel T; Wang, Ningyan; Riley, Timothy P et al. (2016) Deep Mutational Scans as a Guide to Engineering High Affinity T Cell Receptor Interactions with Peptide-bound Major Histocompatibility Complex. J Biol Chem 291:24566-24578
Harris, Daniel T; Singh, Nishant K; Cai, Qi et al. (2016) An Engineered Switch in T Cell Receptor Specificity Leads to an Unusual but Functional Binding Geometry. Structure 24:1142-1154
Sharma, Preeti; Kranz, David M (2016) Recent advances in T-cell engineering for use in immunotherapy. F1000Res 5:
Stone, Jennifer D; Harris, Daniel T; Kranz, David M (2015) TCR affinity for p/MHC formed by tumor antigens that are self-proteins: impact on efficacy and toxicity. Curr Opin Immunol 33:16-22
Smith, Sheena N; Wang, Yuhang; Baylon, Javier L et al. (2014) Changing the peptide specificity of a human T-cell receptor by directed evolution. Nat Commun 5:5223

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