Targeting of IL-2 to cytotoxic lymphocytes as an improved method of cytokine-driven immunotherapy

Eric Lazear; Reza Ghasemi; Sarah M Hein; John Westwick; Dan Watkins; Daved H Fremont; Alexander Sasha Krupnick

doi:10.1080/2162402X.2016.1265721

Targeting of IL-2 to cytotoxic lymphocytes as an improved method of cytokine-driven immunotherapy

Oncoimmunology. 2017 Jan 10;6(2):e1265721. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2016.1265721. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Eric Lazear¹, Reza Ghasemi², Sarah M Hein³, John Westwick³, Dan Watkins³, Daved H Fremont⁴, Alexander Sasha Krupnick⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
² Department of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis , St. Louis, MO, USA.
³ Courier Therapeutics , Houston, TX, USA.
⁴ Departments of Pathology & Immunology, Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics, and Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis , St. Louis, MO, USA.
⁵ Department of Surgery, University of Virginia , Charlottesville, VA, USA.

Abstract

The use of high-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) has fallen out of favor due to severe life-threatening side effects. We have recently described a unique way of directly targeting IL-2 to cytotoxic lymphocytes using a virally encoded immune evasion protein and an IL-2 mutant that avoids off-target side effects such as activation of regulatory T cells and vascular endothelium.

Keywords: Cytokine; Interleukin-2 (IL-2); NKG2D; cytotoxic lymphocytes; immunotargeting; immunotherapy; natural killer cell (NK).

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Abstract

Publication types

Grants and funding