Homeostatic cytokines tune naivety and stemness of cord blood-derived transgenic T cells

Cancer Gene Ther. 2022 Jul;29(7):961-972. doi: 10.1038/s41417-021-00395-5. Epub 2021 Oct 13.

Abstract

Engineered T-cell therapies have proven to be successful in cancer and their clinical effectiveness is directly correlated with the infused T-cell differentiation profile. Indeed, stem cell memory and central memory T cells proliferate and persist longer in vivo compared with more-differentiated T cells, while conferring enhanced antitumor activity. Here, we propose an optimized process using cord blood (CB) to generate minimally differentiated T-cell products in terms of phenotype, function, gene expression, and metabolism, using peripheral blood (PB)-derived T cells cultured with IL-2 as a standard. Phenotypically, CB-derived T cells, particularly CD4 T cells, are less differentiated than their PB counterparts when cultured with IL-2 or with IL-7 and IL-15. Furthermore, culture with IL-7 and IL-15 enables better preservation of less-differentiated CB-derived T cells compared with IL-2. In addition, transcriptomic and metabolic assessments of CB-derived transgenic T cells cultured with IL-7 and IL-15 point out their naivety and stemness signature. These relatively quiescent transgenic T cells are nevertheless primed for secondary stimulation and cytokine production. In conclusion, our study indicates that CB may be used as a source of early differentiated T cells to develop more effective adoptive cancer immunotherapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cells, Cultured
  • Cytokines*
  • Fetal Blood*
  • Interleukin-15 / genetics
  • Interleukin-2 / genetics
  • Interleukin-2 / pharmacology
  • Interleukin-7 / genetics

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Interleukin-15
  • Interleukin-2
  • Interleukin-7