BioProject

Adoptive T cell therapy (ATT) requires activation, expansion and, for certain indications, gene-modification of T cells. More...

Adoptive T cell therapy (ATT) requires activation, expansion and, for certain indications, gene-modification of T cells. Sufficient numbers of T cells and the characteristics of the final T cell product decisively determine the success of treatment. In this study, we addressed the question if prolonged expansion by simply using the cytokine combination IL-7/IL-15 could enhance the T cell yield without sacrifying T cell functionality. Prolonged expansion resulted in a 50-fold increase of CD8+ central memory T cells (Tcm). RNA sequencing and differential analysis of short-term expanded (ST) and long-term expanded (LT) murine CD8+ and CD4+ Tcm revealed that LT T cells retain a gene expression profile related to Tcm/stem central memory T cells (Tscm). Upon anti-CD3/CD28 stimulation, ST and LT T cells proliferated and underwent apoptosis comparably. IL-2 and INF- production was higher for LT T cells. Engraftment, persistence and anti-tumor capacities of LT murine T cells were preserved after in vivo administration. We confirmed our in vitro findings for human T cells. Our study demonstrates the feasibility of manufacturing an increased number of favorable T cells with Tcm/Tscm properties for ATT by a prolonged, minimally manipulative expansion protocol using the cytokines IL-7 and IL-15. Overall design: transcriptome profiling of long-term T-cell cultures Less...