A Synthetic Cd8a:Myd88 Coreceptor Enhances
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Published OnlineFirst October 20, 2017; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0653 Cancer Microenvironment and Immunology Research A Synthetic CD8a:MyD88 Coreceptor Enhances CD8þ T-cell Responses to Weakly Immunogenic and Lowly Expressed Tumor Antigens Sabina Kaczanowska1, Ann Mary Joseph1, Jitao Guo1, Alexander K Tsai1, Jackline Joy Lasola1, Kenisha Younger1, Yuji Zhang1,2, Cruz Velasco Gonzales3, and Eduardo Davila1,4 Abstract Tcell–based immunotherapies are a promising approach for and Toll-like receptor signaling-related proteins. CD8a: patients with advanced cancers. However, various obstacles MyD88–expressing T cells improved antitumor responses in limit T-cell efficacy, including suboptimal T-cell receptor mice. Enhanced antitumor activity was associated with a (TCR) activation and an immunosuppressive tumor environ- unique tumor cytokine/chemokine signature, improved T-cell ment. Here, we developed a fusion protein by linking CD8a infiltration, reduced markers of T-cell exhaustion, elevated þ and MyD88 (CD8a:MyD88) to enhance CD8 T-cell levels of proteins associated with antigen presentation, and responses to weakly immunogenic and poorly expressed fewer macrophages with an immunosuppressive phenotype in tumor antigens. CD8a:MyD88–engineered T cells exhibited tumors. Given these observations, CD8a:MyD88 represents a increased proliferation and expression of effector and costi- unique and versatile approach to help overcome immunosup- mulatory molecules in a tumor antigen–dependent manner. pression and enhance T-cell responses to tumor antigens. These effects were accompanied by elevated activation of TCR Cancer Res; 77(24); 7049–58. Ó2017 AACR. Introduction ciated macrophage (6) and Th2 cytokine accumulation hamper antitumor T-cell responses. Moreover, chronic exposure to factors T cell–based immunotherapies are one of the most promising in the TME induces the expression of receptors that foster T-cell treatments for patients with advanced cancers, including melano- exhaustion, such as Tim-3, Lag-3, and PD-1 (7). ma. Several approaches have been developed to harness the anti- Various studies have demonstrated that activating MyD88 tumor activity of cytotoxic T cells, including vaccine-based thera- signaling in T cells via Toll-like receptor (TLR) engagement pies, adoptive cell transfer of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (1, 2) enhances cytokine production, cytotoxicity, and proliferation or T cells engineered to express a tumor-reactive T-cell receptor (8–10). Yet, applying TLR costimulation specifically to T cells is (TCR; refs. 3, 4), and antibody-mediated checkpoint blockade (5). challenging due to their low and transient expression of TLRs, Despite encouraging clinical results demonstrating tumor regres- insufficient intratumoral TLR agonist localization for T-cell costi- sion and prolonged survival, durable antitumor responses are mulation, and the potential for TLR engagement on tumor cells to observed only in a subset of patients, highlighting the need to promote tumor growth (10). improve these therapies. Limitations include low tumor antigen- Here, we present a novel strategy to activate MyD88 signaling specific T-cell precursor frequencies, suboptimal TCR responses þ within CD8 T cells in a TLR-independent but TCR-dependent due to low TCR affinity (or avidity) to weakly immunogenic tumor fashion to overcome weak tumor antigenicity and an immuno- antigens, and low antigen expression and/or presentation on suppressive TME. This strategy utilizes the CD8a chain, an endog- tumor cells (1, 2, 5). Furthermore, various suppressive mechanisms enous TCR coreceptor that interacts with MHC I. By fusing CD8a within the tumor microenvironment (TME), such as tumor-asso- to MyD88 (CD8a:MyD88), we developed a novel platform that enhances various parameters of T-cell function. CD8a:MyD88– 1University of Maryland, Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Comprehensive expressing T cells respond to suboptimal levels of tumor antigen Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland. 2Department of Epidemiology and Public and display reduced levels of exhaustion markers and increased Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas. production of effector molecules. The enhanced antitumor activ- 3Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little ity of CD8a:MyD88–expressing T cells is associated with their 4 Rock, Arkansas. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of ability to reshape various facets of the TME, including the cytokine Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland. milieu as well as the phenotype of other immune cells, resulting in Note: Supplementary data for this article are available at Cancer Research a TME that favors T-cell infiltration and antitumor activity. Online (http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/). Corresponding Author: Eduardo Davila, University of Maryland, 655 W Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD, 21201. Phone: 410-706-5055; E-mail: Materials and Methods [email protected] Plasmids, retroviral production, and T-cell transduction doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0653 The CD8a:MyD88 coreceptor was designed by fusing the Ó2017 American Association for Cancer Research. murine CD8a extracellular and transmembrane domain sequences www.aacrjournals.org 7049 Downloaded from cancerres.aacrjournals.org on October 2, 2021. © 2017 American Association for Cancer Research. Published OnlineFirst October 20, 2017; DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0653 Kaczanowska et al. to the human MYD88 death domain and intermediate domain cytometry–based proliferation assays, transduced T cells were sequences (Supplementary Fig. S1A). The CD8aDIC construct pulsed with cell proliferation dye eFluor 450 (eBioscience), lacked any intracellular domains. Genes were cloned into the washed, and cocultured with hgp10025-33-pulsed splenocytes pMIG-w vector containing a GFP reporter gene. Retroviral vector at a 1:1 ratio for 72 hours. In other experiments, T cells were supernatants were produced from Phoenix Ampho and Eco coincubated with tumor antigen-pulsed splenocytes (mouse packaging cell lines we have described previously (11). For pmel or OT-I T cells) or autologous PBMCs (human DMF5 T generating engineered mouse T cells, pmel or OT-I T cells were cells) for 48 or 96 hours with brefeldin A added the last 6 hours activated for 48 hours using 1 mg/mL hgp10025-33 or SIINFEKL of incubation prior to staining. For evaluating human T-cell peptide, respectively, and 50 U/mL of IL2 prior to transduction. proliferation, transduced T cells were cocultured with Malme- þ þ þ Efficiency was determined by assessing the frequency of GFP 3M melanoma cell (HLA-A2 MART-1 ) or with A375 melanoma þ cells by flow cytometry. For generating DMF5-CD8a:MyD88 cells, cells (HLA-A2 ) pulsed or unpulsed with 10 mg of MART-127-35 human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were engi- peptide at a ratio of 1:1 T cell to tumor cell ratio. For the neered to express DMF5 as described previously (11), expanded phenotyping screen, transduced T cells were cocultured with with beads (Invitrogen) coated with HLA-A2/MART-127-35 (BD 0.12 mg/mL of hgp10025-33-pulsed splenocytes at a 1:2 splenocyte Pharmingen) and anti-CD28 antibody plus 100 U/mL IL2 and to T-cell ratio for 48 hours, stained with the Zombie Aqua viability then engineered to express the indicated CD8a vectors. Viable dye (BioLegend), anti-CD45.2 and anti-CD8a antibodies, and cells were enriched by Ficoll gradient prior to setting up all assays stained with the LegendScreen Mouse Cell Screening (PE) Kit or injection into mice. (BioLegend). Malme-3M and A375 cell lines were obtained from ATCC, used, and were tested for mycoplasma within 3 years of Mice, tumor model, and ex vivo analysis purchasing them. All flow cytometry experiments were per- Studies were approved by the UMB Institutional Animal Care formed on the BD LSRII at the Greenebaum Comprehensive and Use Committee. C57BL/6J and pmel (B6.Cg-Thy1/Cy Tg Cancer Center Flow Cytometry Shared Service Lab and analyzed (TcraTcrb)8Rest/J) mice were purchased from The Jackson Labo- by FlowJo (TreeStar). ratory. T cells from IRAK-4 kinase dead mice were kindly provided by Dr. Stefanie Vogel at the University of Maryland (Baltimore, Statistical analysis 5 MD). C57BL/6J mice were injected with 2  10 B16-F1 mela- Proliferation and ELISA experiments were performed in noma cells subcutaneously on the right flank. Mice were irradiated triplicate in at least two independent experiments and analyzed with 550 radians on day 9 after tumor inoculation and intrave- by one-way ANOVA. Animal studies contained 8 to 10 animals nously injected with engineered pmel T cells on day 10. Mouse per group for growth and survival, and 5 per group for ex vivo body weight and tumor size were monitored every 2 to 3 days. flow cytometry analysis. For flow cytometry and the cytokine Tumor volume was calculated by the ellipsoid formula: length  arrays, the values and error bars represent mean Æ SEM (Ã, P width  height  (4/3)p. Specific tissues were harvested one week 0.05; ÃÃ, P 0.01; ÃÃÃ, P 0.001; one-way ANOVA with Tukey after T-cell transfer for ex vivo analyses including flow cytometry multiple comparison test; n ¼ 3 experimental replicates and are and cytokine/chemokine Luminex. The following antibodies representative of at least two independent experiments). Tumor were used: CD8a, Lag3, Tim3, I-A/I-E, CD86, CD11b, CD11c, sizes were analyzed by a mixed model repeated measures with F4/80, CD206, Gr-1, NK1.1 (BioLegend), CD45.2, CD8a, CD19 AR(1) covariance structure (yielding