Engineered CD8+ cytotoxic T cells with fiber-modified adenovirus-mediated TNF-alpha gene transfection counteract immunosuppressive interleukin-10-secreting lung metastasis and solid tumors.
T-cell suppression derived from tumor-secreted immunosuppressive interleukin (IL)-10 becomes a major barrier to CD8+ T-cell immunotherapy of tumors. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a multifunctional cytokine capable of activating T and dendritic cells (DCs) and counteracting IL-10-mediated DC inhibition and regulatory T-cell-mediated immune suppression. In this study, we constructed a recombinant adenovirus (MF)AdVTNF with fiber-gene modified by RGD insertion into the viral knob's H1 loop and a melanoma cell line B16(OVA/IL-10) engineered to express ovalbumin (OVA) and to secrete IL-10 (2.2 ng/ml/10(6) cells/24 h). We transfected OVA-specific CD8+ T cells with (MF)AdVTNF, and found a fivefold increase in transgene human TNF-alpha secretion (4.3 ng/ml/10(6) cells/24 h) by the engineered CD8+ T(TNF) cells transfected with (MF)AdVTNF, compared to that (0.8 ng/ml/10(6) cells/24 h) by CD8+ T cells transfected with the original AdVTNF without viral fiber modification. The engineered CD8+ T(TNF) cells exhibited enhanced cytotoxicity and elongated survival in vivo after adoptive transfer. TNF-alpha derived from both the donor CD8+ T cells and the host cells plays an important role in donor CD8+ T-cell survival in vivo after adoptive transfer. We also demonstrated that the transfected B16(OVA/IL-10) tumor cells secreting IL-10 are more resistant to in vivo CD8+ T-cell therapy than the original B16(OVA) tumor cells without IL-10 expression. Interestingly, the engineered CD8+ T(TNF) cells secreting transgene-coded TNF-alpha, but not the control CD8+ T(control) cells without any transgene expression eradicated IL-10-secreting 12-day lung micrometastasis in all 10/10 mice and IL-10-secreting solid tumors ( approximately 5 mm in diameter) in 6/10 mice. Transfer of the engineered CD8+ T(TNF) cells further induced both donor- and host-derived memory CD8+ T cells, leading to a stronger long-term antitumor immunity against the IL-10-secreting B16(OVA/IL-10) tumor cell challenges. Therefore, CD8+ T cells engineered to secrete TNF-alpha may be useful when designing strategies for adoptive T-cell therapy of solid tumors.
Ye
Z
Z
Research Unit, Health Research Division, Saskatchewan Cancer Agency, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Shi
M
M
Chan
T
T
Sas
S
S
Xu
S
S
Xiang
J
J
D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007165:Immunosuppression Therapy; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000235:genetics*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000556:secondary*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D013945:Thymoma / Q000276:immunology; D014162:Transfection; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10