title: Prevention of interleukin-2 withdrawal-induced apoptosis in lymphocytes retrovirally cotransduced with genes encoding an antitumor T-cell receptor and an antiapoptotic protein.
abstract: Adoptive cell transfer using autologous tumor infiltrating lymphocytes or lymphocytes transduced with antitumor T-cell receptor (TCR) is an effective therapy for patients with metastatic melanoma. A limiting factor in the effectiveness of this treatment is the apoptosis of the transferred cells when Interleukin-2 (IL-2) administration is withdrawn. In an attempt to improve persistence of the transferred lymphocytes, we cotransduced human peripheral blood lymphocytes with retroviruses encoding Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL, antiapoptotic genes of the BCL2 family, and the MART-1 melanoma tumor antigen-specific TCR, DMF5. Lymphocytes were cotransduced with 38% to 64% cotransduction efficiency, and exhibited a marked delay in apoptosis after IL-2 withdrawal. Cotransduction with Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL did not affect cytokine secretion or lytic ability of the DMF5-transduced lymphocytes. After 5 days of IL-2 withdrawal, cotransduced lymphocytes produced similar levels of IFN-γ per cell as DMF5-alone transduced lymphocytes in response to tumor cells. Cotransduction did not alter the phenotype of lymphocytes with respect to a panel of T-cell differentiation markers. In a mouse model of melanoma, adoptively transferred T cells transduced with Bcl-2 persisted better in vivo at the site of tumor, 13 and 21 days after adoptive transfer (P=0.0064 and 0.041, respectively), with evidence of enrichment of the Bcl-2-transduced population over time (P<0.0001). Thus, by coexpressing Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL with a tumor-specific TCR, we have engineered a lymphocyte that resists apoptosis owing to IL-2 withdrawal without altering its tumor-specific function or phenotype, and thus may show improved antitumor effectiveness in vivo after cell transfer.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute---National Institutes of Health Research Scholars Program, Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-1201, USA.
authors.forename: Anusha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalbasi
authors.forename: Rajeev K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Shrimali
authors.forename: Dhanalakshmi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chinnasamy
authors.forename: Steven A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
mesh_terms: D019264:Adoptive Transfer; D000818:Animals; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D006801:Humans; D016219:Immunotherapy, Adoptive; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000494:pharmacology; D058965:MART-1 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D008545:Melanoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D008546:Melanoma, Experimental; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D007376:Interleukin-2; D058965:MART-1 Antigen; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; D007371:Interferon-gamma