Journal: Nature chemical biology
Article Title: Engineering CAR-T Cells to Activate Small-Molecule Drugs in situ
doi: 10.1038/s41589-021-00932-1
Figure Lengend Snippet: (a) SEAKER CAR constructs encoding secreted prodrug-activating enzymes: CPG2–19BBz (CPG2/α-CD19/4–1BB/CD3ζ) and β-Lac-19BBz (β-Lac/α-CD19/4–1BB/CD3ζ). LTR = long terminal repeat, Ψ = psi packaging element, CD8 ss = CD8 signal peptide (gray), HA tag = hemagglutinin epitope tag (yellow), P2A = 2A self cleaving peptide, α-CD19 scFv = CD19-specific single chain variable fragment, 4–1BB = 4–1BB costimulatory domain (blue), CD3ζ = CD3 zeta chain (red). (b) Cytolytic activity of standard 19BBz CAR-T cells, CPG2–19BBz SEAKER cells, and β-Lac-19BBz SEAKER cells against Raji (CD19+) target cells expressing firefly luciferase (18 h, bioluminescence assay; mean ± s.d. of n = 3 biological replicates/sample; representative data from 3 independent donors). (c) Antitumor efficacy of standard 19BBz CAR-T cells, CPG2–19BBz SEAKER cells, and β-Lac-19BBz SEAKER cells, without prodrugs, against Raji xenografts in NSG mice (day 16 post-tumor engraftment, bioluminescent imaging (left) and Kaplan–Meier curve (right). (Log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test: *p<0.05; untreated vs. β-Lac-19BBz: p = 0.003; untreated vs. CPG2–19BBz: p = 0.023; Untreated vs. 19BBz: p = 0.03. Experiment was performed once.) (d) SEAKER enzyme expression in cocultures of anti-CD19 SEAKERS with Raji (CD19+) or SET2 (CD19−) cells (CPG2: ELISA assay; β-Lac: nitrocefin cleavage UV assay; mean ± s.d. of n = 3 biological replicates/samples; Student’s two-tailed t-test: **p<0.01, ***p<0.001; representative of 3 experiments). (e) Trans-cytotoxicity of supernatant fluids from standard 19BBz CAR-T cells and SEAKER cells, with or without the corresponding prodrug, against SET2 target cells (48 h, CellTiter-Glo) (mean ± s.d. of n = 3 biological replicates/samples; Student’s two-tailed t-test: **p<0.01, ***p<0.001).
Article Snippet: Cell supernatant, mouse ascites, or mouse blood was serially diluted (2-fold) and mixed 1:1 with 0.2 mM nitrocefin (abcam ab145625).
Techniques: Construct, Activity Assay, Expressing, Luciferase, ATP Bioluminescent Assay, Imaging, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, UV Assay, Two Tailed Test