Current adoptive T cell therapies conducted in an autologous setting are costly, time-consuming, and depend on the quality of the patient's T cells, and thus it would be highly beneficial to develop an allogeneic strategy. To this aim, we have developed a method by which cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are regenerated from induced pluripotent stem cells that are originally derived from T cells (T-iPSCs). In order to assess the feasibility of this strategy, we investigated the frequency of usable T-iPSC clones in terms of their T cell-generating capability and T cell receptor (TCR) affinity. We first established eight clones of T-iPSCs bearing different MART-1-specific TCRs from a healthy volunteer. Whereas all clones were able to give rise to mature CTLs, cell yield varied greatly, and five clones were considered to be usable. TCR affinity in the regenerated CTLs showed a large variance among the eight clones, but functional avidities measured by cytotoxic activity were almost equivalent among three selected clones representing high, medium, and low TCR affinity. In a total of 50 alloreactivity tests using five CTL clones versus ten target cells, alloreactivity was seen in only three cases. These findings collectively support the feasibility of this T-iPSC strategy.
Stem cell therapy holds great promise for tissue regeneration and cancer treatment, although its efficacy is still inconclusive and requires further understanding and optimization of the procedures. Non-invasive cell tracking can provide an important opportunity to monitor in vivo cell distribution in living subjects. Here, using a combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and in vitro 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) direct cell labelling, the feasibility of engrafted stem cell monitoring was tested in multiple animal species. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were incubated with phosphate-buffered saline containing [18F]FDG for in vitro cell radiolabelling. The pre-labelled MSCs were administrated via peripheral vein in a mouse (n = 1), rats (n = 4), rabbits (n = 4) and non-human primates (n = 3), via carotid artery in rats (n = 4) and non-human primates (n = 3), and via intra-myocardial injection in rats (n = 5). PET imaging was started 10 min after cell administration using a dedicated small animal PET system for a mouse and rats. A clinical PET system was used for the imaging of rabbits and non-human primates. After MSC administration via peripheral vein, PET imaging revealed intense radiotracer signal from the lung in all tested animal species including mouse, rat, rabbit, and non-human primate, suggesting administrated MSCs were trapped in the lung tissue. Furthermore, the distribution of the PET signal significantly differed based on the route of cell administration. Administration via carotid artery showed the highest activity in the head, and intra-myocardial injection increased signal from the heart. In vitro [18F]FDG MSC pre-labelling for PET imaging is feasible and allows non-invasive visualization of initial cell distribution after different routes of cell administration in multiple animal models. Those results highlight the potential use of that imaging approach for the understanding and optimization of stem cell therapy in translational research.
Patient-derived xenograft of renal cell carcinoma was used in a cell-therapy model Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) that target WT1antigen were used as effector cells CTLs produced from iPSCs transduced with WT1-TCR genes showed efficacy in the model The present results demonstrate the feasibility of our strategy against solid tumors
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