Session: 702. CAR-T Cell Therapies: Basic and Translational: Poster I
Hematology Disease Topics & Pathways:
Research, Acute Myeloid Malignancies, AML, Translational Research, Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T Cell Therapies, Diseases, Treatment Considerations, Biological therapies, Myeloid Malignancies
Novel fully human CLEC2A binders were tested against a variety of CLEC2A positive and negative AML cell lines to identify the most specific and efficacious CLEC2A binder. The top CLEC2A binder was a human VH single domain antibody, which was cloned into our CAR T cell construct backbone, which includes an IgG4 hinge with intermediate spacer and a 41BB/CD3z costimulatory domain. In vitro cytotoxicity and cytokine production of CLEC2A CAR T cells were assessed in both CLEC2A positive and negative cell lines compared to unmodified T cell controls. In vivo efficacy was evaluated in OCI-AML2 and MOLM13 ffluciferase leukemia-bearing NSG mice treated with CLEC2A CAR T cells compared to unmodified T cells. Leukemia burden was assessed by bioluminescent imaging and flow cytometry of peripheral blood, bone marrow, liver and spleen.
In vitro evaluation of our novel CLEC2A CAR T cells demonstrated robust and target-specific cytolytic activity and pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL2, IFNγ and TNFα) production when co-incubated with OCI-AML2 cells (which show high CLEC2A expression) and NOMO-1 cells (displaying low CLEC2A expression) across multiple effector:target cell ratios, but not with CLEC2A-negative MOLM13 cells (p<0.0005). Using a preclinical AML cell-derived xenograft in vivo model, we engrafted NSG mice with either CLEC2A-positive OCI-AML2 cells or CLEC2A-negative MOLM13 cells followed by treatment with 5e6 CLEC2A CAR T or unmodified T cells. All 6 control animals engrafted with OCI-AML2 cells died by Day 31 from progressive leukemia with evidence of extramedullary disease, whereas all but one of the CAR T treated mice remained disease free thru Day 66 (p<0.001). In this aggressive leukemia model, one CAR T-cell treated mouse developed extramedullary disease with no evidence of leukemia in the marrow. CLEC2A CAR T cells demonstrated robust expansion and persistence with detectable CAR T in the peripheral blood in all CAR T treated mice at Day 27. In the CLEC2A-negative MOLM13 cell-derived xenograft model, all mice rapidly developed progressive leukemia highlighting the specificity of our CLEC2A CAR T cells.
Our data indicate that CLEC2A is a novel KMT2A-r AML-specific antigen whose expression is absent in normal hematopoietic cells. CLEC2A-directed CAR T cells show potent and target-specific cell killing in both high CLEC2A antigen and low antigen density models. Given the restricted expression of CLEC2A in KMT2A-r AML and high potency of CLEC2A CAR T cells in preclinical models, we hold that CLEC2A CAR T cell therapy is an ideal therapeutic modality for this aggressive leukemia and are currently advancing to the clinical development stage.
Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
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