2. Academic Validation
  3. Improved safety of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived antigen-presenting cell-based cancer immunotherapy

Improved safety of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived antigen-presenting cell-based cancer immunotherapy

  • Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. 2021 Mar 5:21:171-179. doi: 10.1016/j.omtm.2021.03.002.
Hiroaki Mashima 1 2,  Rong Zhang 1,  Tsuyoshi Kobayashi 2,  Hirotake Tsukamoto 3,  Tianyi Liu 4,  Tatsuaki Iwama 1,  Yuichiro Hagiya 5,  Masateru Yamamoto 1 2,  Satoshi Fukushima 6,  Seiji Okada 7,  Alimjan Idiris 5,  Shin Kaneko 8,  Tetsuya Nakatsura 1,  Hideki Ohdan 2,  Yasushi Uemura 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Division of Cancer Immunotherapy, Exploratory Oncology Research and Clinical Trial Center, National Cancer Center, Kashiwa 277-8577, Japan.
  • 2 Department of Gastroenterological and Transplant Surgery, Graduate School of Biomedical & Health Science, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan.
  • 3 Department of Immunology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
  • 4 Key Laboratory of Cancer Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100853, China.
  • 5 Biochemistry Team, Bio Science Division, Technology General Division, Materials Integration Laboratories, AGC, Inc., Yokohama 221-8755, Japan.
  • 6 Department of Dermatology and Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Life Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
  • 7 Division of Hematopoiesis, Center for AIDS Research, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan.
  • 8 Shin Kaneko Laboratory, Department of Cell Growth and Differentiation, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan.
PMID: 33816647 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2021.03.002
Abstract

The tumorigenicity and toxicity of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and their derivatives are major safety concerns in their clinical application. Recently, we developed granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)-producing proliferating myeloid cells (GM-pMCs) from mouse iPSCs as a source of unlimited antigen-presenting cells for use in Cancer Immunotherapy. As GM-pMCs are generated by introducing c-Myc and Csf2 into iPSC-derived MCs and are dependent on self-produced GM-CSF for proliferation, methods to control their proliferation after administration should be introduced to improve safety. In this study, we compared the efficacy of two promising suicide gene systems, herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV-TK)/ganciclovir (GCV) and inducible caspase-9 (iCasp9)/AP1903, for safeguarding GM-pMCs in Cancer Immunotherapy. The expression of HSV-TK or iCasp9 did not impair the fundamental properties of GM-pMCs. Both of these suicide gene-expressing cells selectively underwent Apoptosis after treatment with the corresponding apoptosis-inducing drug, and they were promptly eliminated in vivo. iCasp9/AP1903 induced Apoptosis more efficiently than HSV-TK/GCV. Furthermore, high concentrations of GCV were toxic to cells not expressing HSV-TK, whereas AP1903 was bioinert. These results suggest that iCasp9/AP1903 is superior to HSV-TK/GCV in terms of both safety and efficacy when controlling the fate of GM-pMCs after priming antitumor immunity.

Keywords

HSV-TK; antigen-presenting cell; c-Myc; cancer immunotherapy; granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor; iCasp9; induced pluripotent stem cell; suicide gene.

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