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Festag, J. ; Festag, M.M.* ; Asen, T. ; Wettengel, J.* ; Mück-Häusl, M. ; Abdulhaqq, S.* ; Stahl-Hennig, C.* ; Sacha, J.* ; Burwitz, B.* ; Protzer, U. ; Wisskirchen, K.

Vector-mediated delivery of human MHC-I into hepatocytes enables investigation of TCR-redirected HBV-specific T cells in mice and macaque cell cultures.

Hum. Gene Ther. 34, 1204-1218 (2023)
DOI PMC
Adoptive T-cell therapy using natural T-cell receptor (TCR) redirection is a promising approach to fight solid cancers and viral infections in liver and other organs. However, clinical efficacy of such TCR+-T cells has been limited so far. One reason is that syngeneic preclinical models to evaluate safety and efficacy of TCR+-T cells are missing. We therefore developed an efficient viral vector strategy mediating expression of human MHC-I in hepatocytes, which allows evaluation of TCR-T cell therapies targeting diseased liver cells. We designed adeno-associated virus (AAV) and adenoviral vectors encoding either the human-mouse chimeric HLA-A*02-like molecule HHD, or fully human HLA-A*02 and human 2 microglobulin (h2m). Upon transduction of murine hepatocytes, the HLA-A*02 construct proved superior in terms of expression levels, presentation of endogenously processed peptides and activation of murine TCR+-T cells grafted with HLA-A*02-restricted, hepatitis B virus (HBV)-specific TCRs. In vivo, these T cells elicited effector function, controlled HBV replication, reduced HBV viral load and antigen expression specifically in livers of mice that had received AAV-HBV and AAV-HLA-A*02. We then demonstrated the utility of this approach by expressing the HBV-specific TCRs on macaque primary T cells enabling them to recognize HBV-infected macaque hepatocytes expressing HLA-A*02 upon adenoviral transduction. In conclusion, AAV and adenovirus vectors are suitable for delivery of HLA-A*02 and h2m into mouse and macaque hepatocytes. When recognizing HBV in the HLA-A*02-transduced mouse livers or on macaque hepatocytes, HLA-A*02-restricted, HBV-specific TCR+-T cells become activated and exert antiviral effector functions. This approach is applicable to other MHC restrictions and target diseases, paving the way for safety and efficacy studies of human TCR-based therapies in physiologically relevant preclinical animal models.
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Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Corresponding Author
Keywords Aav Vector ; Adoptive T Cell Therapy ; Hepatitis B Virus ; Hla-a*02 ; Mhc-i Molecule ; Primary Macaque Hepatocytes ; Primary Mouse Hepatocytes; Chimeric Antigen Receptor; Immune-response; Surface-antigen; Replication; Expression; System; Safety; Model; Hbv
ISSN (print) / ISBN 1043-0342
e-ISSN 1557-7422
Quellenangaben Volume: 34, Issue: 23-24, Pages: 1204-1218 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher Mary Ann Liebert
Publishing Place 140 Huguenot Street, 3rd Fl, New Rochelle, Ny 10801 Usa
Non-patent literature Publications
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Grants National Institutes of Health
TUM Graduate School
Young investigator
German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), TTU Hepatitis
German Research Foundation (DFG)