Morton et al. evaluated the effect of CRSPR/cas9-RNP-mediated KO of endogenous TCRA and TCRB (TRAC/BC) on transgenic (tg)TCR expression and activity in T cells. The frequency of T cells expressing tgTCRs was higher in TRAC/BC KOs than in unmodified controls, and KO tgTCR T cells exhibited enhanced cytokine production and cytotoxicity. Infusion of KO CD8+ tgTCR T cells delayed tumor outgrowth compared to no KO controls in a murine model of human myeloma. These data support deletion of endogenous TCR in recipient CD8+ T cells to enable high frequency generation of tgTCR T cells with enhanced in vivo biological activity.

Contributed by Samuel Goldman

Generation of an optimal T cell therapeutic expressing high frequencies of transgenic T cell receptor (tgTCR) is essential for improving TCR gene therapy. Upon TCR gene transfer, presence of endogenous TCRalphabeta reduces expression of tgTCR due to TCR mixed-dimer formation and competition for binding CD3. Knockout (KO) of endogenous TCRalphabeta was recently achieved using CRISPR/Cas9 editing of the TRAC or TRBC loci, resulting in increased expression and function of tgTCR. Here, we adopt this approach into current protocols for generating T cell populations expressing tgTCR to validate this strategy in the context of four clinically relevant TCRs. First, simultaneous editing of TRAC and TRBC loci was reproducible and resulted in high double KO efficiencies in bulk CD8 T cells. Next, tgTCR expression was significantly higher in double TRAC/BC KO conditions for all TCRs tested, including those that contained structural modifications to encourage preferential pairing. Finally, increased expression of tgTCR in edited T cell populations allowed for increased recognition of antigen expressing tumor targets and prolonged control of tumor outgrowth in a preclinical model of multiple myeloma. In conclusion, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated KO of both endogenous TCRalphabeta chains can be incorporated in current T cell production protocols and is preferential to ensure an improved and safe clinical therapeutic.

Author Info: (1) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: l.t.morton@lumc.nl. (2) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Med

Author Info: (1) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: l.t.morton@lumc.nl. (2) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. (3) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. (4) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. (5) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. (6) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. (7) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. (8) Department of Hematology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: m.h.m.heemskerk@lumc.nl.