Khateb et al. developed NeoSelect to expand ultra-rare neoantigen-specific peripheral blood lymphocytes (NeoPBL) using two cycles of stimulation with neoantigen-specific peptides and enrichment of APC–T cell conjugates followed by a rapid expansion protocol. This strategy amplified NeoPBLs to high frequencies and absolute numbers, and even recovered neoantigen-specific TIL clonotypes that failed to expand ex vivo. NeoPBL clonotypes overlapped with those of highly differentiated and exhausted TILs. The on-target stimulation during NeoSelect shaped the transcriptional and epigenetic profile of NeoPBLs, resulting in polyfunctional, TPEX-like effectors.

Contributed by Ute Burkhardt

BACKGROUND: Neoantigen-specific peripheral blood lymphocytes (NeoPBL) are the circulating counterparts of neoantigen-specific tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). A recent study showed NeoPBL exist in a less differentiated state in vivo than TIL, which, along with their non-invasive potential, makes them attractive for cell therapy. However, NeoPBL circulate at ultra-low frequencies, usually less than 0.005%, posing a major translational barrier for their clinical use. METHODS: Here, we used NeoSelect, a peptide-based cyclic enrichment and expansion strategy that leverages magnetic selection of antigen-presenting cell-NeoPBL conjugates ex vivo to increase NeoPBL frequency by several thousand-fold over 28 days while also achieving large-scale expansion. We then evaluated expanded cells using functional, transcriptomic, and epigenetic profiling. RESULTS: Most NeoPBL clonotypes amplified by NeoSelect are detectable as exhausted TIL in vivo. In addition, neoantigen-specific TIL that failed to expand during ex vivo culture could be recovered as NeoPBL. Transcriptional and epigenetic analyses reveal that ex vivo NeoPBL have distinct transcriptional and epigenetic programs compared with TIL and retain expression of and chromatin accessibility at genes associated with stemness (TCF7, KLF2) and costimulation (CD28, CD40LG). CONCLUSIONS: NeoPBL encompass physiologically relevant antitumor clonotypes, can be rapidly expanded to clinically useful numbers and frequencies ex vivo, and can be used to expand the targetable neoantigen repertoire. By combining broad potential applicability and minimal invasiveness, these results position NeoPBL as a clinically streamlined and biologically distinct autologous cell platform that may be useful for adoptive cell transfer.

Author Info: (1) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (2) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (3) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (4) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethe sda, Maryland, USA. (5) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (6) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (7) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (8) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (9) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (10) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (11) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (12) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (13) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (14) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (15) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (16) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (17) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (18) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (19) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (20) Systems Biology Center, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (21) Systems Biology Center, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (22) Systems Biology Center, NHLBI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (23) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (24) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (25) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (26) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (27) NIDDK, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (28) NCI/CCR, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (29) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. (30) Surgery Branch, NCI, Bethesda, Maryland, USA nicholas.klemen@duke.edu.