Biology subjects

Scheffold, A.

Publications and source records attributed to Scheffold, A..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Blinatumomab-driven T-cell activation in αβ and γδ T-cell subsets: Insights from in vitro assays

Blinatumomab (BLN) is a bispecific T-cell engager that has revolutionized the treatment of B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL), significantly improving outcomes in both adults and children. By simultaneously binding to CD19 on B cells and CD3 on T cells, BLN triggers target cell-dependent T-cell activation, resulting in the cytolysis of CD19+ BCP-ALL cells. Despite the remarkable clinical advancements achieved with BLN, the immunological mechanisms underlying treatment response or failure remain poorly characterized. {gamma}{delta} T cells are attractive candidates for adoptive T-cell therapy due to potent cytotoxicity, capacity to present antigens, broad lysis of different tumor entities, and low alloreactivity. Because {gamma}{delta} T cells can also be redirected by BLN, we systematically studied BLN-driven effector functions of conventional {beta} and unconventional {gamma}{delta} T cells. We evaluated cytotoxicity and cytokine/effector release in freshly isolated and in vitro-expanded {beta} and {gamma}{delta} T cells from healthy adults against CD19 BCP-ALL lines (NALM-6, HAL-01), and profiled dynamic phenotypic alterations by multiparametric flow cytometry. CD19 targets were consistently reduced in the presence of BLN. Freshly isolated {beta}, especially CD8, displayed superior BLN-mediated cytotoxicity as compared to {gamma}{delta} T cells, with donor-dependent variability in {gamma}{delta} killing. Notably, zoledronate-expanded V{gamma}9V{delta}2 {gamma}{delta} T-cell lines achieved cytotoxicity comparable to PHA-expanded {beta} cells. However, {gamma}{delta} T-cell-killing benefited from higher BLN concentration when challenged with high tumor load. BLN induced CD3 down-modulation in {beta} T cells but not in {gamma}{delta} T cells, alongside higher soluble Fas ligand in {beta} cultures, consistent with stronger early activation, preceding activation-induced cell death. {gamma}{delta} T cells showed no such changes, suggesting reduced susceptibility to activation-induced cell death. Single-cell RNA and flow analyses corroborated these findings, showing robust activation/exhaustion programs in {beta} T cells and a stable effector-memory state with low checkpoint expression in {gamma}{delta} T cells. Together, these data reveal subset-specific BLN responses and support expanded V{gamma}9V{delta}2 {gamma}{delta} T cells as a rational adoptive partner to BLN -- particularly in settings of favorable antigen density/low tumor burden -- providing complementary cytotoxicity with potentially reduced inflammatory liability. These findings provide a framework for combining {gamma}{delta} T-cell-based therapies in BLN-treated patients for improving BLN efficacy in BCP-ALL patients.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 public CD4+ αβ T cell clonotypes through reverse epitope discovery

The amount of scientific data and level of public sharing produced as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the speed at which these data were produced, far exceeds any previous effort against a specific disease condition. This unprecedented situation allows for development and application of new research approaches. One of the major technical hurdles in immunology is the characterization of HLA-antigen-T cell receptor (TCR) specificities. Most approaches aim to identify reactive T cells starting from known antigens using functional assays. However, the need for a reverse approach identifying the antigen specificity of orphan TCRs is increasing. Utilizing large public single-cell gene expression and TCR datasets, we identified highly public CD4+ T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2, covering >75% of the analysed population. We performed an integrative meta-analysis to deeply characterize these clonotypes by TCR sequence, gene expression, HLA-restriction, and antigen-specificity, identifying strong and public CD4+ immunodominant responses with confirmed specificity. CD4+ COVID-enriched clonotypes show T follicular helper functional features, while clonotypes depleted in SARS-CoV-2 individuals preferentially had a central memory phenotype. In total we identify more than 1200 highly public CD4+ T cell clonotypes reactive to SARS-CoV-2. TCR similarity analysis showed six prominent TCR clusters, for which we predicted both HLA-restriction and cognate SARS-CoV-2 immunodominant epitopes. To validate our predictions we used an independent cohort of TCR repertoires before and after vaccination with ChAdOx1, a replication-deficient simian adenovirus-vectored vaccine, encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. We find statistically significant enrichment of the predicted spike-reactive TCRs after vaccination with ChAdOx1, while the frequency of TCRs specific to other SARS-CoV-2 proteins remains stable. Thus, the CD4-associated TCR repertoire differentiates vaccination from natural infection. In conclusion, our study presents a novel reverse epitope discovery approach that can be used to infer HLA- and antigen-specificity of orphan TCRs in any context, such as viral infections, antitumor immune responses, or autoimmune disease. HighlightsO_LIIdentification of highly public CD4+ T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 C_LIO_LISystematic prediction of exact immunogenic HLA class II epitopes for CD4+ T cell response C_LIO_LIMethodological framework for reverse epitope discovery, which can be applied to other disease contexts and may provide essential insights for future studies and clinical applications C_LI O_FIG_DISPLAY_L [Figure 1] M_FIG_DISPLAY C_FIG_DISPLAY

immunology↗