Discovery and preclinical development of a therapeutically active nanobody-based chimeric antigen receptor targeting human CD22.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies targeting B cell-restricted antigens CD19, CD20, or CD22 can produce potent clinical responses for some B cell malignancies, but relapse remains common. Camelid single-domain antibodies (sdAbs or nanobodies) are smaller, simpler, and easier to recombine than single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) used in most CARs, but fewer sdAb-CARs have been reported. Thus, we sought to identify a therapeutically active sdAb-CAR targeting human CD22. Immunization of an adult Llama glama with CD22 protein, sdAb-cDNA library construction, and phage panning yielded >20 sdAbs with diverse epitope and binding properties. Expressing CD22-sdAb-CAR in Jurkat cells drove varying CD22-specific reactivity not correlated with antibody affinity. Changing CD28- to CD8-transmembrane design increased CAR persistence and expression in vitro. CD22-sdAb-CAR candidates showed similar CD22-dependent CAR-T expansion in vitro, although only membrane-proximal epitope targeting CD22-sdAb-CARs activated direct cytolytic killing and extended survival in a lymphoma xenograft model. Based on enhanced survival in blinded xenograft studies, a lead CD22sdCAR-T was selected, achieving comparable complete responses to a benchmark short linker m971-scFv CAR-T in high-dose experiments. Finally, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry confirm tissue and cellular-level specificity of the lead CD22-sdAb. This presents a complete report on preclinical development of a novel CD22sdCAR therapeutic.

Impact of Recombinant VSV-HIV Prime, DNA-Boost Vaccine Candidates on Immunogenicity and Viremia on SHIV-Infected Rhesus Macaques.

Currently, no effective vaccine to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is available, and various platforms are being examined. The vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) vaccine vehicle can induce robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, making it a suitable candidate for the development of an HIV vaccine. Here, we analyze the protective immunological impacts of recombinant VSV vaccine vectors that express chimeric HIV Envelope proteins (Env) in rhesus macaques. To improve the immunogenicity of these VSV-HIV Env vaccine candidates, we generated chimeric Envs containing the transmembrane and cytoplasmic tail of the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), which increases surface Env on the particle. Additionally, the Ebola virus glycoprotein was added to the VSV-HIV vaccine particles to divert tropism from CD4 T cells and enhance their replications both in vitro and in vivo. Animals were boosted with DNA constructs that encoded matching antigens. Vaccinated animals developed non-neutralizing antibody responses against both the HIV Env and the Ebola virus glycoprotein (EBOV GP) as well as systemic memory T-cell activation. However, these responses were not associated with observable protection against simian-HIV (SHIV) infection following repeated high-dose intra-rectal SHIV SF162p3 challenges.

Improved Manufacturing Methods of Extracellular Vesicles Pseudotyped with the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Glycoprotein.

Extracellular vesicles (EV), which expose the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSVG) on their surface, are used for delivery of nucleic acids and proteins in human cell lines. These particles are biomanufactured using methods that are difficult to scale up. Here, we describe the development of the first EV-VSVG production process in serum-free media using polyethylenimine (PEI)-based transient transfection of HEK293 suspension cells, as well as the first EV-VSVG purification process to utilize both ultracentrifugation and chromatography. Three parameters were investigated for EV-VSVG production: cell density, DNA concentration, and DNA:PEI ratio. The best production titer was obtained with 3 × 106 cells/mL, a plasmid concentration of 2 µg/mL, and a DNA:PEI ratio of 1:4. The production kinetics of VSVG was performed and showed that the highest amount of VSVG was obtained 3 days after transfection. Addition of cell culture supplements during the transfection resulted in an increase in VSVG production, with a maximum yield obtained with 2 mM of sodium butyrate added 18 h after transfection. Moreover, the absence of EV-VSVG during cell transfection with a GFP-coding plasmid revealed to be ineffective, with no fluorescent cells. An efficient EV-VSVG purification procedure consisting of a two-step concentration by low-speed centrifugation and sucrose cushion ultracentrifugation followed by a heparin affinity chromatography purification was also developed. Purified bioactive EV-VSVG preparations were characterized and revealed that EV-VSVG are spherical particles of 176.4 ± 88.32 nm with 91.4% of protein similarity to exosomes.

Production, purification and immunogenicity of Gag virus-like particles carrying SARS-CoV-2 components.

The virus-like particle (VLP) platform is a robust inducer of humoral and cellular immune responses; hence, it has been used in vaccine development for several infectious diseases. In the current work, VLPs carrying SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) protein (Wuhan strain) with an HIV-1 Gag core were produced using suspension HEK 293SF-3F6 cells by transient transfection. The Gag was fused with green fluorescent protein (GFP) for rapid quantification of the VLPs. Five different versions of Gag-Spike VLPs (Gag-S-VLPs) consisting of Gag-S alone or combined with other SARS-CoV-2 components, namely Gag-S-Nucleocapsid (N), Gag-S-Matrix (M), Gag-S-Envelope (E), Gag-S-MEN, along with Gag alone were produced and processed by clarification, nuclease treatment, concentration by tangential flow filtration (TFF) and diafiltration. A pilot mouse study was performed to evaluate the immunogenicity of the Gag-S-VLPs through the measurement of the humoral and/or cellular responses against all the mentioned SARS-CoV-2 components. Antibody response to Spike was observed in all variants. The highest number of Spike-specific IFN-γ + T cells was detected with Gag-S-VLPs. No induction of antigen-specific cellular responses to M, N or E proteins were detected with any of the Gag-S, M, E/or N VLPs tested. Therefore, the Gag-S-VLP, by reason of consistently eliciting strong antigen-specific cellular and antibody responses, was selected for further evaluation. The purification process was improved by replacing the conventional centrifugation by serial microfiltration in the clarification step, followed by Spike-affinity chromatography to get concentrated VLPs with higher purity. Three different doses of Gag-S-VLP in conjunction with two adjuvants (Quil-A or AddaVax) were used to assess the dose-dependent antigen-specific cellular and antibody responses in mice. The Gag-S-VLP adjuvanted with Quil-A resulted in a stronger Spike-specific cellular response compared to that adjuvanted with AddaVax. A strong spike neutralisation activity was observed for all doses, independent of the adjuvant combination.

Development, optimization, and scale-up of suspension Vero cell culture process for high titer production of oncolytic herpes simplex virus-1.

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) have emerged as a novel cancer treatment modality, and four OVs have been approved for cancer immunotherapy. However, high-yield and cost-effective production processes remain to be developed for most OVs. Here suspension-adapted Vero cell culture processes were developed for high titer production of an OV model, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Our study showed the HSV-1 productivity was significantly affected by multiplicity of infection, cell density, and nutritional supplies. Cell culture conditions were first optimized in shake flask experiments and then scaled up to 3 L bioreactors for virus production under batch and perfusion modes. A titer of 2.7 × 108 TCID50 mL-1 was obtained in 3 L batch culture infected at a cell density of 1.4 × 106 cells mL-1 , and was further improved to 1.1 × 109 TCID50 mL-1 in perfusion culture infected at 4.6 × 106 cells mL-1 . These titers are similar to or better than the previously reported best titer of 8.6 × 107 TCID50 mL-1 and 8.1 × 108 TCID50 mL-1 respectively obtained in labor-intensive adherent Vero batch and perfusion cultures. HSV-1 production in batch culture was successfully scaled up to 60 L pilot-scale bioreactor to demonstrate the scalability. The work reported here is the first study demonstrating high titer production of HSV-1 in suspension Vero cell culture under different bioreactor operating modes.

A Method to Generate and Rescue Recombinant Adenovirus Devoid of Replication-Competent Particles in Animal-Origin-Free Culture Medium.

Adenoviruses are promising vectors for vaccine production and gene therapy. Despite all the efforts in removing animal-derived components such as fetal bovine serum (FBS) during the production of adenovirus vector (AdV), FBS is still frequently employed in the early stages of production. Conventionally, first-generation AdVs (E1 deleted) are generated in different variants of adherent HEK293 cells, and plaque purification (if needed) is performed in adherent cell lines in the presence of FBS. In this study, we generated an AdV stock in SF-BMAdR (A549 cells adapted to suspension culture in serum-free medium). We also developed a limiting dilution method using the same cell line to replace the plaque purification assay. By combining these two technologies, we were able to completely remove the need for FBS from the process of generating and producing AdVs. In addition, we demonstrated that the purified AdV stock is free of any replication-competent adenovirus (RCA). Furthermore, we demonstrated that our limiting dilution method could effectively rescue an AdV from a stock that is highly contaminated with RCA.

BCG administration promotes the long-term protection afforded by a single-dose intranasal adenovirus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Recent publications have explored intranasal (i.n.) adenovirus-based (Ad) vaccines as an effective strategy for SARS-CoV-2 in pre-clinical models. However, the effects of prior immunizations and infections have yet to be considered. Here, we investigate the immunomodulatory effects of Mycobacterium bovis BCG pre-immunization followed by vaccination with an S-protein-expressing i.n. Ad, termed Ad(Spike). While i.n. Ad(Spike) retains some protective effect after 6 months, a single administration of BCG-Danish prior to Ad(Spike) potentiates its ability to control viral replication of the B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 variant within the respiratory tract. Though BCG-Danish did not affect Ad(Spike)-generated humoral immunity, it promoted the generation of cytotoxic/Th1 responses over suppressive FoxP3+ TREG cells in the lungs of infected mice. Thus, this vaccination strategy may prove useful in limiting future pandemics by potentiating the long-term efficacy of mucosal vaccines within the context of the widely distributed BCG vaccine.

Preclinical Development and Characterization of Novel Adeno-Associated Viral Vectors for the Treatment of Lipoprotein Lipase Deficiency.

Lipoprotein lipase deficiency (LPLD) results from mutations within the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene that lead to a complete lack of catalytically active LPL protein. Glybera was one of the first adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene replacement therapy to receive European Medicines Agency regulatory approval for the treatment of LPLD. However, Glybera is no longer marketed potentially due to a combination of economical, manufacturing, and vector-related issues. The aim of this study was to develop a more efficacious AAV gene therapy vector for LPLD. Following preclinical biodistribution, efficacy and non-Good Laboratory Practice toxicity studies with novel AAV1 and AAV8-based vectors in mice, we identified AAV8 pVR59. AAV8 pVR59 delivered a codon-optimized, human gain-of-function hLPLS447X transgene driven by a CAG promoter in an AAV8 capsid. AAV8 pVR59 was significantly more efficacious, at 10- to 100-fold lower doses, compared with an AAV1 vector based on Glybera, when delivered intramuscularly or intravenously, respectively, in mice with LPLD. Efficient gene transfer was observed within the injected skeletal muscle and liver following delivery of AAV8 pVR59, with long-term correction of LPLD phenotypes, including normalization of plasma triglycerides and lipid tolerance, for up to 6 months post-treatment. While intramuscular delivery of AAV8 pVR59 was well tolerated, intravenous administration augmented liver pathology. These results highlight the feasibility of developing a superior AAV vector for the treatment of LPLD and provide critical insight for initiating studies in larger animal models. The identification of an AAV gene therapy vector that is more efficacious at lower doses, when paired with recent advances in production and manufacturing technologies, will ultimately translate to increased safety and accessibility for patients.

Inducible HEK293 AAV packaging cell lines expressing Rep proteins.

Packaging or producer cell lines for scalable recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) production have been notoriously difficult to create due in part to the cytostatic nature of the Rep proteins required for AAV production. The most difficult challenge being creating AAV packaging cell lines using HEK293 parental cells, currently the best mammalian platform for rAAV production due to the constitutive expression of E1A in HEK293 cells, a key REP transcription activator. Using suspension and serum-free media adapted HEK293SF carrying a gene expression regulation system induced by addition of cumate and coumermycin, we were able to create REP-expressing AAV packaging cells. This was achieved by carefully choosing two of the AAV Rep proteins (Rep 40 and 68), using two inducible promoters with different expression levels and integrating into the cells through lentiviral vector transduction. Three of our best clones produced rAAV titers comparable to titers obtained by standard triple plasmid transfection of their parental cells. These clones were stable for up to 7 weeks under continuous cultures condition. rAAV production from one clone was also validated at scale of 1 L in a wave bioreactor using serum-free suspension culture.

Protease-deleted adenovirus as an alternative for replication-competent adenovirus vector.

For cancer therapy and vaccination an amplified expression of the therapeutic gene is desired. Previously, we have developed a single-cycle adenovirus vector (SC-AdV) by deleting the adenovirus protease (PS) gene. In order to keep the E1 region intact within the PS-deleted adenoviruses, we examined the insertion of two transgenes under the control of a constitutive or inducible promoters. These were inserted between E4 and the right inverted terminal repeat in a wide variety of backbones with various combinations of PS, E3 and E4 deletion. Our data showed that PS-deleted adenoviruses, expressed transgenes as strongly as replication-competent AdVs in HEK293A and a variant of HeLa cells. In a head-to-head comparison in four human cell lines, we demonstrated that SC-AdV, was comparable for transgene expression efficacy with its replication-competent counterpart. However, the SC-AdV expresses its transgene 10 to 16,000 times higher than its replication-defective counterpart.

Packaging cells for lentiviral vectors generated using the cumate and coumermycin gene induction systems and nanowell single-cell cloning.

Lentiviral vectors (LVs) are important for cell therapy because of their capacity to stably modify the genome after integration. This study describes a novel and relatively simple approach to generate packaging cells and producer clones for self-inactivating (SIN) LVs pseudotyped with the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSV-G). A novel gene regulation system, based on the combination of the cumate and coumermycin induction systems, was developed to ensure tight control for the expression of cytotoxic packaging elements. To accelerate clone isolation and ensure monoclonality, the packaging genes were transfected simultaneously into human embryonic kidney cells (293SF-3F6) previously engineered with the induction system, and clones were isolated after limiting dilution into nanowell arrays using a robotic cell picking instrument with scanning capability. The method's effectiveness to isolate colonies derived from single cells was demonstrated using mixed populations of cells labeled with two different fluorescent markers. Because the recipient cell line grew in suspension culture, and all the procedures were performed without serum, the resulting clones were readily adaptable to serum-free suspension culture. The best producer clone produced LVs expressing GFP at a titer of 2.3 × 108 transduction units (TU)/mL in the culture medium under batch mode without concentration.

Complementary Cell Lines for Protease Gene-Deleted Single-Cycle Adenovirus Vectors.

To increase the safety of adenovirus vector (AdV)-based therapy without reducing its efficacy, a single-cycle adenovirus vector (SC-AdV) with a deletion in the protease gene (PS) was developed in order to be used as a substitute for the replication-competent adenovirus (RC-AdV). Since no infectious viral particles are assembled, there is no risk of viral shedding. The complementary cell lines for this developed AdV proved to be suboptimal for the production of viral particles and require the presence of fetal bovine serum (FBS) to grow. In the current study, we produced both stable pools and clones using adherent and suspension cells expressing the PS gene. The best adherent cell pool can be used in the early stages for the generation of protease-deleted adenovirus, plaque purification, and titration. Using this, we produced over 3400 infectious viral particles per cell. Additionally, the best suspension subclone that was cultured in the absence of FBS yielded over 4000 infectious viral particles per cell. Harvesting time, culture media, and concentration of the inducer for the best suspension subclone were further characterized. With these two types of stable cells (pool and subclone), we successfully improved the titer of protease-deleted adenovirus in adherent and suspension cultures and eliminated the need for FBS during the scale-up production. Eight lots of SC-AdV were produced in the best suspension subclone at a scale of 2 to 8.2 L. The viral and infectious particle titers were influenced by the virus backbone and expressed transgene.

Programmable Attenuation of Antigenic Sensitivity for a Nanobody-Based EGFR Chimeric Antigen Receptor Through Hinge Domain Truncation.

Epidermal growth factor family receptor (EGFR) is commonly overexpressed in many solid tumors and an attractive target for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T therapy, but as EGFR is also expressed at lower levels in healthy tissues a therapeutic strategy must balance antigenic responsiveness against the risk of on-target off-tumor toxicity. Herein, we identify several camelid single-domain antibodies (also known as nanobodies) that are effective EGFR targeting moieties for CARs (EGFR-sdCARs) with very strong reactivity to EGFR-high and EGFR-low target cells. As a strategy to attenuate their potent antigenic sensitivity, we performed progressive truncation of the human CD8 hinge commonly used as a spacer domain in many CAR constructs. Single amino acid hinge-domain truncation progressively decreased both EGFR-sdCAR-Jurkat cell binding to EGFR-expressing targets and expression of the CD69 activation marker. Attenuated signaling in hinge-truncated EGFR-sdCAR constructs increased selectivity for antigen-dense EGFR-overexpressing cells over an EGFR-low tumor cell line or healthy donor derived EGFR-positive fibroblasts. We also provide evidence that epitope location is critical for determining hinge-domain requirement for CARs, as hinge truncation similarly decreased antigenic sensitivity of a membrane-proximal epitope targeting HER2-CAR but not a membrane-distal EGFRvIII-specific CAR. Hinge-modified EGFR-sdCAR cells showed clear functional attenuation in Jurkat-CAR-T cells and primary human CAR-T cells from multiple donors in vitro and in vivo. Overall, these results indicate that hinge length tuning provides a programmable strategy for throttling antigenic sensitivity in CARs targeting membrane-proximal epitopes, and could be employed for CAR-optimization and improved tumor selectivity.

Culture media selection and feeding strategy for high titer production of a lentiviral vector by stable producer clones cultivated at high cell density.

The growing interest in the use of lentiviral vectors (LVs) for various applications has created a strong demand for large quantities of vectors. To meet the increased demand, we developed a high cell density culture process for production of LV using stable producer clones generated from HEK293 cells, and improved volumetric LV productivity by up to fivefold, reaching a high titer of 8.2 × 107 TU/mL. However, culture media selection and feeding strategy development were not straightforward. The stable producer clone either did not grow or grow to lower cell density in majority of six commercial HEK293 media selected from four manufacturers, although its parental cell line, HEK293 cell, grows robustly in these media. In addition, the LV productivity was only improved up to 53% by increasing cell density from 1 × 106 and 3.8 × 106 cells/mL at induction in batch cultures using two identified top performance media, even these two media supported the clone growth to 5.7 × 106 and 8.1 × 106 cells/mL, respectively. A combination of media and feed from different companies was required to provide diverse nutrients and generate synergetic effect, which supported the clone growing to a higher cell density of 11 × 106 cells/mL and also increasing LV productivity by up to fivefold. This study illustrates that culture media selection and feeding strategy development for a new clone or cell line can be a complex process, due to variable nutritional requirements of a new clone. A combination of diversified culture media and feed provides a broader nutrients and could be used as one fast approach to dramatically improve process performance.

A low dose adenovirus vectored vaccine expressing Schistosoma mansoni Cathepsin B protects from intestinal schistosomiasis in mice.

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is an underestimated neglected tropical disease which affects over 236.6 million people worldwide. According to the CDC, the impact of this disease is second to only malaria as the most devastating parasitic infection. Affected individuals manifest chronic pathology due to egg granuloma formation, destroying the liver over time. The only FDA approved drug, praziquantel, does not protect individuals from reinfection, highlighting the need for a prophylactic vaccine. Schistosoma mansoni Cathepsin B (SmCB) is a parasitic gut peptidase necessary for helminth growth and maturation and confers protection as a vaccine target for intestinal schistosomiasis. METHODS: An SmCB expressing human adenovirus serotype 5 (AdSmCB) was constructed and delivered intramuscularly to female C57BL/6 mice in a heterologous prime and boost vaccine with recombinant protein. Vaccine induced immunity was described and subsequent protection from parasite infection was assessed by analysing parasite burden and liver pathology. FINDINGS: Substantially higher humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, consisting of IgG2c, Th1 effectors, and polyfunctional CD4+ T cells, were induced by the heterologous administration of AdSmCB when compared to the other regimens. Though immune responses favoured Th1 immunity, Th2 responses provided by SmCB protein boosts were maintained. This mixed Th1/Th2 immune response resulted in significant protection from S. mansoni infection comparable to other vaccine formulations which are in clinical trials. Schistosomiasis associated liver pathology was also prevented in a murine model. INTERPRETATION: Our study provides missing preclinical data supporting the use of adenoviral vectoring in vaccines for S. mansoni infection. Our vaccination method significantly reduces parasite burden and its associated liver pathology - both of which are critical considerations for this helminth vaccine. FUNDING: This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, R. Howard Webster Foundation, and the Foundation of the McGill University Health Centre.

Production and Use of Gesicles for Nucleic Acid Delivery.

Over-expression of the vesicular stomatitis virus glycoprotein (VSVG) in mammalian cells can induce the formation of VSVG-pseudotyped vesicles (named "gesicles") from membrane budding. Its use as a nucleic acid delivery tool is still poorly documented. Naked-plasmid DNA can be delivered in animal cells with gesicles in presence of hexadimethrine bromide (polybrene). However, little is known about gesicle manufacturing process and conditions to obtain successful nucleic acid delivery. In this study, gesicles production process using polyethylenimine (PEI)-transfected HEK293 cells was developed by defining the VSVG-plasmid concentration, the DNA:PEI mass ratio, and the time of gesicle harvest. Furthermore, parameters described in the literature relevant for nucleic acid delivery such as (i) component concentrations in assembly mixture, (ii) component addition order, (iii) incubation time, and (iv) polybrene concentration were tested by assessing the transfection capacity of the gesicles complexed with a green fluorescent protein (GFP)-coding plasmid. Interestingly, freezing/thawing cycles and storage at + 4 °C, - 20 °C, and - 80 °C did not reduce gesicles' ability to transfer plasmid DNA. Transfection efficiency of 55% and 22% was obtained for HeLa cells and for hard-to-transfect cells such as human myoblasts, respectively. For the first time, gesicles were used for delivery of a large plasmid (18-kb) with 42% of efficiency and for enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene silencing with siRNA (up to 60%). In conclusion, gesicles represent attractive bioreagents with great potential to deliver nucleic acids in mammalian cells.

A rapid Focus-Forming Assay for quantification of infectious adenoviral vectors.

Currently available methods to titrate adenoviral vectors (AdV) in the absence of a gene reporter such as GFP, are either time-consuming or not very reproducible. A Focus-Forming Assay (FFA) for quantification of infectious AdV particles followed by automated focus counting was developed using new monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the human adenovirus type 5. Briefly, in this method, 96-well plates of HEK293A cells were infected with 2-fold dilutions of AdV at seeding time. Forty eight hours post-infection, the cells were fixed with methanol. The cells were then incubated with each mAb followed by a FITC conjugated anti-mouse antibody. The plates were scanned and positive cells counted using an automated fluorescence microscopy system. The results of the FFA were compared with the plaque assay and the TCID50 assay. The titer of six different recombinant AdV were compared using the FFA along with a commercial kit. The results were similar, but in contrast to the commercial kit for which the stained cells are counted manually, the software automatically counts the positives cells in the FFA. The automatic counting of positive cells makes the FFA a more precise and reliable assay compared to the commercial kit for titration of AdV.

Evaluation of novel HIV vaccine candidates using recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vector produced in serum-free Vero cell cultures.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in humans is a result of the destruction of the immune system caused by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. This serious epidemic is still progressing world-wide. Despite advances in treatment, a safe and effective preventive HIV vaccine is desired to combat this disease, and to save millions of lives. However, such a vaccine is not available yet although extensive amounts of resources in research and development have been invested over three decades. In light of the recently approved Ebola virus disease vaccine based on a recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV-ZEBOV), we present the results of our work on three novel VSV-vectored HIV vaccine candidates. We describe the design, rescue, production and purification method and evaluate their immunogenicity in mice prior to preclinical studies that will be performed in non-human primates. The production of each of the three candidate vaccines (rVSV-B6-NL4.3Env/SIVtm, rVSV-B6-NL4.3Env/Ebtm and rVSV-B6-A74Env(PN6)/SIVtm) was evaluated in small scale in Vero cells and it was found that production kinetics on Vero cells vary depending on the HIV gp surface protein used. Purified virus preparations complied with the WHO restrictions for the residual DNA and host cell protein contents. Finally, when administered to mice, all three rVSV-HIV vaccine candidates induced an HIV gp140-specific antibody response.

Titration methods for rVSV-based vaccine manufacturing.

The recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (rVSV) is an emerging platform for viral vector-based vaccines. Promising results have been reported in clinical trials for the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine for Ebola virus disease prevention. In this study, we describe the titration tools elaborated to assess the titre of rVSV-ZEBOV productions. • A streamlined Median Tissue Culture Infectious Dose (TCID50) assay to determine the infectious titer of this vaccine was established. • A digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) assay to assess the total number of viral particles present in cell-free culture supernatants of rVSV productions was developed. • These assays are used to titre rVSV-ZEBOV samples and characterize the ratio of total particles to infectious units for monitoring process robustness and product quality attributes and can be used to titre samples generated in the production of further rVSV vectors.

A High-Throughput Method for Characterizing Novel Chimeric Antigen Receptors in Jurkat Cells.

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) development involves extensive empirical characterization of antigen-binding domain (ABD)/CAR constructs for clinical suitability. Here, we present a cost-efficient and rapid method for evaluating CARs in human Jurkat T cells. Using a modular CAR plasmid, a highly efficient ABD cloning strategy, plasmid electroporation, short-term co-culture, and flow-cytometric detection of CD69, this assay (referred to as CAR-J) evaluates sensitivity and specificity for ABDs. Assessing 16 novel anti-CD22 single-chain variable fragments derived from mouse monoclonal antibodies, CAR-J stratified constructs by response magnitude to CD22-expressing target cells. We also characterized 5 novel anti-EGFRvIII CARs for preclinical development, identifying candidates with varying tonic and target-specific activation characteristics. When evaluated in primary human T cells, tonic/auto-activating (without target cells) EGFRvIII-CARs induced target-independent proliferation, differentiation toward an effector phenotype, elevated activity against EGFRvIII-negative cells, and progressive loss of target-specific response upon in vitro re-challenge. These EGFRvIII CAR-T cells also showed anti-tumor activity in xenografted mice. In summary, CAR-J represents a straightforward method for high-throughput assessment of CAR constructs as genuine cell-associated antigen receptors that is particularly useful for generating large specificity datasets as well as potential downstream CAR optimization.