Association of disparities in known minor histocompatibility antigens with relapse-free survival and graft-versus-host disease after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT) can induce remission in patients with hematologic malignancies due to graft-versus-tumor (GVT) responses. This immune-mediated antitumor effect is often accompanied by detrimental graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), however. Both GVT and GVHD are mediated by minor histocompatibility antigen (MiHA)-specific T cells recognizing peptide products from polymorphic genes that differ between recipient and donor. In this study, we evaluated whether mismatches in a panel of 17 MiHAs are associated with clinical outcome after partially T cell-depleted allo-SCT. Comprehensive statistical analysis revealed that DNA mismatches for one or more autosomal-encoded MiHAs was associated with increased relapse-free survival in recipients of sibling transplants (P = .04), particularly in those with multiple myeloma (P = .02). Moreover, mismatches for the ubiquitous Y chromosome-derived MiHAs resulted in a higher incidence of acute GVHD grade III-IV (P = .004), whereas autosomal MiHA mismatches, ubiquitous or restricted to hematopoietic cells, were not associated with severe GVHD. Finally, we found considerable differences among MiHAs in their capability of inducing in vivo T cell responses using dual-color tetramer analysis of peripheral blood samples collected after allo-SCT. Importantly, detection of MiHA-specific T cell responses was associated with improved relapse-free survival in recipients of sibling transplants (P = .01). Our findings provide a rationale for further boosting GVT immunity toward autosomal MiHAs with a hematopoietic restriction to improve outcomes after HLA-matched allo-SCT.

Immunogenicity of dendritic cells pulsed with MAGE3, Survivin and B-cell maturation antigen mRNA for vaccination of multiple myeloma patients.

The introduction of autologous stem cell transplantation (SCT) and novel drugs has improved overall survival in multiple myeloma (MM) patients. However, minimal residual disease (MRD) remains and most patients eventually relapse. Myeloma plasma cells express tumor-associated antigens (TAA), which are interesting targets for immunotherapy. In this phase 1 study, we investigated the safety and immunological effects of TAA-mRNA-loaded dendritic cell (DC) vaccination for treatment for MRD in MM after SCT. Mature monocyte-derived DCs were pulsed with keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and electroporated with MAGE3, Survivin or B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) mRNA. Twelve patients were vaccinated three times with intravenous (5-22 × 10(6) DCs) and intradermal vaccines (4-11 × 10(6) DCs), at biweekly intervals. Immunological responses were monitored in blood and delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) biopsies. All patients developed strong anti-KLH T-cell responses, but not KLH antibodies. In 2 patients, vaccine-specific T cells were detected in DTH biopsies. In one patient, we found MAGE3-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, and CD3(+) T cells reactive against BCMA and Survivin. In the other patient, we detected low numbers of MAGE3 and BCMA-reactive CD8(+) T cells. Vaccination was well tolerated with limited toxicity. These findings illustrate that TAA-mRNA-electroporated mature DCs are capable of inducing TAA-T-cell responses in MM patients after SCT.

Polymorphisms in CCR6 are associated with chronic graft-versus-host disease and invasive fungal disease in matched-related hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and fungal infections are frequent complications after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes of the immune system can influence the inflammatory cascade and T cell-driven alloimmune reactions after HSCT, and thus increasing the incidence of GVHD and infectious complications. Here, we investigated the effect of SNPs in IL-23R and CCR6 on posttransplantation outcome in 161 recipients of partially T cell-depleted HSCT. Remarkably, IL-23R SNPs were not associated with clinical outcome, but we found that disparities in the CCR6 tagSNP rs2301436 and SNP rs3093023 are independently associated with the occurrence of chronic GVHD (cGVHD) and invasive fungal disease. In multivariate analysis, patients receiving a transplant from a homozygous rs2301436 G allele donor showed less cGVHD (odds ratio [OR]: 0.16; P = .002), as was the case for a homozygous donor rs3093023 G allele (OR: 0.24; P = .005). In parallel, the GG genotype at rs2301436 in donors was associated with a higher incidence of invasive fungal disease at day 100 after HSCT (OR: 3.59; P = .008). This study shows that CCR6 SNPs can be used to predict clinical outcome, and that polymorphisms in the CCR6 gene may influence T cell-mediated immune reactions after HSCT.

Partial T cell-depleted allogeneic stem cell transplantation following reduced-intensity conditioning creates a platform for immunotherapy with donor lymphocyte infusion and recipient dendritic cell vaccination in multiple myeloma.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in multiple myeloma (MM) may induce a curative graft-versus-myeloma (GVM) effect. Major drawback in unmanipulated reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) SCT is the risk of severe and longstanding graft-versus-host-disease (GVHD). This study demonstrates that transplantation with a partial T cell-depleted graft creates a platform for boosting GVM immunity by preemptive donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) and recipient dendritic cell (DC) vaccination, with limited GVHD. All 20MM patients engrafted successfully. Chimerism analysis in 19 patients evaluable at 3 months revealed that 7 patients were complete donor, whereas 12 patients were mixed chimeric. Grade II acute GVHD (aGVHD) occurred in 7 patients (35%) and only 4 patients (21%) developed chronic GVHD (cGVHD). Fourteen patients received posttransplantation immunotherapy, 8 preemptive DLI, 5 patients both DLI and DC vaccination, and 1 patient DC vaccination only. DC vaccination was associated with limited toxicity, and none of these patients developed GVHD. Importantly, overall treatment-related mortality (TRM) at 1 year was low (10%). Moreover, the overall survival (OS) is 84% with median follow-up of 27 months, and none of the patients died from progressive disease. These findings illustrate that this novel approach is associated with limited GVHD and mortality, thus creating an ideal platform for adjuvant immunotherapy.

Concurrent detection of circulating minor histocompatibility antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in SCT recipients by combinatorial encoding MHC multimers.

Allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) is a potentially curative treatment for patients with hematologic malignancies. Its therapeutic effect is largely dependent on recognition of minor histocompatibility antigens (MiHA) by donor-derived CD8⁺ T cells. Therefore, monitoring of multiple MiHA-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses may prove to be valuable for evaluating the efficacy of allogeneic SCT. In this study, we investigated the use of the combinatorial encoding MHC multimer technique to simultaneously detect MiHA-specific CD8⁺ T cells in peripheral blood of SCT recipients. Feasibility of this approach was demonstrated by applying dual-color encoding MHC multimers for a set of 10 known MiHA. Interestingly, single staining using a fluorochrome- and Qdot-based five-color combination showed comparable results to dual-color staining for most MiHA-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses. In addition, we determined the potential value of combinatorial encoding MHC multimers in MiHA identification. Therefore, a set of 75 candidate MiHA peptides was predicted from polymorphic genes with a hematopoietic expression profile and further selected for high and intermediate binding affinity for HLA-A2. Screening of a large cohort of SCT recipients resulted in the detection of dual-color encoded CD8⁺ T cells following MHC multimer-based T cell enrichment and short ex vivo expansion. Interestingly, candidate MiHA-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses for LAG3 and TLR10 derived polymorphic peptides could be confirmed by genotyping of the respective SNPs. These findings demonstrate the potency of the combinatorial MHC multimer approach in the monitoring of CD8⁺ T cell responses to known and potential MiHA in limited amounts of peripheral blood from allogeneic SCT recipients.

A polymorphism in the splice donor site of ZNF419 results in the novel renal cell carcinoma-associated minor histocompatibility antigen ZAPHIR.

Nonmyeloablative allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) can induce remission in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but this graft-versus-tumor (GVT) effect is often accompanied by graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Here, we evaluated minor histocompatibility antigen (MiHA)-specific T cell responses in two patients with metastatic RCC who were treated with reduced-intensity conditioning SCT followed by donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI). One patient had stable disease and emergence of SMCY.A2-specific CD8+ T cells was observed after DLI with the potential of targeting SMCY-expressing RCC tumor cells. The second patient experienced partial regression of lung metastases from whom we isolated a MiHA-specific CTL clone with the capability of targeting RCC cell lines. Whole genome association scanning revealed that this CTL recognizes a novel HLA-B7-restricted MiHA, designated ZAPHIR, resulting from a polymorphism in the splice donor site of the ZNF419 gene. Tetramer analysis showed that emergence of ZAPHIR-specific CD8+ T cells in peripheral blood occurred in the absence of GVHD. Furthermore, the expression of ZAPHIR in solid tumor cell lines indicates the involvement of ZAPHIR-specific CD8+ T cell responses in selective GVT immunity. These findings illustrate that the ZNF419-encoded MiHA ZAPHIR is an attractive target for specific immunotherapy after allogeneic SCT.