Toward the clinical development of synthetic immunity to cancer.

Synthetic biology (synbio) tools, such as chimeric antigen receptors (CARs), have been designed to target, activate, and improve immune cell responses to tumors. These therapies have demonstrated an ability to cure patients with blood cancers. However, there are significant challenges to designing, testing, and efficiently translating these complex cell therapies for patients who do not respond or have immune refractory solid tumors. The rapid progress of synbio tools for cell therapy, particularly for cancer immunotherapy, is encouraging but our development process should be tailored to increase translational success. Particularly, next-generation cell therapies should be rooted in basic immunology, tested in more predictive preclinical models, engineered for potency with the right balance of safety, educated by clinical findings, and multi-faceted to combat a range of suppressive mechanisms. Here, we lay out five principles for engineering future cell therapies to increase the probability of clinical impact, and in the context of these principles, we provide an overview of the current state of synbio cell therapy design for cancer. Although these principles are anchored in engineering immune cells for cancer therapy, we posit that they can help guide translational synbio research for broad impact in other disease indications with high unmet need.

Mass cytometry reveals a conserved immune trajectory of recovery in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

While studies have elucidated many pathophysiological elements of COVID-19, little is known about immunological changes during COVID-19 resolution. We analyzed immune cells and phosphorylated signaling states at single-cell resolution from longitudinal blood samples of patients hospitalized with COVID-19, pneumonia and/or sepsis, and healthy individuals by mass cytometry. COVID-19 patients showed distinct immune compositions and an early, coordinated, and elevated immune cell signaling profile associated with early hospital discharge. Intra-patient longitudinal analysis revealed changes in myeloid and T cell frequencies and a reduction in immune cell signaling across cell types that accompanied disease resolution and discharge. These changes, together with increases in regulatory T cells and reduced signaling in basophils, also accompanied recovery from respiratory failure and were associated with better outcomes at time of admission. Therefore, although patients have heterogeneous immunological baselines and highly variable disease courses, a core immunological trajectory exists that defines recovery from severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.

A conserved immune trajectory of recovery in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Many studies have provided insights into the immune response to COVID-19; however, little is known about the immunological changes and immune signaling occurring during COVID-19 resolution. Individual heterogeneity and variable disease resolution timelines obscure unifying immune characteristics. Here, we collected and profiled >200 longitudinal peripheral blood samples from patients hospitalized with COVID-19, with other respiratory infections, and healthy individuals, using mass cytometry to measure immune cells and signaling states at single cell resolution. COVID-19 patients showed a unique immune composition and an early, coordinated and elevated immune cell signaling profile, which correlated with early hospital discharge. Intra-patient time course analysis tied to clinically relevant events of recovery revealed a conserved set of immunological processes that accompany, and are unique to, disease resolution and discharge. This immunological process, together with additional changes in CD4 regulatory T cells and basophils, accompanies recovery from respiratory failure and is associated with better clinical outcomes at the time of admission. Our work elucidates the biological timeline of immune recovery from COVID-19 and provides insights into the fundamental processes of COVID-19 resolution in hospitalized patients.

DNA scaffolds enable efficient and tunable functionalization of biomaterials for immune cell modulation.

Biomaterials can improve the safety and presentation of therapeutic agents for effective immunotherapy, and a high level of control over surface functionalization is essential for immune cell modulation. Here, we developed biocompatible immune cell-engaging particles (ICEp) that use synthetic short DNA as scaffolds for efficient and tunable protein loading. To improve the safety of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies, micrometre-sized ICEp were injected intratumorally to present a priming signal for systemically administered AND-gate CAR-T cells. Locally retained ICEp presenting a high density of priming antigens activated CAR T cells, driving local tumour clearance while sparing uninjected tumours in immunodeficient mice. The ratiometric control of costimulatory ligands (anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies) and the surface presentation of a cytokine (IL-2) on ICEp were shown to substantially impact human primary T cell activation phenotypes. This modular and versatile biomaterial functionalization platform can provide new opportunities for immunotherapies.

Systemic dysfunction and plasticity of the immune macroenvironment in cancer models.

Understanding of the factors governing immune responses in cancer remains incomplete, limiting patient benefit. In this study, we used mass cytometry to define the systemic immune landscape in response to tumor development across five tissues in eight mouse tumor models. Systemic immunity was dramatically altered across models and time, with consistent findings in the peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer. Changes in peripheral tissues differed from those in the tumor microenvironment. Mice with tumor-experienced immune systems mounted dampened responses to orthogonal challenges, including reduced T cell activation during viral or bacterial infection. Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) mounted weaker responses in this context, whereas promoting APC activation rescued T cell activity. Systemic immune changes were reversed with surgical tumor resection, and many were prevented by interleukin-1 or granulocyte colony-stimulating factor blockade, revealing remarkable plasticity in the systemic immune state. These results demonstrate that tumor development dynamically reshapes the composition and function of the immune macroenvironment.

Antibody Conditioning Enables MHC-Mismatched Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants and Organ Graft Tolerance.

Hematopoietic cell transplantation can correct hematological and immunological disorders by replacing a diseased blood system with a healthy one, but this currently requires depleting a patient's existing hematopoietic system with toxic and non-specific chemotherapy, radiation, or both. Here we report an antibody-based conditioning protocol with reduced toxicity and enhanced specificity for robust hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation and engraftment in recipient mice. Host pre-treatment with six monoclonal antibodies targeting CD47, T cells, NK cells, and HSCs followed by donor HSC transplantation enabled stable hematopoietic system reconstitution in recipients with mismatches at half (haploidentical) or all major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes. This approach allowed tolerance to heart tissue from HSC donor strains in haploidentical recipients, showing potential applications for solid organ transplantation without immune suppression. Fully mismatched chimeric mice developed antibody responses to nominal antigens, showing preserved functional immunity. These findings suggest approaches for transplanting immunologically mismatched HSCs and solid organs with limited toxicity.

SDF 1-alpha Attenuates Myocardial Injury Without Altering the Direct Contribution of Circulating Cells.

Stromal cell-derived factor 1-alpha (SDF) is a potent bone marrow chemokine capable of recruiting circulating progenitor populations to injured tissue. SDF has known angiogenic capabilities, but bone marrow-derived cellular contributions to tissue regeneration remain controversial. Bone marrow from DsRed-transgenic donors was transplanted into recipients to lineage-trace circulating cells after myocardial infarction (MI). SDF was delivered post-MI, and hearts were evaluated for recruitment and plasticity of bone marrow-derived populations. SDF treatment improved ventricular function, border zone vessel density, and CD31+ cell frequency post-MI. Bone marrow-derived endothelial cells were observed; these cells arose through both cell fusion and transdifferentiation. Circulating cells also adopted cardiomyocyte fates, but such events were exceedingly rare and almost exclusively resulted from cell fusion. SDF did not significantly alter the proportion of circulating cells that adopted non-hematopoietic fates. Mechanistic insight into the governance of circulating cells is essential to realizing the full potential of cytokine therapies.