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T-cell receptor affinity and avidity defines antitumor response and autoimmunity in T-cell immunotherapy
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

T-cell receptor affinity and avidity defines antitumor response and autoimmunity in T-cell immunotherapy

Shi Zhong, Karolina Malecek, Laura A. Johnson, Zhiya Yu, Eleazar Vega-Saenz de Miera, Farbod Darvishian, Katelyn McGary, Kevin Huang, Josh Boyer, Emily Corse, …
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.110(17), pp.6973-6978
04/23/2013
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221609110
PMCID: PMC3991230
PMID: 23576742
url
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1221609110View
Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

T cells expressing antigen-specific T-cell receptors (TCRs) can mediate effective tumor regression, but they often also are accompanied by autoimmune responses. To determine the TCR affinity threshold defining the optimal balance between effective antitumor activity and autoimmunity in vivo , we used a unique self-antigen system comprising seven human melanoma gp100(209–217)-specific TCRs spanning physiological affinities (1–100 μM). We found that in vitro and in vivo T-cell responses are determined by TCR affinity, except in one case that was compensated by substantial CD8 involvement. Strikingly, we found that T-cell antitumor activity and autoimmunity are closely coupled but plateau at a defined TCR affinity of 10 µM, likely due to diminished contribution of TCR affinity to avidity above the threshold. Together, these results suggest that a relatively low-affinity threshold is necessary for the immune system to avoid self-damage, given the close relationship between antitumor activity and autoimmunity. The low threshold, in turn, indicates that adoptive T-cell therapy treatment strategies using in vitro-generated high-affinity TCRs do not necessarily improve efficacy.
Biological Sciences

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