Targeting a CAR to the TRAC locus with CRISPR/Cas9 enhances tumour rejection Journal Article


Authors: Eyquem, J.; Mansilla-Soto, J.; Giavridis, T.; Van Der Stegen, S. J. C.; Hamieh, M.; Cunanan, K. M.; Odak, A.; Gönen, M.; Sadelain, M.
Article Title: Targeting a CAR to the TRAC locus with CRISPR/Cas9 enhances tumour rejection
Abstract: Chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) are synthetic receptors that redirect and reprogram T cells to mediate tumour rejection. The most successful CARs used to date are those targeting CD19 (ref. 2), which offer the prospect of complete remission in patients with chemorefractory or relapsed B-cell malignancies. CARs are typically transduced into the T cells of a patient using γ-retroviral vectors or other randomly integrating vectors, which may result in clonal expansion, oncogenic transformation, variegated transgene expression and transcriptional silencing. Recent advances in genome editing enable efficient sequence-specific interventions in human cells, including targeted gene delivery to the CCR5 and AAVS1 loci. Here we show that directing a CD19-specific CAR to the T-cell receptor α constant (TRAC) locus not only results in uniform CAR expression in human peripheral blood T cells, but also enhances T-cell potency, with edited cells vastly outperforming conventionally generated CAR T cells in a mouse model of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. We further demonstrate that targeting the CAR to the TRAC locus averts tonic CAR signalling and establishes effective internalization and re-expression of the CAR following single or repeated exposure to antigen, delaying effector T-cell differentiation and exhaustion. These findings uncover facets of CAR immunobiology and underscore the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to advance immunotherapies. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.
Journal Title: Nature
Volume: 543
Issue: 7643
ISSN: 0028-0836
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group  
Date Published: 2017-03-02
Start Page: 113
End Page: 117
Language: English
DOI: 10.1038/nature21405
PROVIDER: scopus
PUBMED: 28225754
PMCID: PMC5558614
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 3 April 2017 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Mithat Gonen
    1031 Gonen
  2. Michel W J Sadelain
    584 Sadelain
  3. Mohamad   Hamieh
    27 Hamieh
  4. Justin Gabriel Andre Francois Eyquem
    25 Eyquem
  5. Kristen   Cunanan
    16 Cunanan
  6. Ashlesha Odak
    9 Odak