A Vector-encoded Bispecific Killer Engager to Harness Virus-activated NK Cells As Anti-tumor Effectors

Overview

Journal Cell Death Dis

Specialties Cell Biology
General Medicine

Date 2023 Feb 10

PMID 36765035

Authors

Alessia Floerchinger

Jessica E Klein

Maximiliane S C Finkbeiner

Theresa E Schafer

Gwendolin Fuchs

Johannes Doerner

Hubert Zirngibl

Maximilian Ackermann

Hans M Kvasnicka

Kerry A Chester

Dirk Jager

Claudia R Ball

Guy Ungerechts

Christine E Engeland

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Treatment with oncolytic measles vaccines (MV) elicits activation of immune cells, including natural killer (NK) cells. However, we found that MV-activated NK cells show only modest direct cytotoxic activity against tumor cells. To specifically direct NK cells towards tumor cells, we developed oncolytic measles vaccines encoding bispecific killer engagers (MV-BiKE) targeting CD16A on NK cells and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) as a model tumor antigen. MV-BiKE are only slightly attenuated compared to parental MV and mediate secretion of functional BiKE from infected tumor cells. We tested MV-BiKE activity in cocultures of colorectal or pancreatic cancer cells with primary human NK cells. MV-BiKE mediate expression of effector cytokines, degranulation and specific anti-tumor cytotoxicity by NK cells. Experiments with patient-derived pancreatic cancer cultures indicate that efficacy of MV-BiKE may vary between individual tumors with differential virus permissiveness. Remarkably, we confirmed MV-BiKE activity in primaryhuman colorectal carcinoma specimens with autochthonous tumor and NK cells.This study provides proof-of-concept for MV-BiKE as a novel immunovirotherapy to harness virus-activated NK cells as anti-tumor effectors.

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