Development of allogeneic HSC-engineered iNKT cells for off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy

Cell-based immunotherapy has become the new-generation cancer medicine, and off-the-shelf'' cell products that can be manufactured at large scale and distributed readily to treat patients are necessary. Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are ideal cell carriers for developing allogeneic cell therapy because they are powerful immune cells targeting cancers without graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) risk. However, healthy donor blood contains extremely low numbers of endogenous iNKT cells. Here, by combining hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene engineering and in vitro differentiation, we generate human allogeneic HSC-engineered iNKT ((HSC)-H-Allo-iNKT) cells at high yield and purity; these cells closely resemble endogenous iNKT cells, effectively target tumor cells using multiple mechanisms, and exhibit high safety and low immunogenicity. These cells can be further engineered with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) to enhance tumor targeting or/and gene edited to ablate surface human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules and further reduce immunogenicity. Collectively, these preclinical studies demonstrate the feasibility and cancer therapy potential of AlloHSC-iNKT cell products and lay a foundation for their translational and clinical development.

Automated summary

Through hematopoietic stem cell gene engineering and in vitro differentiation, human allogeneic iNKT cells can be produced at high yield and purity, effectively targeting tumor cells with low immunogenicity. These cells can be further engineered to enhance tumor targeting or reduce immunogenicity for potential cancer therapy.