Cytokine-induced killer cells for cell therapy of acute myeloid leukemia: improvement of their immune activity by expression of CD33-specific chimeric receptors

Background Cytokine-induced killer cells are ex vivo-expanded cells with potent antitumor activity. The infusion of cytokine-induced killer cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia relapsing after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant is well tolerated, but limited clinical responses have been observed. To improve their effector functions against acute myeloid leukemia, we genetically modified cytokine-induced killer cells with chimeric receptors specific for the CD33 myeloid antigen. Design and Methods SFG-retroviral vectors coding for anti-CD33-zeta and anti-CD33-CD28-0X40-zeta chimeric receptors were used to transduce cytokine-induced killer cells. Transduced cells were characterized in vitro for their ability to lyse leukemic targets (4-hour (51)chromium-release and 6-day co-cultures assays on human stromal mesenchymal cells), to proliferate (H-3-thymidine-incorporation assay) and to secrete cytokines (flow cytomix assay) after contact with acute myeloid leukemia cells. Their activity against normal CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells was evaluated by analyzing the colony-forming unit capacity after co-incubation. Results Cytokine-induced killer cells were efficiently transduced with the anti-CD33 chimeric receptors, maintaining their native phenotype and functions and acquiring potent cytotoxicity (up to 80% lysis after 4-hour incubation) against different acute myeloid leukemia targets, as also confirmed in long-term killing experiments. Moreover, introduction of the anti-CD33 chimeric receptors was accompanied by prominent CD33-specific proliferative activity, with the release of high levels of immunostimulatory cytokines. The presence of CD28-0X40 in chimeric receptor endodomain was associated with a significant amelioration of the anti-leukemic activity of cytokine-induced killer cells. Importantly, even though the cytokine-induced killer cells transduced with anti-CD33 chimeric receptors showed toxicity against normal hematopoietic CD34(+) progenitor cells, residual clonogenic activity was preserved. Conclusions Our results indicate that anti-CD33 chimeric receptors strongly enhance anti-leukemic cytokine-induced killer cell functions, suggesting that cytokine-induced killer cells transduced with these molecules might represent a promising optimized tool for acute myeloid leukemia immunotherapy.