Low-cost generation of Good Manufacturing Practice-grade CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor-expressing T cells using piggyBac gene transfer and patient-derived materials

Background aims. Protocols for the production of CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR19) T cells are often complex and expensive because of the use of retroviral and lentiviral vectors or the need for CAR19 T-cell enrichment. We aimed to simplify the generation of CAR19 T cells from the peripheral blood of normal donors and patients using the piggyBac transposon system of gene modification. Methods. We varied electroporation voltage, cytokines and stimulation conditions for the generation and expansion of CAR19 T cells over a 3-week culture period. Results. Using optimized electroporation voltage, interleukin-15 alone and co-culturing CART cells with peripheral blood mononuclear cells, we were able to expand CAR19 T-cell cultures by up to 765-fold over 3 weeks in normal donors and 180-fold in patients with B-cell malignancies. Final median CAR19 expression of 72% was seen in normal donors, and 81% was seen in patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, chronic lymphocytic leukemia or non-Hodgkin lyniphoma. CAR19 T cells produced interferon gamma on stimulation with CD19(+) cell lines and efficiently lysed both CD 19(+) cell lines and primary leukemia cells. In addition, combining CAR expression with an inducible caspase safety switch allowed elimination of CAR19 T cells by the application of a small molecule dimerizer. Discussion. We have produced a simple, inexpensive and easily adoptable protocol for the generation of CAR19 T cells suitable for use in clinical trials using the piggyBac transposon system. This provides a robust platform for further enhancing the T-cell product and testing new CAR technologies.