Rapid GMP-Compliant Expansion of SARS-CoV-2–Specific T Cells From Convalescent Donors for Use as an Allogeneic Cell Therapy for COVID-19

Frontiers in Immunology

David M. Turner¹  Lisa M. Jarvis²  Alasdair R. Fraser³  John D. M. Campbell³  Rachel S. Cooper³  Stuart N. Imlach³  Linda Smith³  Marc L. Turner³  Paul Burgoyne³  Sharon Zahra³ 

[1] Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom;National Microbiological Reference Unit, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Edinburgh, United Kingdom;Tissues, Cells and Advanced Therapeutics, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, Edinburgh, United Kingdom;

关键词: COVID-19;    T cell;    adoptive T cell immunotherapy;    CD4;    CD8;    memory T cell;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2020.598402

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is characterized by dysregulation of effector T cells and accumulation of exhausted T cells. T cell responses to viruses can be corrected by adoptive cellular therapy using donor-derived virus-specific T cells. One approach is the establishment of banks of HLA-typed virus-specific T cells for rapid deployment to patients. Here we show that SARS-CoV-2–exposed blood donations contain CD4 and CD8 memory T cells which recognize SARS-CoV-2 spike, nucleocapsid and membrane antigens. Peptides of these antigens can be used to isolate virus-specific T cells in a GMP-compliant process. The isolated T cells can be rapidly expanded using GMP-compliant reagents for use as an allogeneic therapy. Memory and effector phenotypes are present in the selected virus-specific T cells, but our method rapidly expands the desirable central memory phenotype. A manufacturing yield ranging from 1010 to 1011 T cells can be obtained within 21 days culture. Thus, multiple therapeutic doses of virus-specific T cells can be rapidly generated from convalescent donors for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

【 授权许可】

Unknown