γδ T cell-mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity with CD19 antibodies assessed by an impedance-based label-free real-time cytotoxicity assay

• Main Authors: Ursula Jördis Eva Seidel, Fabian eVogt, Ludger eGrosse-Hovest, Gundram eJung, Rupert eHandgretinger, Peter eLang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2014-12-01
• Series: Frontiers in Immunology
• Subjects: ADCC; therapeutic antibodies; Tumor immunotherapy; γδ T cell expansion; xCELLigence system
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fimmu.2014.00618/full

γδ T cells are not MHC restricted, elicit cytotoxicity against various malignancies, are present in early post-transplant phases in novel stem cell transplantation (SCT) strategies and have been shown to mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). These features make γδ T cells promising effector cells for antibody-based immunotherapy in pediatric patients with B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). To evaluate combination of human γδ T cells with CD19 antibodies for immunotherapy of B-lineage ALL, γδ T cells were expanded after a GMP-compliant protocol and ADCC of both primary and expanded γδ T cells with an Fc optimized CD19 antibody (4G7SDIE) and a bispecific antibody with the specificities CD19 and CD16 (N19-C16) was evaluated in CD107a degranulation assays and intracellular cytokine staining (ICS). CD107a, TNF-α and IFN-γ expression of primary γδ T cells were significantly increased and correlated with CD16-expression of γδ T cells. γδ T cells highly expressed CD107a after expansion and no further increased expression by 4G7SDIE and N19-C16 was measured. Cytotoxicity of purified expanded γδ T cells targeting CD19-expressing cells was assessed in both europium-TDA release and in an impedance-based label-free method (using the xCELLigence system) measuring γδ T cell lysis in real-time. Albeit in the 2 h end-point europium-TDA release assay no increased lysis was observed, in real-time xCELLigence assays both significant antibody-independent cytotoxicity and ADCC of γδ T cells were observed. The xCELLigence system outperformed the end-point europium-TDA release assay in sensitivity and allows drawing of conclusions to lysis kinetics of γδ T cells over prolonged periods of time periods. Combination of CD19 antibodies with primary as well as expanded γδ T cells exhibits an promising approach, which may enhance clinical outcome of patients with pediatric B-lineage ALL and requires clinical evaluation.