Stadler Serena, Blasco Rafael B, Singh Vijay Kumar, Damm-Welk Christine, Ben-Hamza Amin, Welters Carlotta, Hansmann Leo, Chiarle Roberto, Woessmann Wilhelm
Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Justus-Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
Department of Pathology, Boston Children´s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
Cancer Immunol Res. 2025 Apr 2;13(4):487-495. doi: 10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-24-0445.
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) fusion proteins resulting from chromosomal rearrangements are promising targets for cancer immunotherapy. Although ALK-specific CD8+ T cells and epitopes presented on MHC class I have been identified in patients with ALK-positive malignancies, little is known about ALK-specific CD4+ T cells. We screened peripheral blood of 10 patients with ALK-positive anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in remission and six healthy donors for CD4+ T-cell responses to the whole ALK fusion protein, nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1)::ALK. ALK-specific CD4+ T cells were detected in 15 individuals after stimulation with autologous dendritic cells pulsed with long-overlapping ALK peptide pools. CD4+ T-cell epitopes were predominantly located within three specific regions (p102-188, p257-356, and p593-680) in the ALK portion of the fusion protein. We detected CD4+ T cells in one patient that recognized the NPM1::ALK fusion neoepitope and identified a corresponding T-cell receptor (TCR) by TCRαβ single-cell sequencing. The NPM1::ALK fusion-specific TCR was HLA-DR13-restricted and conferred antigen specificity when expressed in a TCR- reporter cell line (58α-β-). Together, our data provide evidence of ALK-specific CD4+ T cells in human peripheral blood, describe target epitopes in patients, and support the consideration of CD4+ T cells in the development of ALK-specific immunotherapies.
由染色体重排产生的间变性淋巴瘤激酶(ALK)融合蛋白是癌症免疫治疗的有前景的靶点。尽管在ALK阳性恶性肿瘤患者中已鉴定出ALK特异性CD8 + T细胞和MHC I类分子提呈的表位,但关于ALK特异性CD4 + T细胞的了解甚少。我们筛选了10例处于缓解期的ALK阳性间变性大细胞淋巴瘤患者和6名健康供者的外周血,以检测其对整个ALK融合蛋白核磷蛋白1(NPM1):: ALK的CD4 + T细胞反应。在用长重叠ALK肽池脉冲处理的自体树突状细胞刺激后,在15名个体中检测到ALK特异性CD4 + T细胞。CD4 + T细胞表位主要位于融合蛋白ALK部分的三个特定区域(p102 - 188、p257 - 356和p593 - 680)内。我们在一名患者中检测到识别NPM1:: ALK融合新表位的CD4 + T细胞,并通过TCRαβ单细胞测序鉴定了相应的T细胞受体(TCR)。NPM1:: ALK融合特异性TCR受HLA - DR13限制,当在TCR报告细胞系(58α-β-)中表达时赋予抗原特异性。总之,我们的数据提供了人类外周血中ALK特异性CD4 + T细胞的证据,描述了患者中的靶表位,并支持在ALK特异性免疫疗法的开发中考虑CD4 + T细胞。
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