Neukoplast (CST-101)

P1/2, N=3, Terminated, ImmunityBio, Inc. | Unknown status --> Terminated; Study halted prematurely and will not resume; participants are no longer being examined or receiving intervention

P2, N=7, Terminated, ImmunityBio, Inc. | N=24 --> 7 | Unknown status --> Terminated

For that, we developed a procedure for the transduction and ex vivo expansion of NK cells from three different sources: NK-92 lineage, peripheral blood (NK-PB) and cord blood (NK-CB)... We developed two new functional CAR vectors. In addition, we generated CAR-NKs from three different sources with their anti-tumor activity increased against CD19 + cells. Next, we intend to use cytokines to improve ex vivo CAR-NK cell expansion, and to test their in vivo therapeutic potential.

Finally, the use of primary CD56 cells in ADCC experiments comparing glycoengineered variants of trastuzumab was conclusive to test the limits of this type of ex vivo system. Although the effector functions of CD56 cells reflected to some extent the in vitro receptor binding properties and cytolytic activity data using NK92 cells, as previously published, reaching a functional avidity plateau could limit their use in a quality control framework.

The engineered NK cells used in our study were derived from genetically edited and clonally derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) through a series of stepwise differentiation stages (figure 2)...In Figure 3, using an in vitro Delfia® ADCC assay, we show that iNK-CD64/16A cells mediated ADCC against SKOV3 cells, an ovarian adenocarcinoma cell line, in the presence of the anti-HER2 therapeutic mAb trastuzumab (Herceptin) or anti-EGFR1 therapeutic mAb cetuximab (Erbitux), when either added to the assay or pre-adsorbed to the iNK cells (figure 3)...iNK-CD64/16A cells were added with or without pre-adsorbed Rituxan and the assay was performed in 10% AB serum...The various recombinant CD64 constructs were initially expressed in NK92 cells (lacks expression of endogenous FcγRs) (figure 7)...Our goal is to utilize this docking approach to pre-absorb mAbs to iNK cells for adoptive cell therapy. The mAbs would thus provide tumor-targeting elements that could be exchanged as a means of preventing tumor cell escape by selectively and easily altering NK cell specificity for tumor antigens.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived natural killer (iNK) cells offer a promising platform for off-the-shelf immunotherapy against cancer...Knockdown of NKG2A led to a general reduction in functional capacity of NK92 cells (Figure 1E-F) and CAR19-iNK cells (Figure 1H), supporting a critical role for NKG2A-driven education in iNK cells...Specifically, our results point to a crucial role for NKG2A-driven acquisition of a mature effector cell phenotype in combination with functional education through cognate ligands. Importantly, iNK cell education is operational during iNK cell differentiation and expansion without interfering with recognition of tumor targets expressing HLA-E.

GT19077 was also much less active at degrading c-Myc in GM-CSF-stimulated TF-1 or IL-2-stimulated lymphoid progenitor NK-92 cells assayed by WB. These results can help develop biomarkers for patient tailoring strategy. Finally, GT19077 demonstrates PK-dependent target engagement in vivo and is currently being evaluated in in vivo efficacy studies.

Further investigation showed that NK92 treatment with VEGF165b augments its killing ability against human K562 leukemia cells by upregulating perforin and granzyme B through the VEGFR1-PLC pathway, whereas VEGF165b had no impact on the proliferation of NK92 cells in vitro. The results of this study improve our understanding of the immunomodulatory function of VEGF165b, which may help in enhancing the efficacy of NK92-based cancer immunotherapy.

Furthermore, MSLN-CAR NK cells effectively eliminated ovarian cancer cells in both subcutaneous and intraperitoneal tumor models; these cells also significantly prolonged the survival of intraperitoneally tumor-bearing mice. These results demonstrate that MSLN-CAR NK cells have robust specific antitumor activity, both in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that mesothelin could be a potential target for CAR NK cells and could be applied in the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Further investigations unveiled that STAT3 was a target of miR-130a and STAT3 overexpression abrogated miR-130a-induced improvement in killing activity of NK cells against NSCLC cells. In conclusion, MiR-130a improved the killing capacity of NK cells against NSCLC cells by targeting STAT3, laying a foundation for future studies on the roles and molecular basis of miR-130a in NK cell-based immunotherapy against various cancers.

More importantly, DTCR-NK92 cells had considerable antitumor activity in the solid tumor cell SGC-7901-bearing mice model. Collectively, we demonstrated that expression of DTCR markedly augmented the cytotoxic potential of NK92 cells against solid tumor cells, and this potentially promising treatment modality will facilitate clinical translation of potent NK-tailored chimeric receptor strategy for a generalized cellular therapy that may be conducive to treat a wide range of solid tumors.

Furthermore, SSB NMs sustained release of SeC and TGF-β inhibitor and synergized with NK92 cells to induce significant anticancer effects in vivo. Together, this study not only demonstrates a simple strategy for the design of a nanoemulsion to co-deliver synergistic drugs but also sheds light on the application and action mechanisms in NK cell adaptive therapy against breast cancer, especially TNBCs.

REV inhibited the proliferation of NK-92 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, arrested cell cycle at G1 phase, and induced mitochondrial apoptosis...REV shows anti-NKTCL activity. The inhibition of PLK1 and the activation of DDR are vital for REV induced tumor cell apoptosis.

Our findings demonstrated that GAS5 enhanced NK cell-mediated killing to PC cells by promoting degradation and ubiquitination of SESN2.

NK-92 cells that were engineered to express FcγRIII (CD16) mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) selectively against HER2+ cells upon addition of Herceptin (trastuzumab). Mass proteomic analysis of the two effector cell lines suggested differential changes in adhesion, exocytosis, metabolism, transport and activation of upstream regulators and cytotoxicity mediators, which can be utilized to regulate specific functionalities of NK-92 cells in future. These results suggest that this semi-automated single cell assay can reveal the variability and functional potency of NK cells and may be used to optimize immunotherapeutic efficacy for preclinical analyses.

The cytokine release assay results were consistent with those of the cytotoxicity assay. We provided the first evidence supporting a strategy using DNAM1 and 2B4 costimulatory domains to generate anti-GPC3 CAR-NK-92 cells, which exhibits enhanced cytotoxicity against hepatocellular cancer cells in vitro.

An increase in immune cell mediated killing of HCT-116, HCC1534 and PLC/PRF/5 cells was observed when tumor cells were incubated with NK-92 cells (NKG2D positive) in the presence of PDI-01...Co-culture of PBMCs, or purified NK cells, with PLC/PRF/5 cells in the presence of PDI-01 led to an increase in TNF-α, IFN-γ, CCL4, CCL5 and IL-6. PDI-01 is being advanced into clinical development and the Phase 1 program is scheduled to be initiated in the 2Q, 2020.

Materials & Various human tumor cell lines were used as target cells and NK-92 cells (CEACAM1+/CD16-) were used as effectors to assess the ability of NEO-201 to block the interaction between CEACAM5 on tumor cells and CEACAM1 on NK cells in order to enhance the in vitro killing of tumor cells. This study demonstrates NEO-201 can block the interaction between tumor cell CEACAM5 and NK cell CEACAM1 to reverse CEACAM1-dependent inhibition of NK killing. NEO-201 can also target and eliminate human immunosuppressive regulatory T cells (Tregs).

In this work, we develop a NK cell therapy product ACE1702, a novel NK cell line oNK conjugated with Trastuzumab, and assess its potency against HER2+ solid tumors.MethodsoNK cells, a fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) isolated CD16+ population sorted from NK-92 cells, was covalently conjugated with monoclonal antibody Trastuzumab after sublethal irradiation by our patented antibody-cell conjugates (ACCTM) platform to become our cryopreserved final product ACE1702 compliant with current good manufacturing practice (cGMP). Furthermore, in vivo results in human ovarian cancer cell line SK-OV-3-bearing xenograft mouse model supported the in vitro observations. Compared to other immunotherapeutic strategies such as antibody-drug conjugate, allogeneic NK and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) modification, ACCTM platform underscores its power in compatibility with diverse antibodies, ease for mass production compliant with good manufacturing practice and affordability to patients.ConclusionHere we introduced a novel Trastuzumab-modified oNK cell product with enhanced specificity against myriad types of HER2+ cancers even in the presence of Herceptin resistance, and demonstrated the non-tumorigenic potential of non-irradiated oNK cells and ACE1702.

Aims Here, we explored the possibility that CAR-NK cells engineered to target CD123 could improve the anti-leukemic activity of standard chemotherapeutics, such as cytarabine, daunorubicin and idarubicin. Conclusion CAR-NK-92 cells designed to target CD123 can be combined with standard chemotherapeutics used in AML therapy to elicit improved anti-leukemia effects. These results support further development of CAR-NK cell therapeutic strategies to treat cancers such as AML.

In a lung cancer xenograft model, CCCR-NK92 cells significantly inhibited tumor growth. Our results highlight a promising immunotherapeutic potential of using NK-tailored CCCR engineered NK92 cells to treat human lung cancer.

In NSG mice treatment with trastuzumab and CD16.176V.NK-92 cells only transiently retarded growth but did not induce regression of clinically trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer xenografts. In contrast, one dose of HER2-specific CAR T cells eradicated established tumors resulting in long-term survival. Data indicate that CAR T cells can successfully combat antibody resistant tumors by targeting the same epitope suggesting that CAR T cells can penetrate the tumor matrix which is a barrier for antibodies.

In conclusion, DNAM-1 or NKG2D over-expression elicited a dynamic increase in NK cell degranulation against all sarcoma explants and cancer cell lines tested, including those that failed to induce a notable response in WT NK-92 cells. These results support the broad therapeutic potential of DNAM-1 or NKG2D GM NK-92 cells and GM human NK cells for the treatment of sarcomas and other malignancies.

The discovered beneficial impact of the CC2a fraction on NK92 cells suggested the therapeutic use of the investigated compound especially as an adjuvant. Furthermore, taking into account the abundance of these water soluble mannans in C. cibarius, the results also suggest that an increase in the intake of C. cibarius may promote innate immunity response against cancer through the enhancement of NK cell activity.

The cytotoxicity of NK-92 cells on SW480 cells was detected using cytoTox 96 non-radioactive cytotoxicity assays...The effects of IL-2 induced IFN-γ were abolished by pAb IL-15 treatment. The mechanisms of action behind how IFN-γ regulates IL-2 is unclear, and is a promising area for future research.

Finally, the cytotoxic efficacy of Nb-CAR NK-92 cells was tested on primary patient-derived CD38-expressing multiple myeloma cells...Our results demonstrate efficacy of Nb-CARs in vitro. The potential clinical efficacy of Nb-CARs in vivo remains to be evaluated.