Comparison of gene expression by activated T-cells that express NKG2D-based CARs

NKG2D ligands are broadly expressed in cancer. To exploit this, we engineered an adaptor chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) termed NKG2D / Dap10-12 in which NKG2D is co-expressed with a fusion of Dap10 and the Dap12 endodomain. Dap10 was deployed to provide co-stimulation while Dap12 delivers an activation signal via a single immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (ITAM). NKG2D / Dap10-12 T-cells elicited compelling anti-tumor activity in several solid tumor xenograft models. Disease eradication was accompanied by sustained functional persistence, indicated by reproducible protection from secondary tumor re-challenge. Anti-cancer activity was consistently superior to an analog of a clinical stage linear CAR comprising an NKG2D-CD3 fusion. Mechanistically, functionality of NKG2D / Dap10-12 CAR T-cells was underpinned by transcriptomic re-programming to increase oxidative phosphorylation and ribosome biosynthesis.. To compare gene expression by ligand-activated NKG2D-based CAR T-cells of the indicated design, retrovirus-engineered CAR T-cells were activated for 24 hours on immobilised MICA