RNA-seq analysis of CAR-NKAE cells and CD45RA- CAR-T cells

CAR-T cell therapy against MM currently shows promising results, but usually with serious toxicities. CAR-NK cells may exert less toxicity when redirected against resistant myeloma cells. CARs can be designed through the use of receptors, such as NKG2D, which recognizes a wide range of ligands to provide broad target specificity. Here, we test this approach by analyzing the anti-tumor activity of activated and expanded NK cells (NKAE) and CD45RA- T cells from MM patients that were engineered to express an NKG2D-based CAR. NKAE cells were cultured with irradiated Clone9.mbIL21 cells. Then, cells were transduced with an NKG2D-4-1BB-CD3z-CAR. CAR-NKAE cells exhibited no evidence of genetic abnormalities. Although memory T cells were more stably transduced, CAR-NKAE cells exhibited greater in vitro cytotoxicity against MM cells, while showing minimal activity against healthy cells. In vivo, CAR-NKAE cells mediated highly efficient abrogation of MM growth, and two of the treated mice remained disease-free. Overall, these results demonstrate that it is feasible to modify autologous NKAE cells from MM patients to safely express a NKG2D-CAR. Additionally, autologous CAR-NKAE cells display enhanced anti-myeloma activity demonstrating that they could be an effective strategy against MM supporting the development of NKG2D-CAR NK cell therapy for MM. Five paired samples of activated and expanded natural killer cells (NKAE) and NKG2-CAR-transduced NKAE cells and two paired samples of CD45RA- T cells and CD45RA- NKG2D CAR-T cells were analyzed