Changing T cell specificity by retroviral T cell receptor display

The diversity of the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire is limited, because of the processes of positive and negative T cell selection. To obtain T cells with specificities beyond the immune system's capacity, we have developed a strategy for retroviral TCR display. In this approach, a library of T cell variants is generated in vitro and introduced into a TCR-negative murine T cell line by retroviral transfer. We document the value of TCR display by the creation of a library of an influenza A-specific TCR and the subsequent in vitro selection of TCRs that either recognize the parental influenza epitope or that have acquired a specificity for a different influenza A strain. The resulting in vitro selected TCRs induce efficient T cell activation after ligand recognition and are of equal or higher potency than the in vivo generated parent receptor. TCR display should prove a useful strategy for the generation of high-affinity tumor-specific TCRs for gene transfer purposes.