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Journal of Hematology & Oncology
Published in: Journal of Hematology & Oncology 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research

CAR-T cells targeting CLL-1 as an approach to treat acute myeloid leukemia

Authors: Jinghua Wang, Siyu Chen, Wei Xiao, Wende Li, Liang Wang, Shuo Yang, Weida Wang, Liping Xu, Shuangye Liao, Wenjian Liu, Yang Wang, Nawei Liu, Jianeng Zhang, Xiaojun Xia, Tiebang Kang, Gong Chen, Xiuyu Cai, Han Yang, Xing Zhang, Yue Lu, Penghui Zhou

Published in: Journal of Hematology & Oncology | Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is one of the most common types of adult acute leukemia. Standard chemotherapies can induce complete remission in selected patients; however, a majority of patients eventually relapse and succumb to the disease. Thus, the development of novel therapeutics for AML is urgently needed. Human C-type lectin-like molecule-1 (CLL-1) is a type II transmembrane glycoprotein, and its expression is restricted to myeloid cells and the majority of AML blasts. Moreover, CLL-1 is expressed in leukemia stem cells (LSCs), but absent in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which may provide a potential therapeutic target for AML treatment.

Methods

We tested the expression of CLL-1 antigen on peripheral blood cells and bone marrow cells in healthy donor and AML patients. Then, we developed a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) containing a CLL1-specific single-chain variable fragment, in combination with CD28, 4-1BB costimulatory domains, and CD3-ζ signaling domain. We further investigate the function of CLL-1 CAR-T cells.

Results

The CLL-1 CAR-T cells specifically lysed CLL-1+ cell lines as well as primary AML patient samples in vitro. Strong anti-leukemic activity was observed in vivo by using a xenograft model of disseminated AML. Importantly, CLL-1+ myeloid progenitor cells and mature myeloid cells were specifically eliminated by CLL-1 CAR-T cells, while normal HSCs were not targeted due to the lack of CLL-1 expression.

Conclusions

CLL-1 CAR-T represents a promising immunotherapy for the treatment of AML.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
CAR-T cells targeting CLL-1 as an approach to treat acute myeloid leukemia
Authors
Jinghua Wang
Siyu Chen
Wei Xiao
Wende Li
Liang Wang
Shuo Yang
Weida Wang
Liping Xu
Shuangye Liao
Wenjian Liu
Yang Wang
Nawei Liu
Jianeng Zhang
Xiaojun Xia
Tiebang Kang
Gong Chen
Xiuyu Cai
Han Yang
Xing Zhang
Yue Lu
Penghui Zhou
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Journal of Hematology & Oncology / Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1756-8722
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13045-017-0553-5

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