Drug-Resistant Engineered γδ T Cells Development Services

In principle, gene therapy is to introduce nucleic acid sequences into target cells to prevent or cure many diseases. The technical obstacles of this treatment method, such as the insufficient transfer of genetic material into cells, resulting in low transgene integration, and the safety problems of gene transfer method limit its use. Now, advances in all areas of gene therapy allow for the development of cell-based cancer therapies with strong immunity based on genetic engineering.

Background

In the treatment of cancer, the therapeutic role of immune cells in controlling malignant tumors has been fully established. For example, immunocompetent hosts often reject transplanted tumors, while tumors can be easily established in immunosuppressed hosts. However, intensive chemotherapy is the first-line therapy for advanced cancer patients, which often leads to non-specific cytotoxicity to adoptive transferred immunocompetent cells and hematopoietic stem cells. One strategy to combat drug-induced toxicity is to genetically modify immune cells to make them resistant.

As cell-based immunotherapy, γδ T cells have a key advantage: they can be given directly from the donor to the patient without producing graft-versus-host disease, unlike αβ T cells that require extensive gene editing to remove major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and T cell receptor (TCR) genes.

Fig.1 Human γδ T-cell-mediated killing of tumor cells. (Chen, 2013)

Drug-Resistant Engineered γδ T Cells Development Services

One of the most serious obstacles in cancer treatment is chemotherapy-induced hematopoietic toxicity and the loss of effective and powerful immune responses. With the latest development of in vitro gene transfer technology, drug-resistant variants of tumor-specific lymphocytes and their genetic engineering counterparts, such as those modified with transgenic γδ TCR/cancer antigen receptor (CAR), can be bioengineering to treat various malignant tumors. These methods have been proved to be effective in animal models of some diseases.

At present, based on the rich experience accumulated in immune cell therapy, Creative Biolabs develops a gene therapy-based strategy while developing the method of immunocompetent cell amplification. Through the gene engineering method, lentiviral genes are used to modify γδ T cells to obtain the engineered drug-resistant γδ T cells, in order to resist the toxic and side effects of chemotherapy drugs, to realize the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and provide novel ideas for cancer treatment research.

Creative Biolabs welcomes the consultation and cooperation of researchers from all over the world to promote the development of this novel treatment method and the development of cancer immunotherapy. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us for more detailed information.

Reference

1. Chen, H., et al. An unconventional TRAIL to cancer therapy. European Journal of Immunology. 2013, 43(12): 3159-3162.