Endogenous neoantigen-specific CD8 T cells identified in two glioblastoma models using a cancer immunogenomics approach

TM Johanns, JP Ward, CA Miller, C Wilson… - Cancer immunology …, 2016 - AACR
TM Johanns, JP Ward, CA Miller, C Wilson, DK Kobayashi, D Bender, Y Fu, A Alexandrov
Cancer immunology research, 2016AACR
The “cancer immunogenomics” paradigm has facilitated the search for tumor-specific
antigens over the last 4 years by applying comprehensive cancer genomics to tumor antigen
discovery. We applied this methodology to identify tumor-specific “neoantigens” in the
C57BL/6-derived GL261 and VM/Dk-derived SMA-560 tumor models. Following DNA whole-
exome and RNA sequencing, high-affinity candidate neoepitopes were predicted and
screened for immunogenicity by ELISPOT and tetramer analyses. GL261 and SMA-560 …
Abstract
The “cancer immunogenomics” paradigm has facilitated the search for tumor-specific antigens over the last 4 years by applying comprehensive cancer genomics to tumor antigen discovery. We applied this methodology to identify tumor-specific “neoantigens” in the C57BL/6-derived GL261 and VM/Dk-derived SMA-560 tumor models. Following DNA whole-exome and RNA sequencing, high-affinity candidate neoepitopes were predicted and screened for immunogenicity by ELISPOT and tetramer analyses. GL261 and SMA-560 harbored 4,932 and 2,171 nonsynonymous exome mutations, respectively, of which less than half were expressed. To establish the immunogenicities of H-2Kb and H-2Db candidate neoantigens, we assessed the ability of the epitopes predicted in silico to be the highest affinity binders to activate tumor-infiltrating T cells harvested from GL261 and SMA-560 tumors. Using IFNγ ELISPOT, we confirmed H-2Db–restricted Imp3D81N (GL261) and Odc1Q129L (SMA-560) along with H-2Kb–restricted E2f8K272R (SMA-560) as endogenous tumor-specific neoantigens that are functionally immunogenic. Furthermore, neoantigen-specific T cells to Imp3D81N and Odc1Q129L were detected within intracranial tumors as well as cervical draining lymph nodes by tetramer analysis. By establishing the immunogenicities of predicted high-affinity neoepitopes in these models, we extend the immunogenomics-based neoantigen discovery pipeline to glioblastoma models and provide a tractable system to further study the mechanism of action of T cell–activating immunotherapeutic approaches in preclinical models of glioblastoma. Cancer Immunol Res; 4(12); 1007–15. ©2016 AACR.
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