The Cutting Edge of Immunotherapies
T-cells are one important type of the immune system’s white blood cells. In the field of immunotherapy—altering individual immune systems to fight cancer—Pitt researchers have developed a universal receptor system that allows T-cells to recognize any cell surface target, enabling highly customizable CAR T-cell and other immunotherapies for treating cancer and other diseases. The discovery could extend into solid tumors and give more patients access to the game-changing results CAR T-cell therapy has produced in certain blood cancers. ■
Jason Lohmueller
Customizing A Body’s Cells to Fight Disease
Seeking to customize cell therapies to fight cancer and autoimmune disorders and improve organ transplantation tolerance, Jason Lohmueller, assistant professor of surgery and immunology in the Division of Surgical Oncology and investigator at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, leads a team of researchers who have developed a plug-and-play immunotherapy approach. The therapy involves engineering a patient’s own cells so that when they are infused back into the patient they can be targeted by “adaptor” antibodies to mount a multi-pronged attack against diseased cells.
“What’s unique about our approach is how the T-cell interacts with the antibody adaptors. They’re not just binding but fusing via covalent attachment—the strongest form of chemical bond,” he says.
From left: Warren Shlomchik, Mark Shlomchik
Identifying Tumor Targets for T-Cells
In hopes of developing better immunotherapy for both blood and solid tumor cancers, Mark Shlomchik, UPMC Endowed and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Immunology, and Warren Shlomchik, professor of medicine and immunology, developed methods to quickly identify the areas of cancer cells that T-cells target in order to create gene-modified T-cells that more effectively attack both cancers.
They developed the techniques behind two technologies—now known commercially as NEOXpress™ and TCXpress™—that allow these modified T-cells to be used safely. The T-cells react only with tumor-specific proteins in solid tumors—the proteins that mark the cancer cells that mutate their DNA as they grow out of control.
The techniques developed by the Shlomchiks became the basis of the start-up BlueSphere Bio, the first translational science spinout funded by UPMC Enterprises. The technologies are now patented and proprietary to the company.