Michela Consonni – VJRegenMed

Overcoming barriers in treating liquid tumors with T-cell therapies

Simon Ng — Thu, 07 Apr 2022 13:19:56 +0000

Michela Consonni, PhD, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Millan, Italy, comments on what needs to be addressed to optimize chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell and T-cell receptor (TCR) therapies for leukemias and lymphomas. Further research is required to discover novel antigen targets solely expressed on tumors to avoid off-target side effects and to prevent antigen escape. Additional TCRs are also necessary for TCR-T cells to be compatible with a wider range of human leukocyte antigens (HLAs). Dr Consonni additionally highlights the risk of graft versus host disease (GvHD) in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

The anti-leukemic potential of CD1c-restricted T cells

Simon Ng — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 13:26:05 +0000

Michela Consonni, PhD, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Millan, Italy, gives an overview of newly identified methyl-lysophosphatidic acids (mLPAs) that are highly expressed in leukemia cells and are presented by CD1c, a monomorphic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-like molecule. CD1c-restricted T lymphocytes have found to target CD1c+ leukemia cells and Dr Consonni highlights the advantages of these lipid-specific T cells as an alternative to existing T-cell therapies, including the lower risk of graft versus host disease (GvHD) as a result of CD1c being solely expressed in hematopoietic cells. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.

Harnessing lipid-specific TCRs to target CD1c-expressing leukemia

Simon Ng — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 13:26:04 +0000

Michela Consonni, PhD, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Millan, Italy, discusses strategies to utilize CD1c-restricted T lymphocytes to target CD1c+ leukemia cells, which express methyl-lysophosphatidic acids (mLPAs). Out of the five CD1c self-reactive T cell clones created, DN4.99 TCR-T cells were found to target CD1c-expressing leukemia the most efficiently without killing normal cells. Dr Consonni additionally discusses efforts to enhance the avidity of the T-cell product, as well as generating novel CD1c-expressing mouse models to further assess the safety and efficacy of these engineered T-cells. This interview took place at the International Conference on Lymphocyte Engineering (ICLE) 2022.