Browsing by Author "Odukwe, Nkechi U."

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    Endogenous CD28 drives CAR T cell responses in multiple myeloma
    (bioRxiv, 2024-04-09) Lieberman, Mackenzie M.; Tong, Jason H.; Odukwe, Nkechi U.; Chavel, Colin A.; Purdon, Terence J.; Burchett, Rebecca; Gillard, Bryan M.; Brackett, Craig M.; McGray, A. J. Robert; Bramson, Jonathan L.; Brentjens, Renier J.; Lee, Kelvin P.; Olejniczak, Scott H.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Recent FDA approvals of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for multiple myeloma (MM) have reshaped the therapeutic landscape for this incurable cancer. In pivotal clinical trials B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) targeted, 4-1BB co-stimulated (BBζ) CAR T cells dramatically outperformed standard-of-care chemotherapy, yet most patients experienced MM relapse within two years of therapy, underscoring the need to improve CAR T cell efficacy in MM. We set out to determine if inhibition of MM bone marrow microenvironment (BME) survival signaling could increase sensitivity to CAR T cells. In contrast to expectations, blocking the CD28 MM survival signal with abatacept (CTLA4-Ig) accelerated disease relapse following CAR T therapy in preclinical models, potentially due to blocking CD28 signaling in CAR T cells. Knockout studies confirmed that endogenous CD28 expressed on BBζ CAR T cells drove in vivo anti-MM activity. Mechanistically, CD28 reprogrammed mitochondrial metabolism to maintain redox balance and CAR T cell proliferation in the MM BME. Transient CD28 inhibition with abatacept restrained rapid BBζ CAR T cell expansion and limited inflammatory cytokines in the MM BME without significantly affecting long-term survival of treated mice. Overall, data directly demonstrate a need for CD28 signaling for sustained in vivo function of CAR T cells and indicate that transient CD28 blockade could reduce cytokine release and associated toxicities.