Abstract 1138: Detection of genetically engineered iPSC-derived natural killer cells in blood and tissue
Authors: Bickers Cara E. , Martin Judy L. , Castro Steven , Zhang Jason , Dailey Thomas , Sung Eric , Gasparian Suzanna , O'Rourke Jason , Ge Moyar , Lee Tom T. , Huffman Janel , Goodridge Jode , Bjordahl Ryan , Valamehr Bahram , Szabo Peter M. , Wong Lilly , Cooley Sarah 
Published: June 2022

Immune cell therapies derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) provide a novel opportunity for the treatment of multiple cancer types. Assessment of the persistence and biodistribution of these product candidates requires specific and sensitive methods to detect engineered cells in both liquid and solid biopsies. Here, we present the development and validation of two complimentary nucleic acid-based detection assays for iPSC-derived natural killer (iNK) cell product candidates containing Fate’s proprietary high-affinity, non-cleavable CD16 transgene (hnCD16). The first assay is a droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method to detect and quantify hnCD16 transgene copies present in a pool of genomic DNA (gDNA). The primers and probe were designed to recognize the optimized codons of hnCD16. Assay linearity and accuracy were assessed through titration studies using 0.024 to 1 ng of hnCD16-containing DNA spiked into different amounts of hnCD16-negative gDNA. Precision was determined through multiple assay runs by different operators on two instruments. The second assay is an in situ hybridization based method utilizing RNAscope࣪ technology to detect cells expressing hnCD16 in fixed tissue. Probes targeting hnCD16 were used to optimize signal specificity. Cells expressing hnCD16 and tissues from in vivo studies treated with iNK products served as positive controls. For the ddPCR assay, absolute limit of detection (aLoD) was determined to be 4.9 copies of hnCD16 per 20 µL reaction, regardless of total genomic mass input. Absolute limit of quantification (aLoQ) was 12 copies per 20 µL reaction with a %CV ≤30. Relative limit of quantification (rLoQ), assessing transgene to total DNA ratio, is affected by the background gDNA input and is less sensitive with lower input mass. rLoQ for total mass of 70 - 250 ng was 97 - 22 copies/µg gDNA (0.064% - 0.015%) with a %CV ≤30. The sensitivity of this input range allows evaluation of clinical samples with low cellularity. While ddPCR provides robust quantification of the hnCD16 transcript, the RNAscope࣪ assay informs localization of the iNK product. Specificity of the probe was established by confirming its lack of affinity for endogenous CD16 using a variety of human normal and tumor tissues and by staining hnCD16-positive fixed cell pellets and tissues from in vivo studies. In cell pellets, positive RNAscope࣪ signal correlated with the known ratio of transgene positive cells. In murine tissues previously confirmed to contain iNK cell product, the RNAscope࣪ positive staining correlated with NKG2A immunohistochemistry staining, confirming the presence of product NK cells. The combined use of both the ddPCR and RNAscope࣪ assays targeted to hnCD16 allows for detection and quantification of transgene-bearing iNK cells in a wide variety of patient samples including tumor biopsies. Both assays are being utilized for cell detection and quantification in our ongoing clinical trials.

Citation Format: Cara E. Bickers, Judy L. Martin, Steven Castro, Jason Zhang, Thomas Dailey, Eric Sung, Suzanna Gasparian, Jason O'Rourke, Moyar Ge, Tom T. Lee, Janel Huffman, Jode Goodridge, Ryan Bjordahl, Bahram Valamehr, Peter M. Szabo, Lilly Wong, Sarah Cooley. Detection of genetically engineered iPSC-derived natural killer cells in blood and tissue [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2022; 2022 Apr 8-13. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 1138.