Prophylactic Amotosalen-Treated Donor T-Cells Prevent Late CMV Infection in Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation.
Authors: Hossain Mohammad S. , Robak John D. , Waller Edmund K. 
Published: April 2020

A major problem in allogeneic BMT is post transplant immunodeficiency leading to opportunistic infection and relapse. Previously we showed that amotosalen-treated allogeneic donor T cells given at the time of BMT and experimental murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection could prevent lethal MCMV disease without producing GvHD. In this study we have focused on a more clinically applicable model where prophylactic amotosalen-treated allogeneic donor splenocytes are given at the time of BMT, followed by MCMV infection 100 days later. We observed that amotosalen-treated donor T-cells significantly expanded and responded well in presence of viral infection without inducing any GvHD, protected recipients against viral disease, and were associated with significantly improved hematopoietic engraftment and immune reconstitution.

Methods: Using a parent to F1 mouse BMT model, splenocytes (3x106 untreated or 10x106 amotosalen-treated) from MCMV immunized C57BL/6 donors were transplanted along with 5x106 T-cell depleted bone marrow (TCD BM) from naïve congeneic mice into lethally irradiated (11Gy) CB6F1 recipients (C57BL/6 x Balb/C). Recipient mice were infected i.p. with a sublethal dose (5x104 pfu per mouse) of MCMV 100 days or more after transplant. Clinical chronic GvHD was monitored by weight loss, hair loss, ruffled fur, diarrhea, and decreased activity. Flow cytometry was used to quantitate T cell chimerism (in recipient PBMC, spleen, liver and thymus) and MCMV-peptide specific CD8+ T-cells (tetramer+ and IFN-γ producing). Serum IFN-γ and TNF-α were determined by ELISA. Liver and spleen viral loads were determined by counting PFU in tissue homogenates plated onto 3T3 confluent monolayers.

Results: Recipients of untreated control donor splenocytes suffered from chronic GvHD within 100 days of transplant, while those that received amotosalen-treated splenocytes experienced no GvHD. In response to MCMV infection at 100 days post transplant, residual amotosalen-treated donor T-cells rapidly expanded over 25-fold within 10 days, but did not cause lethality or detectable GvHD. Expanded amotosalen-treated T-cells showed activated anti-viral responses and developed a memory phenotype at late phases of viral infection. PBMC, spleen and liver showed elevated levels of MCMV specific tetramer+, IFN-γ+, and TNF-α+ CD8+ T-cells that were associated with accelerated viral clearance within day 3 after viral infection. While expansion and generation of amotosalen-treated donor T-cells mostly occurred in the liver, the generation of donor bone marrow-derived new T-cells occurred through both the thymus and the liver. In contrast, recipients of untreated donor splenocytes had reduced thymic function, resulting in severely impaired immune reconstitution and decreased anti-viral immunity.

Conclusion: Prophylactically administered amotosalen-treated allogeneic donor T cells 1) were almost completely devoid of GvHD activity, 2) promoted hematopoietic engraftment and improved immune reconstitution, and 3) persisted long-term (&gt;100 days) and successfully protected recipients from sublethal MCMV infection. Thus, infusion of amotosalen-treated donor T-cells at the time of transplantation is a clinically-attractive approach to adoptive anti-viral immunotherapy without chronic GvHD following hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation.