Abstract 6330: A novel monoclonal antibody for the detection, enrichment and activation of cells expressing scFv-based chimeric antigen receptors
Authors: Singh Amrik , L'Heureux Sarah , Fisher Jeremy 
Published: March 2024

Introduction: Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy is a highly innovative form of immunotherapy that has proven to be successful in the treatment of B cell malignancies and multiple myeloma. As this treatment modality continues to evolve toward the targeting of novel tumor antigens and engineering of CAR constructs that enhance cell persistence, there is a need for reagents that can be leveraged to selectively interrogate multiple aspects of CAR-T cell biology. Here, we report on a novel and highly versatile recombinant rabbit monoclonal antibody raised against the Gly4Ser peptide linker, which is commonly integrated into single-chain variable fragment (scFv)-based CARs. This antibody can be leveraged for flow cytometry-based CAR detection, bead-based CAR-T cell enrichment, and selective activation of CAR transduced cells.

Methods: The recombinant monoclonal antibody, E7O2V, was generated by immunizing rabbits with a synthetic peptide containing multiple repeats of the Gly4Ser core pentapeptide. E7O2V was directly conjugated to a panel of fluorophores and validated for specificity in a live cell flow cytometry assay using non-transduced and CAR-transduced primary human T cells. To assess its utility in cell enrichment using bead-based sorting, a biotinylated conjugate of E7O2V was used in combination with streptavidin releasable magnetic meads to immunoaffinity purify CAR transduced cells from a mixed population. Finally, a plate-bound antibody stimulation assay was leveraged to assess the ability of E7O2V to selectively activate CAR transduced cells.

Results: Live cell flow cytometric analysis of CAR-transduced primary human T cells revealed that E7O2V could detect surface expressed CARs, independent of scFv specificity. No specific staining was observed on non-transduced cells. Furthermore, flow cytometric analysis of bead-free, purified cells revealed that biotinylated E7O2V could enrich CAR transduced cells to a high degree of purity and viability. E7O2V was found to selectively activate CAR transduced cells, but not non-transduced cells, as demonstrated by upregulation of cell surface activation markers, including CD69 and CD25.

Conclusions: Exploiting the commonly used Gly4Ser linker of scFv-based CARs for antibody discovery, we identified a novel and highly versatile monoclonal antibody, E7O2V. This antibody binds to CARs of varying antigen specificity and can be leveraged in multiple assay formats to interrogate various attributes of CAR transduced cells, including CAR expression, CAR signaling, and transcriptome profiling enabled by bead-based enrichment.

Citation Format: Amrik Singh, Sarah L'Heureux, Jeremy Fisher. A novel monoclonal antibody for the detection, enrichment and activation of cells expressing scFv-based chimeric antigen receptors [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 6330.