Project description:Due to their unique longevity and capacity to secrete high levels of protein, plasma B cells play have the potential to be used as a cell therapy for protein replacement. Here, we show that ex vivo engineered human plasma cells exhibited transcriptional features of long-lived plasma cells.
Project description:Due to their unique longevity and capacity to secrete high levels of protein, plasma B cells play have the potential to be used as a cell therapy for protein replacement. Here, we show that ex vivo engineered human plasma cells exhibited transcriptional features of long-lived plasma cells.
Project description:Multiple myeloma is a largely incurable and life-threatening malignancy of antibody-secreting plasma cells. An effective and widely available animal model that recapitulates human myeloma and related plasma cell disorders is lacking. We show that busulfan-conditioned hIL-6 transgenic NSG mice (NSG+hIL6) reliably support the engraftment of malignant and pre-malignant human plasma cells including from patients diagnosed with pre- and post-relapse myeloma, plasma cell leukemia, and AL amyloidosis. Consistent with human disease, NSG+hIL6 mice engrafted with patient-derived myeloma cells developed blood M spikes, and a majority developed anemia, hypercalcemia, and/or bone lesions. Singe cell RNAseq analyses showed non-malignant and malignant cell engraftment, the latter expressing a wide array of mRNAs associated with myeloma cell survival and proliferation. Myeloma-engrafted mice given CAR T-cells targeting plasma cells or bortezomib experienced reduced tumor burden. Our results establish that NSG+hIL6 mice provide an effective patient derived xenograft model for study and preclinincal drug development for myeloma and related plasma cell disorders.
Project description:Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell gene therapy (HSPC-GT) has shown clear neurological benefit in rare diseases, which is achieved through the engraftment of genetically modified microglia-like cells (MLCs) in the brain. Still, the engraftment dynamics and the nature of engineered MLCs, as well as their potential use in common neurogenerative diseases have remained largely unexplored. Here, we firstly comprehensively characterized how different routes of administration affect the biodistribution of genetically engineered MLCs and other HSPC-derivatives in mice. We then generated a high-resolution single cell transcriptional map of MLCs and discovered that they could clearly be distinguished from macrophages as well as from resident microglia by the expression of a specific gene signature which is reflective of their HSPC ontogeny and irrespective of their long-term engraftment history. Lastly, using murine models of Parkinson’s disease and frontotemporal dementia, we demonstrated that MLCs can deliver therapeutically relevant levels of protein to the brain, thereby opening avenues for the clinical translation of HSPC-GT to the treatment of major neurological diseases.