Adoptive immunotherapy for AML with CD123-engager T cells

Background T cell immunotherapy is one promising approach to improve outcomes for patients with AML; however, infused T cells do not redirect resident T cells to tumors. To overcome this, we have genetically modified T cells to produce a secretable, bispecific T cell engager (ENG-T cells). Consistent synthesis of engagers by T cells should be superior to the direct infusion of the recombinant bispecific antibody, because bispecific proteins typically have short half-lives and do not accumulate at tumor sites. The goal of this project was to generate and characterize T cells expressing CD123-specific engagers and evaluate the feasibility of using transgenic expression of CD20 in combination with rituximab as a suicide gene.