Peripheral Blood–Derived Virus-Specific Memory Stem T Cells Mature to Functional Effector Memory Subsets with Self-Renewal Potency

Abstract

Memory T cells expressing stem cell–like properties have been described recently. The capacity of self-renewal and differentiation into various memory/effector subsets make them attractive for adoptive T cell therapy to combat severe virus infections and tumors. The very few reports on human memory stem T cells (TSCM) are restricted to analyses on polyclonal T cells, but extensive data on Ag-specific TSCM are missing. This might be due to their very low frequency limiting their enrichment and characterization. In this article, we provide functional and phenotypic data on human viral-specific TSCM, defined as CD8+CD45RA+CCR7+CD127+CD95+. Whereas <1% of total T cells express the TSCM phenotype, human CMV–specific TSCM can be detected at frequencies similar to those seen in other subsets, resulting in ∼1/10,000 human CMV–specific TSCM. A new virus-specific expansion protocol of sort-purified TSCM reveals both upregulation of various T cell subset markers and preservation of their stem cell phenotype in a significant proportion, indicating both self-renewal and differentiation potency of virus-specific T cells sharing their TCR repertoire. Furthermore, we describe a simplified culture protocol that allows fast expansion of virus-specific TSCM starting from a mixed naive T/TSCM pool of PBLs. Due to the clinical-grade compatibility, this might be the basis for novel cell therapeutic options in life-threatening courses of viral and tumor disease.