Abstract 3979
Background
immunoSCAPE leverages the high-dimensional immune profiling capabilities of mass cytometry combined with a unique technology for the identification of antigen-specific T-cells to support the development of immunotherapy strategies in cancer and immune-related diseases. In cancer, there is now strong evidence that immunotherapy-mediated tumor rejection can rely on tumor-specific (neoantigen-specific) CD8+ T-cells. Consequently, the discovery of neoantigens becomes valuable for personalized cancer immunotherapies. Although in silico pipelines exist, that are capable of predicting non-synonymous mutations potentially giving rise to tumor-specific neoantigens, it is not clear how accurate these methods are in identifying immunogenic and therapeutically relevant epitopes, since T-cell epitope usage can be influenced by many factors. Moreover, analysis of T-cells in cancer patients is challenging as it requires detecting rare antigen-specific T-cell populations in samples that are usually limited in volume and availability.
Methods
By applying cytometry by time of flight in conjunction with combinatorial peptide-MHC tetramer staining and high-performance dimensional analysis tools, we are able to map broadly MHC-class I epitope with a high sensitivity for rare antigen-specific T-cells and perform concurrently in-depth characterization of these cells.
Results
We will show here the application of this technology in the context of immunotherapy, through the example of a murine in vivo tumor model responsive to checkpoint blockade inhibitors, as well as through the analysis of different human cancer samples.
Conclusions
Together, by providing insights into the nature of neoantigen-specific T-cells, immunoSCAPE’s unique target discovery and high-dimensional immune profiling platform is a valuable tool for the development of novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic strategies at different stages of drug development.
Clinical trial identification
Legal entity responsible for the study
A*STAR / Singapore Immunology Network and immunoSCAPE.
Funding
immunoSCAPE.
Editorial Acknowledgement
Disclosure
E. Newell: Board director and shareholder: immunoSCAPE Pte. Ltd. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.