A bioluminescence reporter mouse model for visualizing and quantifying CD8+ T cells in vivo.

Autor: Bettano K; Translational Imaging. Electronic address: kimberly_bettano@merck.com., Zielstorff M; Quantitative Biosciences., Sevilla R; Translational Imaging., Yang R; Quantitative Biosciences., Zhou H; Genome and Biomarker Sciences, Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA., Rosahl T; Quantitative Biosciences., Zhang-Hoover J; Quantitative Biosciences., Moy LY; Quantitative Biosciences., Zhang W; Translational Imaging. Electronic address: weisheng.zhang@Takeda.com.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) [Neoplasia] 2022 May; Vol. 27, pp. 100781. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Apr 02.
DOI: 10.1016/j.neo.2022.100781
Abstrakt: Cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are the primary effector cells mediating anti-tumor responses. In vivo monitoring of CD8+ T cells has broad implications for the development of novel cancer therapies. Here we describe the development of a genetically engineered mouse model (GEMM) in which CD8+ T cells are labeled with an optical reporter, enabling in vivo, longitudinal monitoring using bioluminescence imaging (BLI). Firefly luciferase (Luc2), human diphtheria toxin receptor (DTR), and enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP) cDNAs are engineered under the CD8α promoter to generate a transgenic mouse line. Luciferase mRNA and CD8α mRNA were generally correlated in various tissues from these mice. Sorted splenic CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells and CD3- non-T cells verified that the luciferase signal is specific to CD8+ T cells. In vivo imaging showed that luciferase signal was detected in various immune organs, such as lymph nodes, thymus, and spleen, and the detection was confirmed by ex vivo examination. Administration of diphtheria toxin markedly reduced luciferase signal systemically, confirming the function of the DTR. In the MC38 mouse syngeneic model, we observed significant increases in CD8+ T cells with mDX400 treatment, an anti PD-1 mouse monoclonal antibody that correlated with tumor growth inhibition. This novel reporter GEMM is a valuable drug discovery tool for profiling compounds and understanding mechanisms of action in immunotherapy of cancer.
(Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.)
Databáze: MEDLINE