Focus Day
Tuesday June 8 2021
9:30 am Online Check-in & Virtual Coffee
Fundamental TCR Biology Focus Day
9:55 am Chair’s Opening Remark
10:00 am Identifying TCR Specificity and Cross-Reactivity
Synopsis
• Comprehensively profiling peptide HLAs bound by TCRs using high diversitiy pHLA Libraries (3T-TRACE)
• Profiling peptide MHCs of clinical TCRs: an opportunity to improve safety whilst maintaining anti-tumor activity
• Selecting lead TCRs using bioinformatics, yeast display & in vitro assays to measure TCR activity & specificity
10:30 am Break Out Audience Discussion: Exploring the Importance of Target Binding Affinity and Avidity for Determining TCR-T Function
Synopsis
- Discussing how the binding strength between a TCR and ligand influences the downstream function of the cell
- Addressing how high affinity TCRs can negatively impact the function of the cell
- Predicting optimal TCR-T function by measuring cell avidity
- Improving surface levels of expression of TCRs
10:50 am Engineering T cells to Overcome Inhibitory Obstacles and Engage the Endogenous Immune Response
Synopsis
- Synthetic proteins can be engineered to deliver strong costimulatory signals
- Therapy with TCR-T cells armored with synthetic proteins results in altered endogenous immunity
11:20 am Break Out Audience Discussion: Investigating the Potential of Genetic Engineering to Address T Cell Exhaustion
Synopsis
- Modulating the tumor microenvironment
- Preventing programmed T cell exhaustion
- Enhancing tumor recognition and potentiating type I interferon responses
- Combining epigenetic approaches to enhance immunotherapy
11:40 am Morning Break
12:10 pm Genetic Engineering of T cells to Target Neoantigens in Solid Tumors
Synopsis
- Non-viral gene transfer such as the Sleeping Beauty system can be used to express neoantigen-specific TCRs
- T cells can be engineered to target public neoantigens shared between tumors and patients such as KRAS and TP53
- T cells can be engineered to target private neoantigens unique to tumors and patients
12:40 pm Break Out Audience Discussion
Synopsis
- How do we enhance receptor-target interactions to develop safe and efficacious TCR products?
- Overcoming T Cell exhaustion to enhance persistence in vivo
- Exploring gamma delta T cells as an avenue to circumvent safety concerns and maintain efficacy
- Investigating the action of gamma delta 1 receptor recognition
1:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm Mastermind Session: Looking Beyond HLA2 to Reach Wider Patient Populations
Synopsis
- How do we address broader population needs with regards to cell therapies?
- Discussing how to address patient needs beyond the HLA2 type