MSCV Retrovirus Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Expression Vector
Utilizing chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) vectors to produce engineered T cells (also known as CAR T cells) that can recognize tumor-associated antigens has emerged as a promising approach in the treatment of cancer. In CAR T-cell therapy, T cells derived from either patients (autologous) or healthy donors (allogeneic) are modified to express CAR, a chimeric construct which combines antigen binding with T cell activation for targeting tumor cells.
Structurally, a CAR consists of four main components: (1) an extracellular antigen recognition domain made up of an antibody-derived single chain variable fragment (scFv) of known specificity. The scFv facilitates antigen binding and is composed of the variable light chain and heavy chain regions of an antigen-specific monoclonal antibody connected by a flexible linker; (2) an extracellular hinge or spacer which connects the scFv with the transmembrane domain and provides flexibility and stability to the CAR structure; (3) a transmembrane domain which anchors the CAR to the plasma membrane and bridges the extracellular hinge as well as antigen binding domain with the intracellular signaling domain. It plays a critical role in enhancing receptor expression and stability; (4) and an intracellular signaling domain which is typically derived from the CD3 zeta chain of the T cell receptor (TCR) and contains immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs). The ITAMs become phosphorylated and activate downstream signaling upon antigen binding, leading to the subsequent activation of T cells. In addition, the intracellular region may contain one or more costimulatory domains (derived from CD28, CD137 etc.) in tandem with the CD3 zeta signaling domain for improving T cell proliferation and persistence.
The structure of CAR has evolved over the past few years based on modifications to the composition of the intracellular domains. The first-generation CARs consisted of only a single intracellular CD3 zeta-derived signaling domain. While these CARs could activate T cells, they exhibited poor anti-tumor activity in vivo due to the low cytotoxicity and proliferation of T cells expressing such CARs. This led to the advent of the second-generation CARs which included an intracellular costimulatory domain in addition to the CD3 zeta signaling domain leading to a significant improvement in the in vivo proliferation, expansion and persistence of T cells expressing second generation CARs. To further optimize the anti-tumor efficacy of CAR-T cells, third generation CARs were developed which included two intracellular, cis-acting costimulatory domains in addition to CD3 zeta. Thereafter, fourth generation CARs were derived from second-generation CARs by modifying their intracellular domain for inducible or constitutive expression of cytokines. The fifth and the latest generation of CARs are also derived from second-generation CARs by the incorporation of intracellular domains of cytokine receptors.
Our MSCV retrovirus CAR expression vector is a highly efficient tool for retrovirus-based delivery of second-generation CAR expression cassettes into T cells. MSCV retroviral vectors are derived from the murine PCC4-cell passaged myeloproliferative sarcoma virus (PCMV) based MESV retroviral vectors and Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) based LN retroviral vectors. The inclusion of an extended hybrid packaging signal derived from the LN vectors helps to achieve higher viral titer with the MSCV retroviral vector compared to traditional retroviral vectors. Additionally, the presence of a strategically designed 5’LTR derived from the PCMV virus in the MSCV retroviral vector contributes to transcriptional activation of target genes in pluripotent cell lines such as ES or EC cells.
The MSCV retrovirus CAR expression vector is first constructed as a plasmid in E. coli where the entire CAR expression cassette including the scFv region, the hinge, the transmembrane domain and the intracellular CD3 zeta signaling domain as well as the costimulatory domain is cloned in between the two MSCV long terminal repeats (LTRs). It is then transfected into packaging cells along with several helper plasmids. Inside the packaging cells, vector DNA located between the two LTRs is transcribed into RNA, and viral proteins expressed by the helper plasmids further package the RNA into virus. Live virus is then released into the supernatant, which can be used to infect target cells directly or after concentration.
When the virus is added to target cells, the RNA cargo is shuttled into cells where it is reverse transcribed into DNA and randomly integrated into the host genome. Any gene(s) that were placed in-between the two LTRs during vector cloning are permanently inserted into host DNA alongside the rest of viral genome.
By design, MSCV retroviral vectors lack the genes required for viral packaging and transduction (these genes are instead carried by helper plasmids used during virus packaging). As a result, virus produced from retroviral vectors has the important safety feature of being replication incompetent (meaning that they can transduce target cells but cannot replicate in them).
For further information about this vector system, please refer to the papers below.
