Adrian Gottschlich

Significance IL-22 has been identified as a cancer-promoting cytokine, but its regulation in cancer tissue has not been addressed. Using both murine and human models, we demonstrate that cancer cells directly induce IL-22 production. We prove that interleukin-1β induced by inflammasome activation is critical for IL-22 production. IL-1β increased the activity of the IL-22 transcription factors in lineage-committed T cells. We show the existence of IL-22–producing Th1, Th17, and Th22 cells in tumor tissue of patients. Use of the clinically approved IL-1 receptor antagonist anakinra in vivo reduced IL-22 production and reduced tumor growth in a breast cancer model. These data provide the basis for therapeutic interventions, particularly using anakinra, aiming at limiting IL-22 production in patients with cancer.

Multispecific antibodies have emerged as versatile therapeutic agents, and therefore, approaches to optimize and streamline their design and assembly are needed. Here we report on the modular and programmable assembly of IgG antibodies, F(ab) and scFv fragments on DNA origami nanocarriers. We screened 105 distinct quadruplet antibody variants in vitro for the ability to activate T cells in the presence of target cells. T-cell engagers were identified, which in vitro showed the specific and efficient T-cell-mediated lysis of five distinct target cell lines. We used these T-cell engagers to target and lyse tumour cells in vivo in a xenograft mouse tumour model. Our approach enables the rapid generation, screening and testing of bi- and multispecific antibodies to facilitate preclinical pharmaceutical development from in vitro discovery to in vivo proof of concept.

T cell recruitment to the tumor site. This sustained and improved infiltration of engineered T cells synergized with TGF-β shielding for improved therapeutic efficacy. Our results demonstrate that addition of CCR8 and DNR into CAR T cells can render them effective in solid tumors.