GMP & T Cell Therapy
- Immunology, Infection and Cancer
Prof. Dr. Stefan Eichmüller
head of research group
Immunotherapeutics represent promising treatment options against cancer as shown by the therapeutic success of checkpoint inhibitors. The “GMP & T cell therapy” research group explores T cell mediated tumor rejection and develops new concepts for clinical applications.
Image: Created in BioRender. https://BioRender.com/h43b574,
Our Research
Our research group investigates various possibilities for optimizing T cell-mediated tumor defense and prepares their application together with clinical cooperation partners. In our translational research, we investigate various aspects of the T cell-mediated immune response.
One important aspect is the detailed analysis of individual T cells from the tumor with regard to their ability to recognize and destroy tumor cells. The Bruker Lightning System enables such single cell analyses on a chip. Here, 1500 T cells in individual chambers of the chip are examined in parallel for their reactivity against autologous tumor cells (i.e. tumor cells from the same patient). Reactive T cells can then be exported individually from the chip to determine the genetic sequence of the reactive T cell receptor. The identified TCR gene is cloned and expressed in autologous T cells. The resulting TCR-T cells are tested for the functional recognition of autologous tumor cells. This approach is currently being used in hematological tumors (multiple myeloma) and in solid tumors such as ovarian cancer (see project “Tumor-specific TCRs”).
The analysis of specific T cell responses requires synthetic peptides, which are produced in our peptide laboratory (see “Peptide Unit”). In parallel, the team of the Peptide Unit is currently establishing GMP-compliant peptide production and quality control for use in patients as part of vaccination studies.
Our GMP team is currently optimizing production lines for the manufacture of cellular products for adoptive T cell transfer. The production lines include the expansion of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, the production of CAR T cells and TCR transgenic T cells (see “GMP Unit”). This is done in close collaboration with Prof. Dirk Jäger's team at the NCT. A new GMP facility with cleanrooms for cell production for clinical trials is currently under construction.