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Autologous CD19-directed chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells have shown unprecedented efficacy in children with relapsed/refractory B-cell-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (BCP-ALL). However, patients either relapsing after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), or displaying profound lymphopenia and/or with rapidly progressing disease often cannot access autologous products. These hurdles may be overcome by allogeneic, donor-derived CAR-T cells. We tested donor-derived T-cells transduced with a 2nd-generation (4.1BB) CD19-CAR for treatment of patients with BCP-ALL, in a hospital exemption setting. Two constructs were tested: a retroviral construct incorporating the suicide gene inducible caspase-9 (CD19-CAR-Retro_ALLO) first and then a lentiviral construct and an automated, Prodigy®-based, manufacturing process (CD19-CAR-Lenti_ALLO). Thirteen children/young adults received ALLO-CAR T-cells between 03/2021 and 10/2022. Doses ranged between 1,0×106 and 3,0×106 CAR T-cells/kg. The toxicity profile was comparable to that of autologous CAR-T cells, characterized mainly by cytopenia, CRS (maximum grade 1) and grade 2 ICANS. One case of acute graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) occurred and was rapidly controlled by steroids and ruxolitinib. None of the other patients, including 3 infused with ALLO-CAR T cells from an HLA-haplo-identical donor, experienced GvHD. Two patients received ALLO-CAR T-cells before HSCT and showed a significant expansion of CAR T cells, without any sign of GvHD. All patients obtained complete remission (CR) with negativity of minimal residual disease in the BM; with a median follow-up of 12 months (range 5-21), 8/13 patients maintain CR. Allogeneic anti-CD19 CAR-T cells can effectively treat highly-refractory BCP-ALL relapsing after alloHSCT, without showing increased toxicity as compared to autologous CAR T cells.

Key Points TCRαβ/CD19-depleted HLA-haploidentical HSCT is an effective strategy for children with several nonmalignant disorders.Patients given this type of transplant benefit from a low incidence of GVHD and TRM, with graft failure being the main obstacle., Visual Abstract, Several nonmalignant disorders (NMDs), either inherited or acquired, can be cured by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Between January 2012 and April 2020, 70 consecutive children affected by primary immunodeficiencies, inherited/acquired bone marrow failure syndromes, red blood cell disorders, or metabolic diseases, lacking a fully matched donor or requiring urgent transplantation underwent TCRαβ/CD19-depleted haploidentical HSCT from an HLA-partially matched relative as part of a prospective study. The median age at transplant was 3.5 years (range 0.3-16.1); the median time from diagnosis to transplant was 10.5 months (2.7 for SCID patients). Primary engraftment was obtained in 51 patients, while 19 and 2 patients experienced either primary or secondary graft failure (GF), the overall incidence of this complication being 30.4%. Most GFs were observed in children with disease at risk for this complication (eg, aplastic anemia, thalassemia). All but 5 patients experiencing GF were successfully retransplanted. Six patients died of infectious complications (4 had active/recent infections at the time of HSCT), the cumulative incidence of transplant-related mortality (TRM) being 8.5%. Cumulative incidence of grade 1-2 acute GVHD was 14.4% (no patient developed grade 3-4 acute GVHD). Only one patient at risk developed mild chronic GVHD. With a median follow-up of 3.5 years, the 5-year probability of overall and disease-free survival was 91.4% and 86.8%, respectively. In conclusion, TCRαβ/CD19-depleted haploidentical HSCT from an HLA-partially matched relative is confirmed to be an effective treatment of children with NMDs. Prompt donor availability, low incidence of GVHD, and TRM make this strategy an attractive option in NMDs patients. The study is registered at ClinicalTrial.gov as NCT01810120.

Background: allogeneic HSCT is the only potentially curative treatment for many non-malignant diseases (NMD), either inherited or acquired. However, many patients lack an HLA-matched donor (familiar (MFD) or unrelated (MUD)) and the outcome of children transplanted from an HLA-haploidentical relative (haplo) was historically inferior to that of transplants from a MFD or a MUD. We previously published promising results in a cohort of 23 children with NMD given this type of allograft (Bertaina et al., Blood 2014), demonstrating a low transplant-related mortality (TRM) and high cure rates. Here, we report the outcome of a large cohort of children affected by NMD who received a TBdepl-haploHSCT at our Center (NCT01810120). Patients and methods: Between February 2011 and June 2020, 80 consecutive patients affected by NMD received TBdepl-haploHSCT from an HLA-partially matched relative at Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù in Rome, Italy. Patients had many different disorders (see Table for details on patient- and transplant-related characteristics). Median time from diagnosis to transplant for the whole cohort was 12 months (range 1-177), while it was 2.5 months (range 1.3-11.2) for SCID patients. All patients, including children with SCID, received a conditioning regimen, which varied according to the original disease. Pre-transplant anti-thymocyte globulins (from day -4 to day -2) were given to modulate bi-directional donor/recipient alloreactivity, while rituximab (on day -1) was administered to prevent PTLD. Moreover, no post-transplant pharmacological GvHD prophylaxis was given. Results: fifty-eight patients (72.5%) achieved primary donor cell engraftment, while 3 patients experienced secondary graft failure (GF); the cumulative incidence of either primary or secondary GF was 27.8% (95% CI 17.2-37.0). Median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 13.5 (range 9-33) and 10 days (range 7-51), respectively. As expected, GF occurred more frequently in children with disorders known to be associated with an increased GF risk (i.e., HLH, thalassemia, SAA or osteopetrosis) (see also Figure 1A). Three children (4%) experiencing GF died because of infectious complications before retransplant. Sixteen of the 22 patients with either primary or secondary GF were successfully retransplanted (2 with a mismatched unrelated cord blood unit, the other having received a second TBdepl-haploHSCT from either the same donor or the other parent). Since 3 other patients died [all because of infectious complications, 2 due to disseminated adenovirus infection and 1 to CMV pneumonia)], TRM is 7.8% (95% CI 1.6-13.7). Eighteen patients experienced acute GVHD of any grade, the cumulative incidence of this complication being 22% (95% CI 13.5-31.8); 10/18 patients developed grade II acute GVHD (no patient developed grade III or IV aGVHD), this resulting into a cumulative incidence of 12.9% (95% CI 6.6-21.4). Only one patient at risk developed mild chronic GVHD. Twenty-two and 7 patients developed clinically-relevant (i.e., with a viral load > 1000 copies/ml and/or requiring specific antiviral-treatment) CMV and adenovirus infection, respectively, at a median time of 4 (range 0-16) and 1 (range 1-4) weeks from HSCT. Time averaged area under the curve (i.e., viral burden under the curve/weeks at risk for infection) for CMV and ADV are reported in Figure 1B. With a median follow-up of 36 months (range 2 - 110), the 5-year probability of overall survival and event-free survival for the entire cohort of patients is 92.1% (95% CI 83.3-96.4) (Figure 1C) and 68.1% (95% CI 56.4-77.2), respectively. Considering the 16/22 given a successful 2nd allograft, the 5-year disease-free survival is 88.4% (95% CI 78.9-93.8). Details on reconstitution of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes are reported in Figure 1D. Conclusions: TBdepl-haploHSCT is an effective option for children with different NMD. GF (either primary or secondary) is a challenging problem in a sub-group of patients at risk (i.e., those with HLH, thalassemia, SAA or osteopetrosis): thus, new strategies to overcome this problem are desirable. However, a second transplant is able to rescue most of these patients. Prompt availability of this type of transplant, limiting infectious risk, low incidence of both acute and chronic GvHD preserving a good quality of life in patients makes this strategy an attractive choice in patients with NMD. Figure 1 Disclosures Merli: Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; SOBI: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Jazz: Honoraria; Sanofi-Genzyme: Honoraria; Atara Therapeutics: Honoraria. Algeri:BlueBird Bio: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Atara Therapeutics: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Locatelli:Jazz Pharmaceeutical: Speakers Bureau; Medac: Speakers Bureau; Miltenyi: Speakers Bureau; Bellicum Pharmaceutical: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau.

Neuromyelitis optica is an immune‐mediated disease characterized by a relapsing course, resulting in progressive disability. In children, given the long life expectancy, a disease‐modifying treatment could be particularly desirable. Unfortunately, the currently available treatment strategies with this potential are scarce. Very limited data are available about the use of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for autoimmune neurological diseases. In this report, we present a pediatric case successfully treated with allogeneic HSCT from an HLA‐haploidentical donor, after ex vivo TCR/CD19‐depletion of the graft. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a pediatric patient to benefit from such a treatment.

A recent approach of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation from haploidentical donors “mobilized” with G-CSF is based on the selective depletion of αβ T and B lymphocytes from the graft. Through this approach, the patient receives both HSC and mature donor-derived effector cells (including NK cells), which exert both anti-leukemia activity and protection against infections. We previously showed that donor HSC mobilization with G-CSF results in accumulation in the graft of polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs), capable of inhibiting in vitro the anti-leukemia activity of allogeneic NK cells. Here, we performed a detailed gene expression analysis on NK cells and PMN-MDSCs both derived from mobilized graft. Cytotoxicity assays and real time PCR arrays were performed in NK cells. Microarray technology followed by bioinformatics analysis was used for gene expression profiling in PMN-MDSCs. Results indicate that NK cells from the graft have a lower cytolytic activity as compared to those from non-mobilized samples. Further, mobilized PMN-MDSCs displayed a peculiar transcriptional profile distinguishing them from non-mobilized ones. Differential expression of pro-proliferative and immune-modulatory genes was detected in mobilized PMN-MDSCs. These data strengthen the concept that G-CSF-mobilized PMN-MDSCs present in the graft display unique molecular characteristics, in line with the strong inhibitory effect on donor NK cells.

We report on the outcome of 24 patients with Fanconi anemia (FA) lacking an HLA matched related or unrelated donor, given an HLA-haploidentical T-cell receptor αβ (TCRαβ+) and CD19+ cell-depleted hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in the context of a prospective, single-center phase 2 trial. Sustained primary engraftment was achieved in 22 (91.6%) of 24 patients, with median time to neutrophil recovery of 12 days (range, 9-15 days) and platelet recovery of 10 days (range, 7-14 days). Cumulative incidences of grade 1 to 2 acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and chronic GVHD were 17.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.5%-35.5%) and 5.5% (95% CI, 0.8%-33.4%), respectively. The conditioning regimen, which included fludarabine, low-dose cyclophosphamide and, in most patients, single-dose irradiation was well tolerated; no fatal transplant-related toxicity was observed. With a median follow-up of 5.2 years (range, 0.3-8.7 years), the overall and event-free survival probabilities were 100% and 86.3% (95% CI, 62.8%-95.4%), respectively (2 graft failures and 1 case of poor graft function were considered as events). The 2 patients who experienced primary graft failure underwent a subsequent successful HSCT from the other parent. This is the first report of FA patients given TCRαβ+/CD19+-depleted haplo-HSCT in the context of a prospective trial, and the largest series of T-cell–depleted haplo-HSCT in FA reported to date. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01810120.

Background: WAS is a rare X-linked recessive disorder, characterized by thrombocytopenia with low platelet volume, recurrent infections, eczema, autoimmunity, vasculitis and increased incidence of malignancies. Patients with classical WAS have chronic morbidities, severely impaired quality of life and a decreased life expectancy. Allogeneic HSCT is the only well-established curative treatment, gene therapy being still an experimental approach. Excellent outcome have been reported in patients transplanted at early age from either matched related and unrelated donors, with 5-year overall survival (OS) exceeding 90%. However, experience with HLA-haploidentical HSCT is limited and has been historically associated with inferior results. Haploidentical HSCT after selective depletion of α/β+ T-cells and CD19+ B-cells (TBdepl-haploHSCT) was shown to be safe and effective in children with multiple types of non-malignant disorders (Merli et al, Blood Adv 2021). To further optimize this approach and accelerate the recovery of adaptive immunity, we conducted a phase I/II trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of post-transplant infusion of a titrated number of donor T-cells transduced with the inducible caspase-9 (iC9) suicide gene (BPX-501, or rivogenlecleucel, cells) in children with either malignant or non-malignant disorders (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02065869). We report the outcome of a cohort of 12 children affected by WAS who received a TBdepl-haploHSCT at our Center. Patients and methods: Between 2014 and 2021, 12 patients affected by WAS received a TBdepl-haploHSCT from an HLA-partially matched relative at Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù in Rome, Italy. Patients and transplant characteristics are depicted in Table 1. All patients received a myeloablative conditioning regimen, combining pharmacokinetic-adjusted busulfan with Thiotepa and Fludarabine. Pre-transplant anti-thymocyte globulins (from day -4 to day -2) were given to modulate bi-directional donor/recipient alloreactivity, while rituximab was administered on day -1 to prevent PTLD. No post-transplant pharmacological GvHD prophylaxis was employed. Eight subjects, enrolled in NCT02065869 trial, additionally received post-transplant infusion of BPX-501 cells (dose: 1x10 6 cells/kg) at a median time of 16 days after HSCT (range 12-20). Results: 11 patients achieved primary donor cell engraftment, while one patient experienced secondary graft failure (GF), likely triggered by CMV reactivation. Median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 15 (range 8-33) and 10 days (range 9-16), respectively. The patient with secondary GF was successfully re-transplanted with a second TBdepl-haploHSCT from the same donor. Grade I/II skin acute GvHD (aGvHD) occurred in 3 patients, the cumulative incidence of aGvHD being 25.9% (95% CI 0-47.7). None of these 3 patients required activation of iC9 with rimiducid and no cases of chronic GVHD (cGvHD) were observed. No patient died. With a median follow-up of 58 months (range 1 - 78), the 5-year probability of OS and event-free survival is 100% and 90.7% (95% CI 50.8-98.7), respectively. Considering the successful second allograft, the 5-year disease-free survival is 100%. Platelet recovery is reported in Figure 1A. Two months after the allograft, all evaluable subjects had a platelet count above 50.000/microL (median 202.000, range 53.000-353.000). All subjects but one have full donor chimerism at last follow-up, the remaining patient having stable mixed chimerism (40% of donor cells) without any WAS manifestation. All subjects with a follow-up of at least 6 months are independent of immunoglobulin replacement. Details on reconstitution of lymphocytes subsets are reported in Figure 1B,C,D. Conclusions: TBdepl-haploHSCT after Bu-based conditioning regimen is an highly-effective curative option for children with WAS, being characterized by high-engraftment rate with fast recovery of both neutrophils and platelets, low incidence of aGvHD and no occurrence of cGVHD. Given the prognostic impact of age in determining HSCT outcome in WAS and prompt availability of haploidentical family donors, our data suggest that this approach should be offered without delay to those patients with WAS who lack a matched donor. Infusion of BPX-501 cells contribute to accelerate the recovery of adaptive T-cell immunity, further increasing the safety of the procedure. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Merli: SOBI: Consultancy; JAZZ: Consultancy. Locatelli: Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio, Inc.: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyl: Honoraria.

Background: Pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes (MDSs) are a heterogeneous group of clonal disorders, accounting for less than 5% of childhood hematologic malignancies. Usual indications to HSCT are: MDSs with excess of blasts, MDSs secondary to previously administered chemoradiotherapy and RCC associated with monosomy 7, complex karyotype, severe neutropenia, or erythrocyte/platelet transfusion dependence [Locatelli & Strahm, Blood 2018]. We previously demonstrated that TBdepl-haploHSCT is a suitable option for children with acute leukemia, with outcomes comparable to those reported in studies using either an HLA-identical sibling or an unrelated volunteer as donor. Here we present the results of this approach in children with MDSs. Patients and methods: Between February 2013 and February 2021, 23 children with MDSs other than juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia received TBdepl-haploHSCT from an HLA-partially matched relative at Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Rome, Italy or at IRCCS Fondazione Policlinico San Matteo, Pavia, Italy as part of a prospective study (#NCT01810120). All patients were prepared to the allograft using a fully-myeloablative conditioning regimen including a combination of cytotoxic drugs and/or total body irradiation (TBI). Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin (ATLG) was used before transplantation (12 mg/kg total dose, from days -5 to day -3) to modulate bi-directional donor/recipient alloreactivity. Rituximab (200 mg/sqm) was administered on day -1 to prevent post-transplantation EBV-induced lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD). No patient received any post-transplant pharmacological GvHD prophylaxis. Results: Characteristics of patients enrolled in the study are shown in Table 1 (which reports also donor and graft characteristics). Median follow-up of surviving patients is 4.2 years (range: 0.5 - 8.5 years). Seventeen children were affected by refractory cytopenia of childhood (RCC) (2 cases occurring in the context of inherited bone marrow failure syndromes: one had GATA2 deficiency and the other SAMD9L mutation), while 1 and 5 were affected by MDS with excess of blasts 1 (EB1) and EB2 (one had GATA2 deficiency), respectively. Median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 14 (range 10-19) and 11 (range 9-14) days, respectively, with four patients (3 with RCC and 1 with EB2) experiencing primary graft failure, the cumulative incidence of this complication being 17.3% (95% CI 0.3-31.5). All these 4 patients were rescued with a second TBdepl-haploHSCT from the same or the other parent. Cumulative incidence of grade II-III acute GvHD was 11.4% (95% CI 0-25.2). One patient developed skin and gut GvHD after the second TBdepl-haploHSCT, while for all other patients skin was the sole organ involved; no case of grade IV GvHD was observed. One patient developed moderate chronic GvHD [cumulative incidence 5.2% (95% CI 0-14.8)], which completely resolved with low-dose steroids and ruxolitinib. Notably, no patient died for transplant-related complications. Six patients experienced CMV, 2 HHV-6 and 1 adenoviral infection/reactivation; one patient developed lung aspergillosis, which resolved with specific treatment. One patient affected by EB2, not in remission at time of transplant, relapsed 27 months after HSCT, the 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse being 7.1% (95% CI, 0-19.7); she eventually died after failing a second HSCT. The 5-year probability of overall and event-free survival were 92.3% (95% CI 56.6 -98.9) and 76.3% (95% CI 51.3-89.6) (Figure 1A and B), respectively. Five-year disease-free-survival was 90% (95% CI 47.3-98.5). Because of the low number of events, no prognostic factor related to OS and EFS was found. In particular, the MDS variant did not influence the patient's outcome. The median CD3+ cell count on day +30, +90, +180 and +360 were 113, 171, 558 and 1307/mcl, respectively. Conclusions: These data indicate that TBdepl-haploHSCT is a safe and effective transplant option also in children with MDS. Indeed, the low risk of both non-relapse mortality and acute/chronic GvHD makes this approach particularly attractive in the pediatric setting. Moreover, this haplo strategy compares favorably with T-cell replete approaches [Suo et al., 2020]. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Merli: JAZZ: Consultancy; SOBI: Consultancy. Locatelli: Miltenyl: Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio, Inc.: Consultancy; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Summary Herein, we demonstrate that HCMV miR-UL112-5p targets ERAP1, thereby inhibiting the processing and presentation of the HCMV pp65 495-503 peptide to specific CTLs. In addition, we show that the rs17481334 G variant, naturally occurring in the ERAP1 3′ UTR, preserves ERAP1 from miR-UL112-5p-mediated degradation. Specifically, HCMV miR-UL112-5p binds the 3′ UTR of ERAP1 A variant, but not the 3′ UTR of ERAP1 G variant, and, accordingly, ERAP1 expression is reduced both at RNA and protein levels only in human fibroblasts homozygous for the A variant. Consistently, HCMV-infected GG fibroblasts were more efficient in trimming viral antigens and being lysed by HCMV-peptide-specific CTLs. Notably, a significantly decreased HCMV seropositivity was detected among GG individuals suffering from multiple sclerosis, a disease model in which HCMV is negatively associated with adult-onset disorder. Overall, our results identify a resistance mechanism to HCMV miR-UL112-5p-based immune evasion strategy with potential implications for individual susceptibility to infection and other diseases.

Based on the clinical success observed in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) with chimeric antigen receptor engineered T (CAR T), we hypothesized that combining the specificity of a CAR with the innate allo-reactivity of KIR-mismatched NK cells might provide a powerful tool for adoptive cell therapy. The use of a third-party bank of CAR-NK cells offers the advantage of an immediate availability to be exploited in the allogenic setting and could be associated with a lower toxicity profile than CAR-T cells. In order to overcome regulatory and manufacturing hurdles associated with generation of CAR-NK cells, we developed a feeder-free culture resulting in a 3.2-log expansion after 20 days of culture. Specifically, natural cytotoxicity receptors (NCR) expressed on NK cells are stimulated in the presence of pleiotropic cytokines and expanded in GMP grade bioreactors. Expanded NK cells from healthy donors preserve a high percentage of CD56+ CD57- cells (85±13%), associated with high proliferative capability, and maintain the surface expression and the responsiveness of NCR and CD16. We proved that NK cells generated from 10 different healthy donors have high ability to recognize and eliminate different tumor types, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and ALL. After genetic modification with a retroviral vector encoding a CAR specific for CD19 antigen, transduction of activated NK cells averaged 38%±15% and the CAR.CD19 expression was stable over extended in vitro culture (60 days). Detailed phenotypic characterization of CAR-NK cells showed that CAR expression was not limited to the more mature NKG2A-/KIR+ cells, but rather was distributed across different NK subsets. We also demonstrated that NK and CAR-NK cells display significant anti-leukemia activity towards CD19+ leukemia and lymphoma cell lines (LCL 721.221, DAUDI and BV173) and primary blasts obtained from patients with B-cell precursor ALL (Bcp-ALL). Co-culture experiments using a 1:5 E/T ratio, showed that, while the anti-tumor activity was already remarkable with non-modified effector NK cells (60±30%, 71±33% and 54±23% of residual LCL 721.221, DAUDI and BV173 cells, respectively; p An in vivo model of leukemia xenograft immunodeficient mice was used to evaluate whether CAR-NK cells are associated with a lower toxicity profile compared to CAR-T cells. While the in vivo antileukemia activity was superimposable between CAR-T and CAR-NK cells (mouse bioluminenscence at 20 days, 4.9x105 vs 6.6x105 photons/second, respectively; p=n.s. Figure A), mice treated with two i.v. infusions (day 0 and day 15) of 10x106 CAR.CD19 NK cells had a 100% overall survival (OS of 5 out of 5 mice) at 50 days compared to 20% of mice (1 out of 5) receiving 10x106 CAR.CD19 T cells (Figure B; p=0.01). Cytokine plasma level monitoring, performed on day +7 and +30 after effector cell infusion in the absence of leukemia persistence (as evidenced by a lack of bioluminescence signal), showed that mice engrafted with CD19+ leukemia and treated with CAR.CD19-NK cells have lower levels of circulating hIFN-g cytokine compared to mice treated with CAR.CD19-T cells at both day 7 (42±82 vs 330±346 ng/ml; p=0.05) and day 30 (0.9±0.7 vs 4148±667 ng/ml; p=0.05). These in vitro and in vivo data demonstrate the feasibility of clinical scale feeder-free expansion of non-modified NK cells and stably transduced CAR-NK cells. Both non-modified and gene-modified cells were capable of significant tumor killing, suggesting a multi-modal adoptive cell approach to treatment of leukemia. Since NK cells have been shown to be safely used in third-party setting (St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, USA; NCT00640796), we suggest that ex-vivo expanded, feeder-free NK cells can be universally applied for 'off-the-shelf' immuno-gene-therapy, and that their innate allo-reactivity can be safely harnessed to potentiate allogeneic cell therapy. Figure. Figure. Disclosures Locatelli: Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyi: Honoraria; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is standard therapy for numerous hematological diseases. The use of haploidentical donors, sharing half of the HLA alleles with the recipient, has facilitated the use of this procedure as patients can rely on availability of a haploidentical donor within their family. Since HLA disparity increases the risk of graft-versus-host disease, T-cell depletion has been used to remove alloreactive lymphocytes from the graft. Selective removal of αβ T cells, which encompass the alloreactive repertoire, combined with removal of B cells to prevent EBV-related lymphoproliferative disease, proved safe and effective in clinical studies. Depleted αβ T cells and B cells are generally discarded as by-products. Considering the possible use of donor T cells for donor lymphocyte infusions or for generation of pathogen-specific T cells as mediators of graft-versus-infection (GvI) effect, we tested whether cells in the discarded fractions were functionally intact. Response to alloantigens and to viral antigens comparable to that of unmanipulated cells indicated a functional integrity of αβ T cells, in spite of the manipulation used for their depletion. Furthermore, B cells proved to be efficient antigen-presenting cells, indicating that antigen uptake, processing and presentation were fully preserved. Therefore, we propose that separated αβ T lymphocytes could be employed for obtaining pathogen-specific T cells, applying available methods for positive selection, which eventually leads to indirect allodepletion. In addition, these functional T cells could undergo additional manipulation, such as direct allodepletion or genetic modification.

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from an HLA-haploidentical relative (haplo-HSCT) is a suitable option for children with acute leukemia (AL) either relapsed or at high-risk of treatment failure. We developed a novel method of graft manipulation based on negative depletion of αβ T and B cells and conducted a prospective trial evaluating the outcome of children with AL transplanted with this approach. Eighty AL children, transplanted between September 2011 and September 2014, were enrolled in the trial. All children were given a fully myeloablative preparative regimen. Anti-T-lymphocyte globulin from day -5 to -3 was used for preventing graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); no patient received any posttransplantation GVHD prophylaxis. Two children experienced primary graft failure. The cumulative incidence of skin-only, grade 1-2 acute GVHD was 30%; no patient developed extensive chronic GVHD. Four patients died, the cumulative incidence of nonrelapse mortality being 5%, whereas 19 relapsed, resulting in a 24% cumulative incidence of relapse. With a median follow-up of 46 months for surviving patients, the 5-year probability of chronic GVHD-free, relapse-free survival (GRFS) is 71%. Total body irradiation-containing preparative regimen was the only variable favorably influencing relapse incidence and GRFS. The outcomes of these 80 patients are comparable to those of 41 and 51 children given transplantation from an HLA-identical sibling or a 10/10 allelic-matched unrelated donor in the same period. These data indicate that haplo-HSCT after αβ T- and B-cell depletion represents a competitive alternative for children with AL in need of urgent allograft. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01810120.

Background Virus-specific CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes from HLA-matched donors are effective for treatment and prophylaxis of viral infections in immune-compromised recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Adoptive immune reconstitution is based on selection of specific T cells or on generation of specific T-cell lines from the graft donor. Unfortunately, the graft donor is not always immune to the relevant pathogen or the graft donor may not be available (registry-derived or cord blood donors). Study Design and Methods Since the possibility of using T cells from a third-party subject is now established, we screened potential donors for T-cell responses against cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and adenovirus, the viruses most frequently targeted by adoptive immune reconstitution. Specific T-cell responses against viral antigens were analyzed in 111 donors using a miniaturized interferon-γ release assay. Results Responders to CMV were 64%, to EBV 40%, and to adenovirus 51%. Simultaneous responders to the three viruses were 49%. CMV-specific CD4 and CD8 T-cell lines could be generated from 11 of 12 donors defined as positive responders according to the T-cell assay. Conclusions These data demonstrate that a large fraction of volunteers can be recruited in a donor registry for selection or expansion of virus specific T cells and that our T-cell assay predicts the donors' ability to give rise to established T-cell lines endowed with proliferative potential and effector function for adoptive immune reconstitution.

Background: For children with AL candidate to receive an allograft and lacking a suitable HLA-matched donor, HLA-haplo-HSCT after abTCD may represent a valid alternative. Due to delayed recovery of adaptive T-cell immunity with abTCD-haplo-HSCT alone, we conducted a phase I/II trial testing the safety and efficacy of post-transplant infusion of a titrated number of donor-derived T cells transduced with the iC9 gene (rivogenlecleucel; ClinicalTrials.gov id: NCT02065869) in children with malignant and non-malignant diseases. Here, we report on the cohort of 70 patients with AL treated in Italy with abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel, comparing the results with those of 88 patients given abTCD-haplo-HSCT alone and previously published by our group (Blood 2018; 132:2594-2607). Patients and methods: Patients (age < 18 years) were transplanted between 2010 and 2018. Patient and disease characteristics are shown in Table 1. Median age at HSCT was 6 years (range 0.3-18), and median follow-up was 71 and 31 months for abTCD-haplo-HSCT and abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel, respectively. Compared to the control group, abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel recipients were transplanted more recently and from a younger donor, and received a higher number of CD34+ cells (Table 1). Diagnosis did not differ between the 2 groups, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) being the most frequent diagnosis. All patients were transplanted in morphological complete remission (CR1 and CR2) and received myeloablative preparation. Graft composition is reported in Table 1; notably all patients received >10x106 CD34+cells/Kg and Results: Graft failure occurred in 2% of patients in each group. Median time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment was 14 (6-23) and 11 (5-56) days, with no differences between groups (p=0.28). Rivogenlecleucel were infused at a median time of 21 days (range 11-59). Treatment was well tolerated; no infusion-related side effects were recorded. Cumulative incidence (CI) of 100-day grade II-IV acute GvHD was 18.9% vs 15.9% (p=0.77) and CI of 1-year chronic GvHD was 6.9% vs 5.7% (p=0.56) in abTCD-haplo-HSCT and abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel, respectively. The 4-year non-relapse-mortality (NRM) was significantly lower in abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel (1.4% vs 8%, p=0.05) (Figure 1). There was no statistically significant difference in the 4-year CI of relapse (RI) (17% vs. 25%, p=0.30), respectively. Disease recurrence was the most common causes of death in both groups, viral and fungal infections being the most frequent non-relapse fatalities. The 4-year overall survival (OS) and leukemia-free survival (LFS) was 70% vs 87%, p=0.01 (Figure 2) and 67% vs 82%, p=0.05, for abTCD-haplo-HSCT and abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel, respectively. There was no difference in 4-year CI of CMV reactivation between the 2 groups (p=0.68), median time to CMV reactivation being 29 and 30 days (p=0.29), respectively. Once infused, rivogenlecleucel expanded (mainly in the CD8+ subset), reaching a peak at 9 months after infusion. At 6-months, median CD3+, CD3/CD4, CD3/CD8, CD3-/CD56 and CD20/CD19 count/microL were 820, 265, 225, 141, 171, for abTCD-haplo-HSCT and 898, 294, 288, 214, and 161 for abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel, (p=ns, p=ns, p=0.02, p=0.03, p=ns), respectively. The advantage in the recovery of CD3/CD8 and CD3-/CD56 after abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel persisted at 1 year (p=0.01, p=0.03, respectively). In multivariable analysis, abTCD-haplo-HSCT+rivogenlecleucel was associated with better OS (HR 0.27, p=0.003) and LFS (HR 0.40, p=0.001); there was also a trend for lower relapse risk (HR 0.50, p=0.098). Age below the median value at HSCT (HR 2.62, p=0.01), CR1 at HSCT (HR 0.35, p=0.03) and use of irradiation in the conditioning regimen (HR 0.32, p=0.02) were other factors correlating with OS and LFS. Conclusions: These data confirm that the infusion of donor-derived rivogenlecleucel is safe and well tolerated. Rivogenlecleucel cells infusion contributed to enhance recovery of cytotoxic T and NK cells, improving patients NRM and OS/LFS. Rivogenlecleucel (with the possibility of inducing apoptosis of donor T cells) may facilitate the cellular therapy approaches aimed at optimizing immune recovery after HSCT. Disclosures Merli: Amgen: Honoraria; Bellicum: Consultancy; Novartis: Honoraria; Sobi: Consultancy. Algeri:Bluebird bio: Consultancy, Honoraria; Miltenyi: Honoraria; Atara Biotherapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria. Woodard:Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, Inc: Employment, Other: Stock, Stock options. Locatelli:Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyi: Honoraria; Amgen: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; BluebirdBio: Consultancy.

β-thalassemia is one of the most common monogenic blood disorders worldwide, and is highly prevalent in Mediterranean countries. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) has been the only curative treatment for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT; the most severe disease form) for many years, but it is limited by donor availability and has a significant risk of morbidity and mortality. We conducted a chart review of patients with β-thalassemia who underwent allo-HSCT (N=80) at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy, between March 2011 and August 2018. Median (range) age at allo-HSCT was 5.5 (0.3-20.0) years [ In total, 18 (22.5%), 28 (35.0%), and 34 (42.5%) patients received allo-HSCT from human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-identical sibling donors, HLA-haploidentical donors, and unrelated donors (fully matched donor: n=28, donor with a single HLA disparity: n=6), respectively. Of these donors, 42 (52.5%) were carriers for thalassemia-associated mutations. In total, 53 (66.3%) donors and 35 (43.8%) recipients were cytomegalovirus-positive. Bone marrow was the stem cell source in 51 cases (63.8%), while 28 patients received an alphabeta T-cell depleted peripheral blood haploidentical HSCT (35.0%); the remaining child (1.3%) received both bone marrow and cord blood from the same related donor. All patients continued to receive transfusions immediately after allo-HSCT; however, only 7 (8.8%) received a transfusion in the 3 to 12-month post-transplantation period (2 due to underlying disease; 5 due to other reasons including GI bleeding). Median (range) time to reach transfusion-free status was 3.8 (1.1-47.8) weeks. Median (interquartile range) hemoglobin levels at 6 and 12 months after allo-HSCT were 10.9 (10.2-11.9) and 11.9 (10.6-13.0) g/dL, respectively. The cumulative incidences of primary and secondary graft failure were 10.0% and 12.5% at 24 months (HLA-identical donor: 0% and 11.1%, haploidentical donor: 17.9% and 3.6%, unrelated donor: 8.8% and 20.6%). Eleven out of 14 patients experiencing graft failure were successfully rescued with a second allograft, while 2 patients were not retransplanted due to parental decision and 1 patient died after the engraftment of the second allograft. Eight patients developed grade II-IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and one patient developed moderate chronic GVHD. Cumulative incidence rates of grades II-IV and III-IV acute GVHD were 12.7% and 8.0% at 24 months (HLA-identical donor: 0% and 0%, haploidentical donor: 7.3% and 0%, unrelated donor: 23.8% and 18.8%). Three patients (3.8%) died of transplant-related causes (1 case each of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, sepsis, and multi-organ failure [the patient receiving the second allograft]) with a median (range) time from transplantation to death of 8.7 (3.7-11.0) months. Of these patients, all had been transplanted from an unrelated donor and 2 had reached sustained full-donor chimerism. The probability of overall and event-free (event defined as either death or primary/secondary graft failure) survival was 96.2% and 81.2% at 24 months (HLA-identical sibling donor: 100% and 88.9%, haploidentical donor: 100% and 78.6%, unrelated donor: 91.2% and 79.4%). The probability of thalassemia-free survival (event defined as either death or primary/secondary graft failure not rescued by a second allograft) was 93.7% at 24 months (HLA-identical sibling donor: 100%, haploidentical donor: 92.9%, unrelated donor: 91.2%). In this large single-center cohort of children with predominantly TDT, allo-HSCT led to beneficial outcomes for most patients, resulting in the discontinuation of transfusions with 93.7% of patients being thalassemia-free. Nevertheless, HSCT is still associated with GVHD, graft failure, and mortality, and only 22.5% of patients had an HLA-identical sibling donor, illustrating a key limitation of allo-HSCT. Emerging research is addressing such barriers to treatment. Disclosures Merli: Novartis: Honoraria; Sobi: Consultancy; Amgen: Honoraria; Bellicum: Consultancy. Algeri:Miltenyi: Honoraria; Atara Biotherapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bluebird bio: Consultancy, Honoraria. Gruppioni:Bluebird bio: Employment, Equity Ownership. Kommera:Bluebird bio: Employment, Equity Ownership. Maa:Bluebird bio: Employment, Equity Ownership. Locatelli:Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyi: Honoraria.

Survival rates of children with relapsed/refractory (r/r) BCP-ALL remain unsatisfactory and little progress has been made in the past 2 decades. Similarly, relapse of childhood B-NHL is usually associated with an aggressive disease and poor outcomes. Targeted immunotherapy with T-cells genetically modified to express a CD19-directed CAR showed an unprecedented antitumor efficacy, leading to the recent FDA and EMA approval of two CD19-CAR products for treatment of BCP-ALL and B-NHL. Relevant toxicities have, however, been reported, mainly related to the development of severe Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS) and/or of neurotoxicity. At Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù (OPBG) in Rome, we developed a clinical-grade, 2nd generation, CD19-specific CAR construct, including 4.1bb as costimulatory domain and the inducible caspase-9 safety switch (iC9-CD19-CAR), vehiculated by a retroviral vector, to conduct an academic, phase I/II clinical trial in patients (age 1-25 yrs) affected by BCP-ALL or B-NHL. We now report on the results of the phase I and of the first 8 patients treated in the phase II portion of the study, in terms of feasibility, toxicity, maximum tolerated/recommended dose (MTD/RD) and data on response rate and biological correlates. The phase I, dose-escalation portion of the study included 3 dose levels (DL), namely: DL1, 0.5×106; DL2, 1.5×106; DL3, 3.0×106 CAR+ T cells per kg of recipient body weight. In the phase II portion, patients were treated at the RD identified in the phase I, namely 3.0×106 CAR+cells/kg. All patients received a lymphodepleting regimen consisting of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide for 3 days and iC9-CD19-CAR T cells were subsequently administered as single infusion. Patients were monitored for toxicity, expansion and persistence of iC9-CD19-CAR T cells. Seventeen children were enrolled into the trial and received iC9-CD19-CAR T cells between January 2018 and June 2019. Data were analyzed as of July 20, 2019. The characteristics of the patients are detailed in table 1. The designed dose concentration was successfully produced for all the enrolled patients and we did not observe any production failure. The median transduction rate in the drug product was 54% (range 21-73), while the median vector copy number was 3.8 (range 2.8-6.2). During the phase I portion of the study, no dose limiting toxicities (DLTs) have been recorded, defining the MTD as 3.0×106 CAR+ T cells per kg of recipient body weight. The treatment was overall tolerated and all the toxicities were reversible, the most severe being grade 3-4 neutropenia, thrombocytopenia and/or anemia, occurring in 16/17 (94.1%) patients; in 13/16 patients (81.2%) the hematological toxicity developed before the infusion and persisted after the administration of CAR T cells. Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) occurred in 10/17 patients (58.8%) and was overall moderate, reaching grade 3 (Lee criteria) in one patient only. Notably, none of the patients developed neurotoxicity and no activation of the safety switch was required. All patients were assessed for response at 4 weeks from iC9-CD19-CAR T cell infusion and 13/15 (86.7%) patients with ALL achieved complete remission (CR) with negativity of minimal residual disease (MRD), including 2/3 patients receiving the DL1, 9 patients who had failed a previous allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) and 6 patients that had previously received blinatumomab, as CD19-directed immunotherapy. The iC9-CD19-CAR T cells expanded in vivo and were detectable by both flow-cytometry and molecular biology in the blood (Fig.1), bone marrow and cerebrospinal fluid of the responders. One CD19-negative relapse 3 months after infusion was recorded, while 3 additional patients relapsed with CD19+ leukemia blasts. Four patients received HSCT while in CR with MRD negativity because of regrowth of normal CD19+ B cells. The 18-month probability of overall survival for the BCP-ALL cohort is 72.2% (Fig.2). One of the 2 B-NHL patients showed a partial response. Our data indicate that iC9-CD19-CAR T cell in an academic setting is feasible, safe and extremely effective in treating highly resistant/relapsed BCP-ALL. In our trial, no major or life-threatening toxicities were observed and, despite the moderate CRS recorded, high rates of CR were achieved, suggesting that the combination of a retroviral platform and 4.1bb as costimulation is able to mediate a potent antitumor effect Disclosures Merli: Amgen: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Sobi: Consultancy; Bellicum: Consultancy. Algeri:Bluebird bio: Consultancy, Honoraria; Atara Biotherapeutics: Consultancy, Honoraria; Miltenyi: Honoraria. Locatelli:Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Miltenyi: Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

We report on the successful infusion of human adenovirus (HAdV)-specific T cells in a child with congenital amegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia, given T-cell-depleted hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from the HLA-haploidentical mother during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for severe HAdV-related respiratory failure. Donor-derived, interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting HAdV-specific T cells were enriched using the cytokine capture assay, after in vitro stimulation with overlapping peptides from the immunodominant HAdV5 hexon protein. Two weeks after T-cell transfer, viral load decreased and ECMO was discontinued. T-cell responses to HAdV antigens were documented after four weeks and were associated with viral clearance, immune reconstitution and clinical amelioration. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2014;61:376–379. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hematopoietic Stem Cells Transplantation (HSCT) is an effective treatment for hematological and non-hematological diseases. The main challenge in autologous HSCT is purging of malignant cells to prevent relapse. In allogeneic HSCT graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and opportunistic infections are frequent complications. Two types of graft manipulation have been introduced: the first one in the autologous context aimed at separating malignant cells from hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), and the second one in allogeneic HSCT aimed at reducing the incidence of GvHD and at accelerating immune reconstitution. Here we describe the manipulations used for cell purging in autologous HSCT or for T Cell Depletion (TCD) and T cell selection in allogeneic HSCT. More complex manipulations, requiring a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility, are briefly mentioned.

HLA-haploidentical family donors represent a valuable option for children requiring allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Because graft-versus-host diseases (GVHD) is a major complication of HLA-haploidentical HSCT because of alloreactive T cells in the graft, different methods have been used for ex vivo T cell depletion. Removal of donor αβ T cells, the subset responsible for GVHD, and of B cells, responsible for post-transplantation lymphoproliferative disorders, have been recently developed for HLA-haploidentical HSCT. This manipulation preserves, in addition to CD34+ progenitors, natural killer, γδ T, and monocytes/dendritic cells, contributing to anti-leukemia activity and protection against infections. We analyzed depletion efficiency and cell yield in 200 procedures performed in the last 3 years at our center. Donors underwent CD34+ hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) peripheral blood mobilization with granulocyte colony–stimulating factor (G-CSF). Poor CD34+ cell mobilizers (48 of 189, 25%) received plerixafor in addition to G-CSF. Aphereses containing a median of 52.5 × 109 nucleated cells and 494 × 106 CD34+ HSC were manipulated using the CliniMACS device. In comparison to the initial product, αβ T cell depletion produced a median 4.1-log reduction (range, 3.1 to 5.5) and B cell depletion led to a median 3.4-log reduction (range, 2.0 to 4.7). Graft products contained a median of 18.5 × 106 CD34+ HSC/kg recipient body weight, with median values of residual αβ T cells and B cells of 29 × 103/kg and 33 × 103/kg, respectively. Depletion efficiency monitored at 6-month intervals demonstrated steady performance, while improved recovery of CD34+ cells was observed after the first year (P = .0005). These data indicate that αβ T cell and B cell depletion of HSC grafts from HLA-haploidentical donors was efficient and reproducible.

Hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a standard procedure for treatment of malignant and non-malignant hematological diseases. HSCT donors include HLA-identical siblings, matched or mismatched unrelated donors and haploidentical related donors. Graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), mediated by donor alloreactive T-cells in the graft, can be triggered by minor histocompatibility antigens in HLA-identical pairs, by alleles at loci not considered for MUD-matching or by the mismatched haplotype in haplo-HSCT. Therefore, removal of donor T-cells, that contain the alloreactive precursors, is required, but T-cell depletion associates with opportunistic infections and with reduced graft-versus-leukemia effect. Selective T-cell depletion strategies have been introduced, like removal of αβ T-lymphocytes and of naive T-cells, two subsets including the alloreactive precursors, but the ultimate goal is specific removal of alloreactive T-cells. Here we review the different approaches to deplete alloreactive T-cells only and discuss pros and cons, specificity, efficiency and efficacy. Combinations of different methods and innovative approaches are also proposed for depleting specific alloreactive T-cells with high efficiency.

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from an HLA-haploidentical relative (haplo-HSCT) is a suitable option for children/young adults with acute leukemia (AL) either relapsed or at high-risk of treatment failure and in urgent need of an allograft. A novel method of graft manipulation based on the selective, negative depletion of αβ T and B cells has been recently developed. We published the results of a prospective trial (ClinicalTrial.gov identifier: NCT01810120) enrolling 80 children with AL transplanted until September/2014 using this approach (Locatelli, Blood 2017). In the present analysis, we update those results, evaluating also additional patients given haplo-HSCT after that date. Patients and methods: Analyzed are 111 children with AL enrolled in the trial; median age is 10 years (range 0.9-22.2). Eighty-two (74%) and 29 (26%) patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML), respectively; they were transplanted between 09/2011 and 05/2018. All children were transplanted in complete morphological remission and received a fully myeloablative preparative regimen. Details on patients' characteristics, as well as on the number of HSC and lymphocyte subsets infused, are shown in Table 1. The donor was mainly chosen according to immunological criteria, giving priority to NK-cell alloreactivity, evaluated according to the killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR)/KIR-Ligand mismatch in graft-versus-host direction model, KIR B haplotype, higher B-content score and size of NK alloreactive subset. Anti-T lymphocyte globulin (ATLG Grafalon®, Neovii Biotech) was administered at a dose of 12 mg/Kg from day -5 to -3 for preventing graft rejection and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). Moreover, to reduce the risk of EBV-related post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), on day -1, patients received rituximab (200 mg/m2) for in vivo depletion of both donor and recipient B cells. No patient was given any post-transplantation pharmacological GvHD prophylaxis. Results: Median follow-up of surviving patients is 47 months (range: 2 months - 7.7 years). All patients but two successfully engrafted and the median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 13 (range 9-22) and 11 (range 8-20) days, respectively. Acute GvHD occurred in 28 patients; it was of grade I and grade II severity in 9 and 19 patients, respectively. Skin was the sole organ involved in all patients but one, who had gut involvement. The cumulative incidence of grade I-II acute GvHD was 25% (95% confidence interval, CI, 17-33). Four out of the 91 patients at risk developed chronic GvHD, in all cases of limited severity, the cumulative incidence of this complication being 5% (95% CI, 1-9). Six patients died for transplant-related complications, this resulting into a 5-year cumulative incidence of transplant-related mortality (TRM) of 6% (95% CI, 2-11). Twenty-three patients relapsed at a median time of 186 days (range 60-1012) after transplantation, the 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse being 24% (95% CI, 16-33). The 5-year probability of overall and leukemia free survival (LFS) were both above 70%, as shown in Figure 1A and 1B, respectively. The 5-year probability of LFS in children with ALL and AML was 69% (95% CI, 57-79) and 73% (95% CI, 52-86), respectively (Figure 1C). Use of total body irradiation (TBI) during the preparative regimen was associated with better patient's outcome (Figure 1D), since it protected against the risk of leukemia recurrence [18% (95% CI, 10-28) vs. 45% (95% CI, 22-66) in patients who did or did not receive TBI, respectively, p Conclusions: This study, reporting long-term outcome of a large population of children/young adults with AL, confirms that αβ T- and B-cell depleted haplo-HSCT is an effective option for patients in need of an urgent allograft and lacking an HLA-identical donor. While TRM is impressively low, the main cause of treatment failure is leukemia recurrence, whose incidence can be lowered by the use of TBI during the conditioning regimen. The remarkably low risk of chronic GvHD renders the approach attractive also in terms of patient's quality of life. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Locatelli: Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyi: Honoraria.

In view of the exciting results reported in patients with CD19+ malignancies given CAR T cells, it is expected that a continuously growing number of patients will be offered this treatment and, thus, will be exposed to gene-modified products. Since the techniques of gene manipulation are relatively new, some of the risks associated to CAR T therapy may be unpredictable. Recently, two patients who relapsed with CD19-, CAR-expressing leukemia were reported, this observation being interpretable in light of an inadvertent leukemic cell transduction with the second generation CAR.CD19 lentivirus during CAR T cell manufacturing (Lacey, ASH, 2016 128:281). Immunoglobulin heavy chain sequencing analysis of 17 additional infusion products also identified the leukemic clonotypes in six additional products (86%). In vitro and in vivo experiments proved that these CAR+ leukemic clones were not killed by CAR.CD19 T cells (Ruella, ASH, 2017 130:4463). Since lentiviruses proved to be superior for transduction of quiescent hematopietic stem cells due to their ability to infect non-dividing cells, we hypothesized that CAR-T cell manufacturing based on the genetic modification of T cells by gammaretroviral vector could theoretically represent a safe approach. Peripheral blood or bone marrow (BM)-derived mononuclear cells of patients with >40% of blasts at diagnosis (CD45dim+/CD34+/CD19+/CD22+/CD10+), were transduced with a retrovirus encoding for a second generation CAR.CD19.41bb.z in frame with a suicide gene (i.e., inducible caspase 9, iC9) employed in the academic Clinical Trial (NCT03373071) run at the Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy. Patient-derived CAR-T cells showed a phenotype not significantly different from that found on CAR-T cells generated by healthy-donors (data not shown). In particular, we demonstrated that both flow-cytofluorimetry and RealTime-quantitative PCR (with a sensitivity up to 10-5) failed to identify leukemic cells in the final CAR-T cell products generated from Bcp-ALL patients. To generate an in vitro model of CAR+ leukemic cells, we genetically modified CD19+ RAJI and DAUDI cell lines with the bicistronic retroviral vector carrying both second generation CAR.CD19 and the suicide gene iC9 (iC9.CAR-RAJI and iC9.CAR-DAUDI). We demonstrated the possibility of promptlyeliminating CAR+ leukemic cells, through exposure to 20nM of AP1903 of iC9.CAR-DAUDI and iC9.CAR-RAJI cells. Indeed, very early activation (6 hours) of the suicide gene iC9 resulted into a significant reduction in the percentage of CAR+ RAJI leukemic cells (Fig.A). The presence of iC9.CAR.CD19 molecule on leukemic cells precluded the detection of the CD19 antigen, whereas cells retain the expression of all other specific B-lineage markers. CD19 antigen started to be detectable 72 hours after AP1903 exposurewhen CAR negative leukemic cells become preponderant. To demonstrate that CD19 antigen was not down-regulated, but only masked by CAR molecule in iC9.CAR-RAJI and iC9.CAR-DAUDI cell lines, we measured CD19 mRNA, showing no significant modification with respect to wild-type (WT) RAJI and DAUDI cell lines. Moreover, iC9.CAR-RAJI and iC9.CAR-DAUDI cell lines were effectively eliminated by CAR.CD19 T cells (12.5±13.7% and 3.4±4.3% residualleukaemia, respectively) at the same extent of WT cell line (0% and 0.08±0.1%, residual leukaemia, respectively; p>0.05 Fig.B). To assess if patient-derived iC9.CAR.CD19 T cells were able to generate leukemia in vivo mouse model, NSG female mice were infused i.v. with 10x106 CAR-T cells and control NT-T cells. Mice were monitored for a total period of 250 days, by recurrent bleed. Simultaneously, another cohort of mice was infused with patient-derived BM cells (5x106) and monitored for the same time. Mice infused with Bcp-ALL BM cells developed leukemia-phenotype,with 82% of cells expressing hCD45dim and hCD19. By contrast, mice receiving patient-derived CAR-T cells showed a lowpercentage of CD45+ cells (0.1±0.01%), all CD3+. Despite the long period of observation, we did not detect any expansion of hCD19+ cells in this animal cohort. Taken together these data suggest that the use of a retroviral platform, associated with the presence of iC9 suicide gene, contributes to the genesis of a highly functional and safe CAR-T product, even when the production starts from a biological material characterized by high contamination of leukemic blasts. Disclosures Locatelli: Amgen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Miltenyi: Honoraria; bluebird bio: Consultancy; Bellicum: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees; Novartis: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Mapping of antigenic peptide sequences from proteins of relevant pathogens recognized by T helper (Th) and by cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) is crucial for vaccine development. In fact, mapping of T-cell epitopes provides useful information for the design of peptide-based vaccines and of peptide libraries to monitor specific cellular immunity in protected individuals, patients and vaccinees. Nevertheless, epitope mapping is a challenging task. In fact, large panels of overlapping peptides need to be tested with lymphocytes to identify the sequences that induce a T-cell response. Since numerous peptide panels from antigenic proteins are to be screened, lymphocytes available from human subjects are a limiting factor. To overcome this limitation, high throughput (HTP) approaches based on miniaturization and automation of T-cell assays are needed. Here we consider the most recent applications of the HTP approach to T epitope mapping. The alternative or complementary use of in silico prediction and experimental epitope definition is discussed in the context of the recent literature. The currently used methods are described with special reference to the possibility of applying the HTP concept to make epitope mapping an easier procedure in terms of time, workload, reagents, cells and overall cost.

Cellular immune functions are impaired in hemopoietic stem cell and solid organ transplantation or in cancer and autoimmune diseases treated with intensified immunosuppression. Thus, control of opportunistic pathogens is lost and severe infections break out. Defective cellular immunity can be restored upon endogenous immunoreconstitution or, if delayed, exogenous immunoreconstitution with pathogen specific T-lymphocytes selected or expanded from appropriate donors can be applied. Here we describe how recent developments in basic immunology knowledge and techniques have accelerated progresses of clinical trials in this attractive field. In particular, methods for the identification of appropriate antigens, for selection and expansion of specific T-cells and for safer manipulation of cellular products have been applied with promising advances. Finally, the development of biobanks of specific T-cells is described as an attractive perspective to reconstruct pathogen specific cellular immunity.

Administration of pathogen-specific T-cell lines can reconstitute the cellular immune function of immunocompromised patients. Selection and expansion of specific T cells for reinfusion pose unique challenges owing to the fact that good manufacturing procedures must be implemented. Cytokine secretion-based methods can identify and select specific T cells. We showed here that it is possible to combine this method with procedures for cell handling performed in a sealed, unbreached system from start to end. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells, obtained from blood samples and processed in a sealed system, were stimulated in Teflon bags with a library of selected CD4 and CD8 peptides derived from the immunodominant cytomegalovirus protein pp65. The stimulated T cells were labeled with reagents for interferon-gamma surface capture and selected on a magnetic column using a sealed system connected to the Teflon bags. Elution and final expansion were also performed with an unbreached protocol with preservation of sterility even if the steps were run on the bench top. Expanded cells exhibited the appropriate functions. The use of this unbreached procedure proves that safety of cellular products generated in a good manufacturing procedures facility can be further improved. Similar sealed protocols can also be applied for T-cell therapies directed against tumor antigens.

The human promyelocytic cell line THP-1 expresses high level of HLA class II (HLA-II) molecules after IFN-gamma treatment. Here, we report a variant of THP-1 that does not express HLA-II after IFN-gamma. The variant's HLA-II phenotype is constant over time in culture and it is not related to a defective IFN-gamma-signalling pathway. Transfection of CIITA, the HLA-II transcriptional activator, under the control of a cytomegalovirus promoter rescues high level of HLA-DR surface expression in the variant indicating that the biosynthetic block resides in the expression of CIITA and not in the CIITA-dependent transactivation of the HLA-II promoters. Treatment of the variant with 5-azacytidine (5-aza), which inhibits CpG methylation, restores inducibility of HLA-II by IFN-gamma both at transcriptional and phenotypic level and antigen presenting and processing function of the variant. DNA studies demonstrate that the molecular defect of the THP-1 variant originates from the methylation of the CIITA promoter IV. Furthermore, treatment with 5-aza produces a substantial demethylation of CIITA promoter IV and a significant increase of IFN-gamma-dependent HLA-II expression in another myelomonocytic cell line, U937. Therefore hyper-methylation of CIITA promoter IV may be a relevant mechanism of epigenetic control preventing HLA-II IFN-gamma inducibility in the myelomonocytic cell lineage.

T helper (Th) cells and cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) play defined roles in the cellular immune response. This distinction wavered when Th lymphocytes were shown to kill antigen-presenting cells displaying the relevant antigen. Here we demonstrate that also the opposite can be true: CTL can exert helper functions. We noticed that certain CMV-specific CTL lines grew after antigen activation also without exogenous IL-2. These lines produced their own IL-2, which supported the expansion of other CTL and Th cell lines. High levels of helper cytokines like IL-4, IL-5 and IL-6 were detected in the culture supernatants. Thus, we set up a helper assay to study the functional interactions between T cells (or their supernatants) and B cells. Conditioned media from helper CTL lines induced secretion of antigen-specific antibodies by B cells pulsed with antigen as first signal. We conclude that it is possible to isolate CTL lines that exhibit helper functions for T cells and B cells. If this possibility is proven also in vivo, we should revise some of our views on the pathogenesis of diseases in which CD8 cells are key players, such as in viral infections, graft rejection and GVHD.

Measuring antigen-specific immune responses (MASIR) is essential for basic immunological research and in the clinical setting. Numerous techniques have been used and the recent years have witnessed a flourishing of flow cytometry based methods for the identification of antigen specific T cells, in addition to other methodologies. The second MASIR conference held in Santorini, Greece, from 14 to 18 June 2006 has been a forum for the discussion of methodological issues and for research or clinical applications of these techniques, as reviewed here. In addition to flow cytometry based techniques, other emerging techniques with different degrees of complexity can be applied. These novel methods are highly promising in numerous conditions to look for correlates of protection, to test responses to natural infections or to vaccination trials, to evaluate the immune status of immunocompromised patients and to monitor persistence and function of specific T cells administered as adoptive therapy.

NK cells expressing TIM-3 show a marked increase in IFNγ production in response to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blast cells that endogenously express Gal-9. Herein, we demonstrate that NK cell-mediated production of IFNγ, induced by TIM-3/Gal-9 interaction and released in bone marrow microenvironment, is responsible for IDO1 expression in AML blasts. IDO1-expressing AML blasts consequently down-regulate NK cell degranulation activity, by sustaining leukemia immune escape. Furthermore, the blocking of TIM-3/Gal-9 interaction strongly down-regulates IFNγ-dependent IDO1 activity. Thus, the inhibition of TIM-3/Gal-9 immune check point, which affects NK cell-dependent IFNγ production and the consequent IDO1 activation, could usefully integrate current chemotherapeutic approaches. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13045-015-0134-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) may inhibit T-cell functions in vitro and thus have been proposed as immunoregulators to control in vivo graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in haploidentical hemopoietic stem cell transplants. To better investigate this phenomenon, we used a defined experimental system in which responding T cells are antigen-specific and devoid of alloreactivity against BMSC from a different subject. Thus, we established antigen-specific human CD4 and CD8 T-cell lines as the readout system. Antigen-dependent proliferation was reduced with both T-cell subsets cultured on confluent BMSCs, and also on confluent human skin fibroblasts (HSF) inhibited T-cell proliferation with similar efficiency. Morphological observations of the cocultures showed impairment of physical interactions between T-cell and antigen-presenting cells in the presence of BMSC, with lack of formation of antigen-dependent clusters of T cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). In contrast, no effects were seen with BMSC-conditioned medium. Since suppression was seen only with confluent mesenchymal cells, this phenomenon may not be relevant in vivo, where BMSCs are at low frequency. In addition, if the reported suppressive effect of BMSCs on GVHD in vivo is confirmed, a different in vitro system should be envisaged to better understand and exploit the underlying mechanism.

BACKGROUND: Recent clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of adoptive cellular therapy with virus-specific lymphocytes in patients with defective cellular immune responses. Immunoreconstitution has become a challenge for cellular immunology and for transfusion medicine. In fact, both expertises are required to provide effective and safe cellular products. Because of in vitro manipulation, T-lymphocyte cultures are at risk of contamination even under good manufacturing procedure (GMP) conditions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: To further improve the quality of these GMP cellular products, a procedure was designed for purification, stimulation, and expansion of antigen-specific CD4 and CD8 T-lymphocytes in a sealed, unbreached system. Leukopacks from the blood bank that fulfill the requirements of a GMP product were the starting material. Gradient separation and washing were performed in bags with sterile connecting devices on the bench-top, as well as addition of ingredients (antigen, interleukin-2) or transfer to larger bags. RESULTS: The method is described in detail, and it is shown that increase in number of cytomegalovirus-specific CD4 or CD8 T-lymphocytes was similar to procedures based on open culture systems. Cell expansion after 4 weeks ranged from 800- to 2400-fold for CD4 lymphocytes and 300- to 900-fold for CD8 lymphocytes. Antigen specificity and loss of alloreactivity were demonstrated on the expanded cells with proliferation, intracytoplasmic interferon gamma-γ staining, cytolytic activity, and pentamer binding. CONCLUSION: This procedure can be applied to improve sterility under GMP conditions when T-cell lines are generated for adoptive immunotherapy and may increase biosafety for the staff when cell lines are generated from subjects infected with dangerous pathogens.

Cellular immunity against cytomegalovirus (CMV) is essential for recovery from infection and control of viral latency. In immunocompromised hosts, this balance between CMV and cellular immunity is lost. Accordingly, restoration of the CD8 compartment specific for CMV is beneficial for immunocompromised patients. It is clear that CMV-specific CD4 cells provide helper functions facilitating long-term persistence of CD8 cells. Considering the dearth of data on CMV-specific T-helper cells, we investigated the CD4 responses to the immunodominant protein pp65 to define antigenic peptides. Such peptides were pooled and used to generate long-term T-cell lines. The lines were responsive to CMV and pp65. T cells were selected with individual peptides to produce monospecific lines for accurate definition of fine epitope specificity and to confirm human leukocyte antigen HLA-DR restriction. Furthermore, these lines lost alloreactivity, suggesting that they can be generated from the allodonor for adoptive immunoreconstitution of stem cell graft recipients.

Accurate and timely diagnosis of community-acquired bacterial versus viral infections in children with systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) remains challenging both for clinician and laboratory. In the quest of new biochemical markers to distinguish bacterial from viral infection, we have explored the possible role of the soluble secreted form of ST2 (sST2).This explorative prospective cohort study included children with SIRS who were suspected of having community-acquired infections. Plasma samples for sST2 measurement were obtained from 64 hospitalized children, 41 of whom had SIRS of bacterial etiology and 23 SIRS of viral etiology, and from 20 healthy, age- and sex-matched control children. sST2 measurement was carried out by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in parallel with standard measurements of procalcitonin (PCT) and C reactive protein (CRP).Our findings demonstrate that children with SIRS associated with bacterial infection present significantly increased levels of sST2, when compared with patients with SIRS of viral etiology and healthy children. More important, receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicated that sST2 has a significant diagnostic performance with respect to early identification of SIRS of bacterial etiology, which was similar to that of PCT and greater than that of CRP. Finally, the combination of sST2 plus PCT and/or CRP, and PCT plus CRP increased their sensitivity and negative predictive value compared with sST2, PCT and CRP alone.In conclusion, sST2 level may prove useful in predicting bacterial etiology in children with SIRS.

Twenty-three children with nonmalignant disorders received HLA-haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT) after ex vivo elimination of αβ(+) T cells and CD19(+) B cells. The median number of CD34(+), αβ(+)CD3(+), and B cells infused was 16.8 × 10(6), 40 × 10(3), and 40 × 10(3) cells/kg, respectively. No patient received any posttransplantation pharmacologic prophylaxis for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). All but 4 patients engrafted, these latter being rescued by a second allograft. Three patients experienced skin-only grade 1 to 2 acute GVHD. No patient developed visceral acute or chronic GVHD. Cumulative incidence of transplantation-related mortality was 9.3%. With a median follow-up of 18 months, 21 of 23 children are alive and disease-free, the 2-year probability of disease-free survival being 91.1%. Recovery of γδ(+) T cells was prompt, but αβ(+) T cells progressively ensued over time. Our data suggest that this novel graft manipulation strategy is safe and effective for haplo-HSCT. This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as #NCT01810120.

Monitoring of antigen-specific T-cell responses is valuable in numerous conditions that include infectious diseases, vaccinations, and opportunistic infections associated with acquired or congenital immune defects. A variety of assays that make use of peripheral lymphocytes to test activation markers, T-cell receptor expression, or functional responses are currently available. The last group of assays calls for large numbers of functional lymphocytes. The number of cells increases with the number of antigens to be tested. Consequently, cells may be the limiting factor, particularly in lymphopenic subjects and in children, the groups that more often require immune monitoring. We have developed immunochemical assays that measure secreted cytokines in the same wells in which peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are cultured. This procedure lent itself to miniaturization and automation. Lymphoproliferation and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISPOT) assay have been adapted to a miniaturized format. Here we provide examples of immune profiles and describe a comparison between miniaturized assays based on cytokine secretion or proliferation. We also demonstrate that these assays are convenient for use in testing antigen specificity in established T-cell lines, in addition to analysis of PBMC. In summary, the applicabilities of miniaturization to save cells and reagents and of automation to save time and increase accuracy were demonstrated in this study using different methodological approaches valuable in the clinical immunology laboratory.

Background: Allogeneic HSCT from either an HLA-identical sibling or an unrelated donor is a potentially curative treatment for patients with hemoglobinopathies and erythroid disorders (ED), such as Thalassemia Major (TM), Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and Diamond-Blackfan Anemia (DBA). The limited historical experience with HLA-haploidentical HSCT in this setting has reported a disease-free survival probability lower than that reported using HLA-matched donors. In the last few years, we have developed a novel method of graft manipulation, based on the selective depletion of α/β+ T-cells and CD19+ B-cells (ClinicalTrial.gov identifier: NCT01810120), which was shown to be safe and effective in children with multiple types of non-malignant disorders (Bertaina el al, Blood 2014). To further optimize this approach through the acceleration of the recovery of adaptive immunity, we designed an ongoing phase I/II trial aimed to test the safety and efficacy of post-transplant infusion of donor T-cells transduced with the iC9 suicide gene (BPX-501 cells) in children with either malignant or non-malignant disorders (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02065869). As the transduced gene contains sequences for the CD19 marker, BPX-501 cells (CD3+/CD19+) can be easily tracked in peripheral blood. We report on 10 children with hemoglobinopathies and ED who were enrolled in the phase II portion of the study. Patients and methods: Five patients were males and 5 were females, and median age at diagnosis and at HSCT was 5.34 and 9.52 years (range 2.33-11.71), respectively. Seven patients had TM (all bo/bo), 2 DBA and 1 SCD. All 10 patients were transfusion-dependent and receiving iron-chelation therapy before haplo-HSCT. Among the thalassemia patients, 4 patients belonged to class I and 3 to class II of the Pesaro classification. All patients were transplanted from a parent. Median number of CD34+ and αβ+ T-cells infused was 22.5 x 106/kg and 0.3 x 105/kg, respectively. In all patients, conditioning regimen included busulfan (16 mg/Kg), thiotepa (10 mg/Kg) and fludarabine (160 mg/m2). Rabbit ATG (12 mg/Kg over 3 days, from day -4 to day -2) was administered to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and graft failure and Rituximab (200 mg/ m2 on day -1) was administered to prevent EBV-related lymphoproliferative disorders. No post-transplantation GvHD prophylaxis was given. Median follow-up is 301 days (range 41-420 days). Basic phenotyping of circulating lymphocytes was assessed by flow cytometry on fresh heparinized peripheral blood samples at 10, 20, 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 days post haplo-HSCT. Results: After haplo-HSCT, the median time to reach neutrophil and platelet recovery was 14 days (range 11-28) and 10 days (range 8-12), respectively. After engraftment of the allograft, BPX-501 cells were infused (dose: 1x106 cells/kg) at a median time of 13.5 days after HSCT (range 10-26). Nine of the 10 patients maintained sustained donor engraftment, reaching full chimerism. The patient who experienced secondary graft failure was successfully re-transplanted from the same parent and he is full donor chimeric with transfusion-independence. Grade I/II skin acute GvHD occurred in 2 patients (at 31 and 59 days after HSCT, respectively). There was no occurrence of chronic GVHD. Remarkably, no patient has died and none of the patients have been re-hospitalized after initial discharge. The last erythrocyte transfusion was administered on day +7 post-transplant (range 4-33 days). At last follow-up, the median hemoglobin value of these patients was 11.35 gr/dL (range 10.2-13.4). BPX-501 cells expanded after infusion and still persist in all patients at last follow-up. All children are alive and transfusion-independent. Details on T cell, NK cell and B cell recovery are shown in Figure 1 (Panel A-D). Conclusions: Children with hemoglobinopathies and DBA can benefit from curative haplo-HSCT after depletion of α/β T-cells followed by infusion of BPX-501 cells, which, expanding and persisting over time, contribute to speed immune recovery of adaptive T-cell immunity, thus rendering the procedure safer. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures French: Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees. Moseley:Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Background: Haplo-HSCT after depletion of α/β T and B cells is a suitable and effective option for those children with acute leukemia (AL) who need an allograft and lacking an immediately available HLA-identical donor. With this approach, recipients can benefit immediately after transplantation from the anti-leukemia effect mediated by donor natural killer (NK) and γd T cells, which can also protect against infections. A further improvement of the results achievable with this platform could achieved with a faster adaptive T-cell immunity recovery, which play a key role to augment the graft-versus-leukemia effect and the capacity to fight infections. In light of these considerations, we designed a phase I/II trial aimed at testing the safety and efficacy of post-transplant infusion of donor-derived T cells transduced with the new iC9 suicide gene (BPX-501) in children with either malignant or non-malignant disorders (NCT02065869). Remarkably, after the activation and transduction with the retroviral iC9 construct, BPX501 cells switch the phenotype towards a preferential CD45RO pattern. Patients and methods: The phase I portion of the trial consisted of a classical 3+3 design with 3 cohorts, receiving escalating doses of BPX-501 cells of 2.5x105, 5x105, and 1x106 cells/kg, respectively. Patients included in the phase II portion were planned to receive the recommended dose identified during the phase I part of the study.Enrollment of patients started in December 2014; so far, 25 patients with AL in morphological complete remission (CR) have been enrolled. Twenty patients had acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and 5 acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Details on patient, donor and transplant characteristics are reported in table 1. All patients transplanted in CR1 had either poor cytogenetic/molecular characteristics or high levels of minimal residual disease at the end of induction therapy, both factors predicting a high relapse rate. All patients were given a fully myeloablative conditioning regimen (table 1). Before haplo-HSCT, children received rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG NEOVII, 12 mg/Kg over 3 days, from day -4 to day -2) to prevent both graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and graft failure, and Rituximab (200 mg/ m2 on day -1) to prevent EBV-related lymphoproliferative disorders. No post-transplantation GvHD prophylaxis was administered. Results: All patients engrafted and no secondary graft failure was recorded. Median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 18 days (range 10-22) and 11 days (range 9-13), respectively. Once documented the engraftment of donor cells, BPX-501 T lymphocytes were infused at a median time of 17 days (range 13-52) after the allograft. Two patients were enrolled in the phase I portion of the study; one each received 2.5x105 and 1x106 cells/kg. The remaining 23 children were treated in the phase II, where the recommended dose was 1x106 cells/kg. However, since we did not observe any acute GvHD requiring the infusion of the dimerizing agent (Rimiducid/AP1903) activating iC9 gene in the first 15 children receiving 1x106 cells/kg, we decided to emend the protocol to further increase the BPX501 cell dose infused to 2 and 4x106 cells/kg. Thus, the last 6 patients were enrolled in these 2 last dose levels (3 patients each). Six and 3 patients developed grade II-IV acute and chronic GvHD, respectively. In one child, given 4x106 cells/kg, we infused rimiducid for steroid-resistant grade II skin acute GvHD, with complete resolution of the disease in 24 hours. The cumulative incidence of grade II-III acute and chronic GvHD are shown in figure 1A and B, respectively. Median follow-up of these 25 children is 8 months (range 1-19 months). One of them died due to chronic GvHD-associated bronchiolitis obliterans and one child with ALL transplanted in CR2 relapsed; the cumulative incidence of non-relapse mortality and leukemia recurrence are shown in figure 1C. The probability of disease-free survival at 15 months is 87% (figure 1D). Once infused, BPX501 cells expanded and persisted over time in both peripheral blood and bone marrow. Conclusion: Overall, these data indicate that the infusion of BPX-501 cells in children with AL given selectively manipulated haplo-HSCT results in low non-relapse mortality and chronic GvHD. Although the median observation time is still limited, the cumulative incidence of disease recurrence is promising. Table 1 Table 1. Figure 1 Figure 1. Disclosures Stanson: Bellicum pharmaceuticals: Employment. Moseley:Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Background: We previously reported that haplo-HSCT after depletion of α/β T cells / CD19 B cells is a suitable option for patients with PIDs, with a high success rate (Bertaina et al., Blood 2014). However, in many patients, we observed a delay in the recovery of adaptive immunity, sometimes resulting in life-threatening or even fatal events, providing the rationale for exploring an innovative approach based on the post-transplantation infusion of donor T cells, genetically modified with the novel suicide gene iC9 (BPX-501 cells), with the aim of accelerating reconstitution of adaptive immunity. As the transduced gene contains sequences for the CD19 marker, BPX-501 cells (CD3+/CD19+) can be easily tracked in peripheral blood. Patients and study design: In this multicenter, prospective phase I-II trial (enrolling both malignant and non-malignant diseases; sponsored by Bellicum Pharmaceuticals®, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02065869) 20 children with PIDs have been enrolled. Nine children had Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID), 5 Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), 2 Chronic Granulomatosis Disease (CGD) and one each of 4 other PIDs detailed in Table 1, which also reports relevant patient-, donor- and transplant- characteristics. All patients were transplanted after depletion of donor α/β T cells and CD19 B cells, employed to prevent graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders (PTLD). Details on cell subsets infused with the graft are reported in Table 1. No patient was given any post-transplantation GvHD prophylaxis. The phase I portion of the trial consisted of a classical 3+3 design with 3 cohorts, with escalating doses of BPX-501 cells of 2.5x105, 5x105, and 1x106 cells/kg, respectively. Patients in the phase II portion received the highest dose identified during the phase I portion (1x106 cells/kg). Results: All patients engrafted and no secondary graft failure was recorded. The median time to neutrophil and platelet recovery was 16 (range 11-35) and 10 days (range 7-14), respectively. BPX-501 cells were infused at a median time of 15 days (range 13-56) after the allograft. Four patients were enrolled in the phase I portion of the study; one received 2.5x105 and 3 received 1x106 cells/kg. The remaining 16 children were treated in the phase II part, with a dose was 1x106 cells/kg. Five children experienced Grade I (3 patients) or Grade II (2 children) acute GvHD, which resolved with either topical or systemic steroids in 3 patients. The other 2 cases resolved after the infusion of Rimiducid (AP1903) which activated the iC9 suicide gene. The cumulative incidence of acute GvHD is shown in Figure 1A. Two of the 17 patients at risk (i.e. those with a follow-up longer than 100 days after transplantation) developed mild (skin only) chronic GvHD. The median time to discharge was 36 days (range 26-180). Eight patients (40%) experienced one episode of re-hospitalization after initial discharge. After a median follow-up of 10 months (range 50 days-20 months), all patients are alive and disease-free. Details on expansion/persistence of BPX-501 cells, as well as on recovery of CD3+ cells are shown in Figure 1B and 1C, respectively. Ig serum levels of SCID patients at 6 and 12 months after transplant are depicted in Figure 1D. The median follow-up for WAS patients is 510 days (124-531 days) and their median platelet count at 1, 3 and 12 months after haplo-HSCT was 136 (range 48-168), 204 (range 98-280) and 143 (117-365) x109/L, respectively. One SCID patient who developed BCG bacterial dissemination after the allograft resolved this infection and 3 patients (2 with SCID and one with WAS) cleared cytomegalovirus (2 children) or Adenovirus (one child) infections pre-existing at time of conditioning regimen. Conclusions: These results indicate that haplo-HSCT, after depletion of α/β T cells and B cells followed by adoptive infusion of donor BPX-501 cells, is an effective alternative for those children with PIDs in need of an urgent allograft or lacking a suitable HLA-matched donor. BPX-501 cells expand in vivo and persist over time, contributing to fasten the recovery of adaptive T-cell immunity and to clear infections. In view of the absence of fatalities and of the low rate of mild chronic GvHD, we conclude that infusion of BPX-501 T cells with the iC9 cell-suicide system may potentially render haplo-HSCT a first-line option for children with PIDs. Table 1. Table 1. Figure 1. Figure 1. Disclosures Qasim: Cellectis: Research Funding; Autolus: Consultancy, Equity Ownership, Research Funding; Catapult: Research Funding; Calimmune: Research Funding. Slatter:Medac: Other: Travel grants. Moseley:Bellicum Pharmaceuticals: Employment, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees.

Department of Molecular Biology, University of Siena, Siena, ItalyAntagonism is the ability of a modified antigenic peptide (altered peptide ligand, APL) to pre-vent CD4 T cell activation by the original peptide. Here we show that antagonistic activitycan be conferred to peptides of HIV envelope glycoprotein gp120 and reverse transcriptasep66 by adding flanking polypeptide sequences at the C or at the N terminus by genetic engi-neering, rather than by introducing substitutions by synthesis. The glutathione S-transferase(GST)-peptide system has been used to produce molecules that display the peptide at theappropriate end of the GST carrier. When the gp120 peptide 191–205 (pep24) wasexpressed at the C terminus of GST (GST-24), antigenicity of specific human CD4 T cells wasmaintained. In contrast, when the peptide was expressed at the N terminus of GST (24-GST), antigenicity was abolished and antagonistic activity was introduced. Similar resultswere obtained with a p66-derived peptide at the C terminus of the GST carrier. Antagonismwas (1) specific; proliferation of a CD4 T cell line from the same donor responding to theenvelope glycoprotein of another retrovirus, HTLV-1, was not affected; (2) reversible; prolifer-ative response was rescued in T cells exposed to antigen-presenting cells (APC) pulsed withthe antagonist; (3) dominant; T cells cultured with APC pulsed with the agonist and with APCpulsed with the antagonist did not proliferate. The carrier could be cleaved by proteolysiswhile the antagonistic activity was preserved. Thus a minimal sequence that confers antago-nistic activity can be engineered or synthesized with peptides to antagonize undesired CD4responses as an alternative to the use of APL.