THERAPEUTIC VACCINE FOR TREATMENT OF DIABETES TYPE 1 IN CHILDREN, APPLICATION OF THE CELL SORTER AND THE METHOD OF MULTIPLYING TREG CELLS TO PRODUCE THERAPEUTIC VACCINE FOR TREATMENT OF DIABETES TYPE 1

Abstract

The gist of the invention consists in the therapeutic vaccine for treatment of diabetes type 1 in children, which contains Treg cells CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?). Claimed too is the cell sorter used to produce the vaccine and the method of multiplying Treg cells in vitro.

Claims

1-6. (canceled)

7. A method of expanding a population of CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells comprising: providing CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells, propagating the CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells ex vivo in medium supplemented with interleukin-2 and autologous inactivated serum in the presence of artificial cells that present an antigen for 7-14 days to produce an expanded a population of CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells are isolated by labeling isolated T lymphocyte cells with monoclonal antibodies and sorting the T lymphocyte cells using a sorting device.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the sorted cells comprise a Treg cell population having a purity of at least 97%.

10. The method of claim 7, the artificial cells are in the shape of a magnetic sphere and are coated by anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies.

11. The method of claim 7, comprising propagating the CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells ex vivo with 1000 U/ml interleukin-2 and 10% autologous inactivated serum.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein more than 90% of the expanded population of CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells express factor FoxP3.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein more than 90% of the expanded population of CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells express factor FoxP3.

14. A population of expanded CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells produced by the method of claim 13.

15. The population of expanded CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells of claim 14, from which the artificial cells that present an antigen have been removed.

16. The population of expanded CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells of claim 15, which have been resuspended in 0.9% Nacl.

17. A pharmaceutical product comprising the population of expanded CD3(+)CD4(+)CD25(high)CD127(?) autologous Treg cells of claim 16.

18. The pharmaceutical product of claim 17, wherein administration of the pharmaceutical product to the donor of the autologous Treg cells in an amount between 10?10.sup.6 cells/kg body weight and 30?10.sup.6 cells/kg body weight results in an increase in the C-peptide level in the donor at 5 months after the administration.

Description

THE FIGURES

[0021] FIG. 1presents the level of Treg cells CD3+CD4+CD2ShighCD127-FoxP3+ in children suffering from diabetes type 1, subject to the Treg cell therapy (n=10) over four months' observation. The value at point ?10 days represents the day the blood was drawn for Treg cell isolation. The grey columns present the results obtained for children not administered the Treg lymphocyte infusion (control group; n=10). The values are given at their median, minimum, and the maximum levels. The statistically significant values (p<0.05) are marked with *.

[0022] FIG. 2presents the C-peptide, the daily insulin dose/kg BW(DDI/kg), and the HbA1C in the tested children with diabetes type 1, subject to the Treg cells therapy (n=10) over the four months' observation. The results for the patients not administered the cell preparation (control group; n=10) are presented in grey columns. The values are given at their median, minimum, and the maximum levels, and the statistically significant values (p<0.05) are marked with *.

[0023] The invention is illustrated with the following embodiment, which is exemplary, i.e. not limiting in nature.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT

[0024] 250 ml of peripheral blood was sampled from each patient with the assistance from an anaesthesiologist. In the case of children whose body weight was less than 50 kg the sampled blood volume accounted for 0.5% of the body weight (BW). This concerns patients under the age of 18.

[0025] The collected blood was processed at the Regional Centre of Blood Donation and Treatment in Gdansk to extract the huffy coat and serum. Isolated from the buffy coat were peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) through centrifuging in the Ficoll/Uropolin concentration gradient. Lymphocytes T CD4+ were then separated by the immunomagnetic method (separation purity: 96-99%) using the CD4+ T enrichment kit and marked with the following monoclonal antibodies (mAb): anti-CD3, anti-CD4, anti-CDS, anti-CD19, anti-CD14, anti-CD16, anti-CD25, and anti-CD127 (Sul mAb/10.sup.6 cells). Among the listed antibodies those which recognize antigens CD14, CD16, CD19, and CDS were conjugated with the same dye. The purpose of that dying scheme was to exclude the cells positive with respect to the listed antigens (i.e. monocytes, NK cells, lymphocytes Band cytotoxic T lymphocytes) without the need to introduce additional fluorochromes, which reduces the undesirable phenomenon of fluorescent spectra overlapping. Then, the cells were sorted to separate Tregs using a sorting cytometer to the algorithm sorting the following phenotype:

[00003]$\mathrm{CD}3(+)\mathrm{CD}4(+)\mathrm{CD}2S\left(\mathrm{high}\right)\mathrm{CD}127(-)\mathrm{doublet}(-)\mathrm{lineage}(-)\mathrm{dead}(-).$

The adopted exemplary dying scheme (antibody; dye name acronym, full name of the dye) [0026] antiCD127 FITC (Fluorescein isothiocyanate) [0027] antiCD25 PE (phycoerythrin) [0028] antiCD16 PerCP (Peridinin Chlorophyll Protein Complex) [0029] antiCD19 PerCP (Peridinin Chlorophyll Protein Complex) [0030] antiCD8 PerCP (Peridinin Chlorophyll Protein Complex) [0031] antiCD14 PerCP (Peridinin Chlorophyll Protein Complex) [0032] antiCD4 APC (allophycocyanin) [0033] antiCD3 Pacific Blue/Pacific Blue
or equivalents evoked to emit fluorescent light in similar spectrum ranges.

[0034] The purity of the thus isolated Treg cells was ?100% [median(min-max): 98% (97-99)]. An important modification compared to our earlier procedure consisted in applying the Influx cell sorter designed in accordance with the good manufacturing practices (GMP). The sorter is fitted with a replaceable sample flow line, which eliminates the risk of sample cross-contamination among the patients. Moreover, applied was the CellGro medium meeting the GMP standards or X-VIVO. The medium was supplemented with autological inactivated serum (10%) and interleukin-2 (1000 U/ml). Introduced into the culture were the so-called antigen-presenting artificial cells [magnetic beads coated with anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 antibodies in the 1:1 proportion. The cells were cultivated until the appropriate number was attained, though no longer than for 2 weeks [median(min-max): 10 days (7-12)].

[0035] The above indicated modifications allowed the attainment of substantially improved stability and quality of the cultured Treg cells in the final product. The actual application of the preparation in therapy was conditional on satisfaction of the following criteria: factor FoxP3 expression above 90% [median(min-max)=93%(90-97)], positive result of the IFNy production inhibition test, and negative results of microbiological testsno genetic material of the HBV, HCV, or HIV viruses, and no bacterial contamination in the culture supernatants. Before infusion, the cells were washed with PBS, the magnetic beads removed, and administered in slow intravenous injection in 250 ml 0.9% NaCl under supervision of the anaesthesiologist within 1 h after the product release. The therapeutic dose was 20?10.sup.6/kg BW (n=6), or 10?10.sup.6/kg BW (n=4; whenever no higher number of cells had been achieved upon cultivation for 2 weeks), or 30?10.sup.6/kg body weight. The control group was made up of patients who met all above-listed criteria of inclusion in the test, except for appropriate venous access, hence were not treated with the Treg vaccine. The test was not randomised, nor was there a blank sample introduced, and the children of the control group were not subject to any medical intervention related to the pending tests (blood sampling, simulated transfusion, or the like). Table 1 provides the characteristics of the tested groups. The test endpoints were as follows: the fasting C-peptide level, the HbA1c concentration, the insulin requirement, especially the daily dose (DDI)=0.SUI/kg BW adopted as the remission indicator. The test was conducted in accordance with the procedure approved by the Independent Research Bioethics Committee at the Medical University of Gdansk (NKEBN/8/2010). A written consent to the above procedure was obtained from each patient and the parents.

[0036] None of the patients was observed to develop any serious infections, episodes of acute hyper-/hypoglycaemia, or any other undesirable side effects of the Tregs vaccine at any time over the test period. In case of one patient the Treg cell infusion date coincided with flu diagnosed a day after the Treg cells had been administered.

[0037] Beginning on the infusion date and continuously afterwards the recorded Treg lymphocyte percent level in the peripheral blood was significantly increased (Wilcoxon test, p=0.04) (FIG. 1).

[0038] Two weeks after the Treg cell infusion all patients subject to the therapy were observed to demonstrate substantially reduced demand for exogenous insulin and a reduced HbA1c level (FIG. 2).

[0039] The first significant differences between the test group and the patients of the control group were observed six months after formulation of the diabetes diagnosis (5-6 months after the Treg cell infusion). The treated patients continued in the remission phase [DDI median(min-max)=0.24 UI/kg BW (0-0.55)], whereas the control group experienced the end of remission [DDI median(min-max)=0.55 UI/kg BW (0.43-0.69)] (Mann-Whitney U test, p=0.03). In addition, the children treated with Treg cells proved to have a significantly higher level of C-peptide [median(min-max): 0.65 ng/ml (0.46-2.11) vs. 0.40 ng/ml (0.15-0.54)] (Mann-Whitney U test, p=0.04) (FIG. 3). No differences with respect to therapy effectiveness were observed in the patients who had been administered Treg cells dosed at 20?10.sup.6/kg BW or 10?10.sup.6/kg BW. Therefore, all results of the test group are presented en block.

LITERATURE

[0040] 1. Marek N, Krzystyniak A, Ergenc I, Cachet O, Misawa R, Wang L J, Golqb K, Wang X, Kilimnik G, Hara M, Kizilel S, Trzonkowski P, Millis J M, Witkowski P. Coating human pancreatic islets with CD4(+)CO25(high)CD127(?) regulatory T cells as a novel approach for the local immunoprotection. Ann Surg. 2011; 254(3):512-8; discussion 518-9. [0041] 2. Marek N, Bieniaszewska M, Krzystyniak A, Juscinska J, Mysliwska J, Witkowski P, Hellmann A, Trzonkowski P. The time is crucial for ex vivo expansion of T regulatory cells for therapy. Cell Transplant. 2011 (20):1747-1758; [0042] 3. Trzonkowski P. All roads lead to T regulatory cells. Transplantation. 2011; 91(2):150-1. [0043] 4. Trzonkowski P, Bieniaszewska M, Juscinska J, Dobyszuk A, Krzystyniak A, Marek N, Mysliwska J, Hellmann A First-in-man clinical results of the treatment of patients with graft versus host disease with human ex vivo expanded CD4+CD25+CD127? T regulatory cells. Clin Immunol. 2009; 133(1):22-6. [0044] 5. Trzonkowski P, Szarynska M, Mysliwska J, Mysliwski A Ex vivo expansion of CD4(+)CD25(+) T regulatory cells for immunosuppressive therapy. Cytometry A 2009; 75(3):175-88. [0045] 6 Ryba M, Marek N, Hak t, Rybarczyk-Kapturska K, Mysliwiec M, Trzonkowski P, Mysliwska J. Anti-TNF rescue CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in patients with type 1 diabetes from effects mediated by TNF. Cytokine. 2011; 55(3):353-61. [0046] 7. Trzonkowski P, Szmit E, Mysliwska J, Mysliwski A CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells inhibit cytotoxic activity of CTL and NK cells in humans-impact of immunosenescence. Clin Immunol. 2006; 119(3):307-16. [0047] 8. & Trzonkowski P, Szmit E, Mysliwska J, Dobyszuk A, Mysliwski A CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells inhibit cytotoxic activity of T CDS+ and NK lymphocytes in the direct cell-to-cell interaction. Clin Immunol. 2004; 112(3):258-67. [0048] 9. Trzonkowski P, Zaucha J M, Mysliwska J, Balon J, Szmit E, Halaburda K, Bieniaszewska M, Mlotkowska M, Hellmann A, Mysliwski A Differences in kinetics of donor lymphoid cells in response to G-CSF administration may affect the incidence and severity of acute GvHD in respective HLA-identical sibling recipients. Med Oncol. 2004; 21(1):81-94. [0049] 10. Golqb K, KrzystyniakA, Marek-Trzonkowska N, Misawa R, Wang L J, Wang X, Cochet O, Tibudan M, Langa P, Millis J M, Trzonkowski P., Witkowski P. Impact of culture medium on CD4+ CD25highCD127lo/neg Treg expansion for the purpose of clinical application. Int Immunopharmacol. 2013. doi:pii: S1567-5769(13)00058-1. 10.1016/j.intimp.2013.02.016

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 CLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PATIENTS Untreated Treg treated control group (n = 10) (n = 10) Age (years) 12.2; 8-16 11.8; 7-16 [median; min-max] BMI [median; min-max] 16,9; 14.2-21.5 16.9; 14.2-20.7 Glycaemia on empty 354; 151-588 354; 151-598 stomach at diagnosis (mg %) median; min-max] Polydipsia at diagnosis 5 8 (number of patients) Polyuria at diagnosis 5 8 (number of patients) Body weight loss at 4 3 diagnosis (number of patients) Capillary blood pH at 7.39; 7.36-7.46 7.39; 7.34-7.53 diagnosis [median; min-max] Capillary blood pO.sub.2 at 69.3; 63.4-88.0 69.0; 56.9-86.2 diagnosis (mmHg) [median; min-max] Capillary blood pCO.sub.2 39.1; 28.0-41.8 38.0; 24.0-41.0 at diagnosis (mmHg) [median; min-max] HCO.sub.3 at diagnosis 23.85; 18.8-25.0 23.3; 21.3-25.2 (capillary blood-mmHg) [median; min-max] Acid base balance ?0.55; ?7.8-1.0 ?0.6; ?7.0-0.9 (BE-mEq/l) [median; min-max] Capillary blood Sat02 at 94.1; 90.2-97.3 95.5; 92.4-98.0 diagnosis (%) [median; min-max] Ig anti-GAD65 10 10 (number of patients) Ig anti-ICA 5 5 (number of patients) Ig anti-IAA 9 8 (number of patients)