- Neoantigen targeting – Emily & Ben
- LNP – Targeting Antigen Specific T Cell – Joseph
- Polymer Base Approaches – Sidney, Manav, Sujin
Neoantigen Targeting
Immunotherapies utilizing patient tumor neoantigens are the future of personalized cancer treatments. However, there are many barriers to therapeutic development of neoantigens, including challenges with their selection and immunogenicity and a lack of modular treatment platforms for incorporating these peptides. We have previously developed artificial antigen-presenting cell (aAPC) nanoparticles that present peptide-MHC complexes and anti-CD28 antibodies for the expansion of antigen-specific T cells. Through preliminary data on a lung cancer patient, we have demonstrated a workflow for selecting patient-specific neoantigens by screening candidate peptides in healthy donor samples and applying these tumor neoantigens to aAPCs for expansion of patient CD8+ T cells. We aim to validate this process in other cancers using additional patient samples and characterize the cytotoxic function of expanded T cells. These studies will advance translation of patient-specific cancer immunotherapies
