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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1993 Jan 15;90(2):720–724. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.2.720

Specific activation and targeting of cytotoxic lymphocytes through chimeric single chains consisting of antibody-binding domains and the gamma or zeta subunits of the immunoglobulin and T-cell receptors.

Z Eshhar 1, T Waks 1, G Gross 1, D G Schindler 1
PMCID: PMC45737  PMID: 8421711

Abstract

The generation of tumor-specific lymphocytes and their use in adoptive immunotherapy is limited to a few malignancies because most spontaneous tumors are very weak or not at all immunogenic. On the other hand, many anti-tumor antibodies have been described which bind tumor-associated antigens shared among tumors of the same histology. Combining the variable regions (Fv) of an antibody with the constant regions of the T-cell receptor (TCR) chains results in chimeric genes endowing T lymphocytes with antibody-type specificity, potentially allowing cellular adoptive immunotherapy against types of tumors not previously possible. To generalize and extend this approach to additional lymphocyte-activating molecules, we designed and constructed chimeric genes composed of a single-chain Fv domain (scFv) of an antibody linked with gamma or zeta chains, the common signal-transducing subunits of the immunoglobulin receptor and the TCR. Such chimeric genes containing the Fv region of an anti-trinitophenyl antibody could be expressed as functional surface receptors in a cytolytic T-cell hybridoma. They triggered interleukin 2 secretion upon encountering antigen and mediated non-major-histocompatibility-complex-restricted hapten-specific target cell lysis. Such chimeric receptors can be exploited to provide T cells and other effector lymphocytes, such as natural killer cells, with antibody-type recognition directly coupled to cellular activation.

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Selected References

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