Comparability of EBV-specific T cells generated using
GMP-compliant reagents.
The SNBTS second generation EBV-specific T cell bank utilized some
non-GMP standard reagents, including fetal bovine serum for LCL culture.
We assessed whether EBV-specific T cell products cultured in
GMP-compliant reagents including serum-free culture medium throughout
would generate comparable T cell products. Culture was performed in
G-Rex100 flasks using the optimized three-round stimulation protocol and
assessment of T cell characteristics was carried out as before. In final
product EBV-specific T cells grown in GMP compliant reagents throughout,
surface phenotype (Figure 3A-3B) was substantially similar to those
grown in research-grade reagents. A key improvement was a significantly
higher percentage of TCM (CD62L+/ CD45RO+) cells in the GMP-compliant
conditions (n=4).
There were no significant differences between the groups for cytokine
co-expressing populations (Figure 3D), though a trend towards increased
cytokine levels was observed in GMP-compliant cultures (Figure 3C).
These data demonstrate that GMP compliant reagents used with G-Rex
culture flasks results in EBV-specific T cell cultures that are
comparable to current bank material, and have improved retention of the
TCM compartment.