ALBERT

Description: Scott Creek Catchment is the first of a number of catchments that will be used as case studies to investigate the sustainability of groundwater resources in the Mount Lofty Ranges over the next 45 years. This report provides a collation of background information for the Scott Creek Catchment including geological, hydrological, meteorological and surface water quality data. Site selection criteria, drilling methods, construction details and lithological logs are presented for the first phase of drilling in this catchment. A total of nine wells (one completed in the Quaternary alluvium and eight in the fractured Woolshed Flat Shale) were drilled at strategic locations on either side of Scott Creek upstream of the weir at Scott Bottom. These wells will be used for a variety of hydraulic and hydrochemical tests to define the local hydrogeology in terms of streamaquifer interactions and groundwater recharge and flow rates.

Description: report

Description: The remissions achieved using autologous T-cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) in patients with advanced B cell leukemia and lymphomas have encouraged the use of CAR technology to treat different types of cancers by targeting distinct tumor-specific antigens. Since the current autologous approach utilizes CAR T-cells manufactured on a "per patient" basis, we propose an alternative approach based on the use of a standardized platform for manufacturing T-cells from third-party healthy donors to generate allogeneic "off-the-shelf" CAR T-cell-based frozen products. In the present work we have adapted this allogeneic platform to the production of T-cells targeting CD123, the transmembrane alpha chain of the interleukin-3 receptor, which is expressed on tumor cells from the majority of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Multiple antigen recognition domains were screened in the context of different CAR architectures to identify candidates displaying activity against cells expressing variable levels of the CD123 antigen. The three lead candidates were tested in an orthotopic human AML cell line xenograft mouse model. From the three candidates that displayed comparable activity in vitro, we found two candidates capable of eradicating tumor cells in vivo with high efficiency. Subsequently, Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nuclease (TALEN) gene editing technology was used to inactivate the TCRα constant (TRAC) gene, eliminating the potential for engineered T-cells to mediate Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD). Editing of the TRAC gene can be achieved at high frequencies, and allows efficient amplification of TCR-deficient T-cells that no longer mediate alloreactivity in a xeno-GvHD mouse model. In addition, we show that TCR-deficient T-cells display equivalent in vitro and in vivo activity to non-edited T-cells expressing the same CAR. We have performed an initial evaluation of the expression of CD123 in AML patients and found an average cell surface expression of CD123 was of 67% in leukemic blasts (95% CI 48-82), 71% in CD34+CD38+ cells (95% CI 56-86), and 64% in CD34+CD38- (95% CI 41-87). Importantly, we have found that CD123 surface expression persists in CD34+CD38-CD90- cells after therapy in at least 20% of patients in remission (n=25), thus emphasizing the relevance of the target. Currently, the sensitivity of primary AML cells to CAR T-cells is being tested. Finally, we will also present our large scale manufacturing process of allogeneic CD123 specific T-cells from healthy donors, showing the feasibility for this off-the-shelf T-cell product that could be available for administration to a large number of AML patients. Disclosures Galetto: Cellectis SA: Employment. Lebuhotel:Cellectis SA: Employment. Gouble:Cellectis SA: Employment. Smith:Cellectis: Employment, Patents & Royalties.

Description: Osteoblasts (OBs) and the bone marrow (BM) vasculature constitute hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSC/HSPC) niches. Immature perivascular osteolineage cells enforce HSC quiescence while signals from mature OBs are capable of bone and vascular remodeling. We previously demonstrated that bone anabolic parathyroid hormone (PTH) stimulation increases HSPCs with short and long-term repopulating activity. Based upon the coupled nature of osteogenesis and angiogenesis as well as the multifaceted role blood vessels play in HSC regulation, we investigated effects of PTH on the BM vasculature. Both genetic PTH receptor activation in maturing OBs (Col1caPTH1R) and systemic PTH treatment increased functional blood vessel branching imaged intravitally in the calvaria (14±2 vs 34±3 and 14±2 vs 27±4 branchpoints, n=3-4 mice/group, 3-7 regions analyzed per mouse). These changes were confirmed histologically in long bones, where PTH-induced tortuosity was accompanied by the emergence of α smooth muscle actin (αSMA)+ bone-associated vascular networks, likely small-caliber arterioles, containing red blood cell rouleaux, while control marrow displayed sparse, non-bone-associated αSMA+ vessels. Further, PTH increased morphologically-heterogeneous BM microvessels (167±18 vs 348±39 per section, n=5 mice/group) and endothelial cell (EC) abundance (0.09±0.02% vs 0.2±0.02%, n=4-5 mice/group). VEGF-A and FGF2, known to be important proangiogenic signals in bone, were increased after PTH treatment of osteoblastic cell lines and primary osteolineage cells in vitro, and in bone-associated cells of mice treated in vivo. Because the perivascular milieu is heterogeneous and can support HSC quiescence or activation depending on vessel type and stimuli, we tested whether tuning BM angiogenic responses modulated effects of PTH on HSCs. Treatment with the anti-VEGF-A monoclonal antibody bevacizumab (αVEGF) precluded PTH-induced vascular branching in calvarial BM and reduced pre-established vascular branching in Col1caPTH1R mice (34±3 vs 21±1 branchpoints, n=4 mice/group, 3-5 regions analyzed per mouse), while PTH-induced bone anabolism, EC abundance and bone-associated αSMA+ small-caliber vessels were sustained. Moreover, αVEGF did not change the frequency of CD51+ PDGFRα+ or PDGFRα+ Sca1+ immature mesenchymal cells reported to regulate HSCs. The altered balance of marrow sinusoidal vs arteriolar structures we quantified in PTH + αVEGF-stimulated BM would be expected to improve HSC support based on niche remodeling, therefore we tested the hematopoietic consequences. αVEGF did not alter frequencies of phenotypically-defined HSCs in the BM or mature hematopoietic cells and platelets in the peripheral blood (PB). Remarkably, αVEGF augmented PTH-induced repopulation of the PB in primary BM transplantation (p = 0.0013, n=10 recipients/group) and sustained the repopulating ability (p 〈 0.0001, n=10 recipients/group) and BM engraftment (~70 fold) of cells in secondary transplantation. Competitive transplantation of HSPCs sorted from PTH + αVEGF-treated mice showed enhanced repopulating ability, confirming niche-mediated improvement of HSPC function. Unbiased analysis of sorted stem and progenitor cells demonstrated that PTH, alone or in combination with αVEGF, broadly reduced multipotent progenitor (MPP) gene expression, including markers of cell proliferation. Notably, microenvironmental activation with PTH alone uniquely decreased a cluster of transcripts associated with hematopoietic differentiation in MPPs, suggesting progenitor cell reeducation by PTH activation versus niche reapportioning by combined PTH and VEGF antagonism. Because PTH also increases FGF2, reported to expand HSCs and stabilize blood vessels, we tested whether FGF signaling is necessary for PTH to establish long-term HSC niches. In vivo FGF receptor 1 inhibition significantly reduced long-term hematopoietic repopulating ability of PTH + αVEGF-treated BM cells in secondary transplantation (p = 0.0046, n = 16-17 mice/group), suggesting VEGF-A and FGF2 have opposing HSC effects in the PTH-activated microenvironment. These data define the HSC niche as a regulatory network, and identify mature OBs as the cellular source of signals that serve to coordinate HSC-supportive niches, demonstrating functional cooperation of the different constituents of the bone marrow microenvironment. Disclosures Off Label Use: Bevacizumab (trade name Avastin, Genentech/Roche) is used by the authors as a strategy to block VEGF-A in the bone marrow microenvironment.. Calvi:Fate Therapeutics: Patents & Royalties.

Description: Adoptive immunotherapy with autologous T-cells expressing chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) targeting CD19 has achieved long-term remissions in patients with B cell leukemia, pointing out that CAR technology may become a new alternative in cancer treatment. In this work we assessed the feasibility of targeting the CS1 antigen (SLAMF7) for the treatment of Multiple Myeloma (MM). MM is a B-cell neoplasia characterized by clonal expansion of malignant plasma cells in the bone marrow. Even if currently available therapies can improve overall survival, MM still remains incurable in most patients. Immunotherapy against MM is therefore an area in which extensive research is being made, with novel antigenic targets being considered. Among these is the CS1 glycoprotein, which is highly expressed on tumor cells from most patients with MM. However, CS1 is also expressed on normal CD8+ T-cells, which may be problematic for a CAR-based approach as antigen-expressing T cells will be targeted, impacting both the number and the phenotype of the final CAR T cell population. To circumvent this issue we have used our highly-efficient transcription activator-like effector nuclease (TALEN) gene-editing technology to inactivate CS1 in T-cells prior to transduction with a viral vector encoding an anti-CS1 CAR. Our results demonstrate that while non-gene-edited T-cells expressing an anti-CS1 CAR display limited cytolytic activity against MM cell lines, and resulted in a progressive loss of CD8+ T-cells. CS1-gene-edited CAR cells display significantly increased cytotoxic activity, with the percentage of CD8+ T-cells remaining unaffected. In addition, experiments in an orthotopic MM mouse model showed that CS1 disrupted T-cells were able to mediate an in vivo anti-tumoral activity. Subsequently, we have utilized this strategy for CS1 in the context of our allogeneic "off-the-shelf" engineered CAR+ T-cell platform. This allogenic platform utilizes TALEN gene editing technology to inactivate the TCRα constant (TRAC) gene, eliminating their potential to mediate Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD). We have previously shown that editing of the TRAC gene can be achieved at high frequencies, allowing efficient production of TCR-deficient T-cells that no longer mediate alloreactivity in a xeno-GvHD mouse model. Our results also show that multiplex genome editing is possible and can lead to the production of double KO (TRAC and CS1) T-cells, allowing large scale manufacturing of allogeneic, non alloreactive CS1 specific T-cells with enhanced antitumor activity. Moreover, these allogenic T-cells could be easily available for administration to a large number of MM patients. Disclosures Galetto: Cellectis SA: Employment. Chion-Sotinel:Cellectis SA: Employment. Gouble:Cellectis SA: Employment. Smith:Cellectis: Employment, Patents & Royalties.

Description: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-redirected T-cells have given rise to long-term durable remissions and remarkable objective response rates in patients with refractory leukemia, raising hopes that a wider application of CAR technology may lead to a new paradigm in cancer treatment. A limitation of the current autologous approach is that CAR T-cells must be manufactured on a "per patient basis". We have developed a standardized platform for manufacturing T-cells from third-party healthy donors to generate allogeneic "off-the-shelf" engineered CD19-CAR+ T-cell–based frozen products. Our platform involves the use of transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN™), which mediate the simultaneous inactivation of two genes through genome editing. The knockout of the TCR alpha gene eliminates TCR expression and is intended to abrogate the donor T-cell’s potential for graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), while knocking out the CD52 gene makes donor T-cells resistant to the lymphodepleting agent alemtuzumab. In addition, our T-cells are engineered to coexpress the RQR8 gene as a safety feature, with the aim of rendering them sensitive to the monoclonal antibody rituximab. We previously provided proof-of-concept for the application of this approach by manufacturing TCR/CD52-deficient RQR8+ and CD19-CAR+ T-cells (UCART19) using a good manufacturing practice–compatible process, and we also demonstrated that the resulting UCART19 cells were functional using in vitro assays. Here we report the ability of UCART19 cells to engraft into an orthotopic human CD19+ lymphoma xenograft immunodeficient mouse model. UCART19 cells exhibited antitumor activity equivalent to that of standard CD19 CAR T-cells. We also demonstrated that UCART19 cells did not mediate alloreactivity in a xeno-GvHD mouse model. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the rituximab-induced depletion mechanism of RQR8+ cells was shown in an immunocompetent mouse model. In conclusion, our work significantly enlarges upon previous results by showing in vivo that (1) concomitant inactivation of a second gene has no deleterious effects on T-cells, (2) the antitumor potency of manufactured TCR/CD52-deficient CD19–CAR+ T-cells is similar to that of standard CD19-CAR+ T-cells, (3) TCR gene inactivation is efficient at preventing potential graft-versus-host reaction, and (4) allogeneic T-cells can be depleted by the use of rituximab. This valuable dataset supports the development of allogeneic CAR T-cells, and UCART19 will be investigated in an exploratory, first-in-human, clinical trial where refractory/relapsed CD19+ B-cell leukemia patients are to be enrolled. Disclosures Gouble: Cellectis SA: Employment. Poirot:Cellectis SA: Employment. Schiffer-Mannioui:Cellectis SA: Employment. Galetto:Cellectis SA: Employment. Derniame:Cellectis SA: Employment. Arnould:Cellectis SA: Employment. Desseaux:Cellectis SA: Employment. Smith:Cellectis SA: Employment.

Description: Abstract 642 HSCs are rare immature cells capable of reconstituting all blood cell lineages throughout the life of an individual. We have previously shown that intermittent treatment with PTH is sufficient to increase the number of HSCs in the marrow of mice. This PTH effect is blocked in vitro with inhibition of gamma-secretase, the mediator of a required step in Notch signaling. Osteoblastic cells are a critical component of the HSC niche and are likely mediators of the PTH-induced increase in HSCs. Specifically the Notch ligand Jag 1 is expressed on osteoblasts and is therefore implicated as a mechanism through which PTH acts on HSCs. Therefore we investigated in vivo the role of osteoblastic Jag 1 in the PTH-dependent increase in HSCs. We utilized the 2.3kb collagen 1 promoter driven cre recombinase to specifically excise Jag 1 from osteoblastic cells in mice (OBJag1 mice). As we previously reported treatment of wild type (WT) controls with PTH 3 times daily for 10 days resulted in a significant increase in phenotypic HSC populations including Lin-Sca1+cKit+CD48-CD150- short-term HSCs (ST-HSCs) (VEH/PTH 0.0405±0.001 vs 0.0650±0.0038, p≤0.0001) and Lin-Sca1+cKit+CD48-CD150+ long-term HSCs (LT-HSCs) (VEH/PTH 0.0077±0.0008 vs 0.0125±0.00096, p≤0.01) as determined by flow cytometric analysis. In contrast treatment of OBJag1 mice did not result in a phenotypic increase in these populations. Despite the lack of a phenotypic increase in HSCs in OBJag1 mice, when HSC function was assessed by competitive repopulation assay, OBJag1 marrow cells demonstrated the same increased repopulating ability as WT mice (WT: VEH/PTH 12.16±2.7 vs 22.32±2.4, p≤0.01, OBJag1: VEH/PTH 13.6±1.8 vs 31.6±5.9, p≤0.01). Upon secondary transplantation however, HSCs from OBJag1 donors treated with PTH resulted in a lower engraftment rate than VEH treated controls (VEH/PTH 14.61±3.8 vs 4.38±0.9, p≤0.05). This result suggests that osteoblastic Jag 1 is necessary for the increase in phenotypic HSCs resulting from PTH treatment and is required to maintain LT-HSC self-renewal. However these data also suggest an osteoblastic Jag 1 independent mechanism that mediates a transient increase in repopulating ability. Decreased apoptosis is a potential mechanism by which PTH may functionally increase HSCs in the absence of increased self-renewal. To determine if PTH treatment decreases the apoptosis rate of HSCs, WT mice were treated intermittently with PTH once a day for 7 days. Despite a lack of increased HSCs by phenotypic analysis at 7 days, marrow from PTH treated mice displayed an increase in LT-HSC function as measured by competitive transplantation. We determined to measure the effect of PTH on apoptotic rates of HSCs using Annexin V membrane expression. By the 7th day of PTH treatment, LT-HSC apoptotic rates were decreased in the PTH treated group (VEH/PTH 10.482±2.25 vs. 6.27±1.93, p≤0.01) suggesting that changes in apoptotic rate of LT-HSCs precedes the HSC increase. These results were confirmed by flow cytometric measurement of activated caspase 3. PTH treatment decreased the percentage of LT-HSCs that were positive for activated caspase 3 (VEH/PTH 4.3±0.5 vs. 2.4±0.3, p≤0.01). PTH induced micro-architectural changes in trabecular bone at day 7 of treatment suggesting bone involvement despite the lack of an increase in bone volume. These results suggest for the first time that PTH may exert its beneficial effect on bone marrow reconstitution through both Jag 1 dependent and independent effects. Additionally, HSCs demonstrate decreased apoptotic rates and increased reconstitution ability prior to a demonstrable phenotypic increase, mimicking the effect seen in the absence of osteoblastic Jag 1. Together these results suggest that the decreased apoptotic rate may be mediated by an osteoblastic Jag 1 independent mechanism. Whether osteoblasts are required for the observed osteoblastic Jag 1 independent effects remains to be seen as these effects could be mediated by a Jag 1 independent osteoblastic mechanism or by an altogether different cellular component of the HSC niche. Further, since stressful manipulation of HSCs ex vivo is essential for their use in transplantation, defining factors regulating and decreasing their apoptosis may improve their engraftment efficiency, expanding their clinical use when their numbers are limited. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a disease with a high incidence of relapse and mortality. Relapse is attributed to the inability of current chemotherapeutic agents to eliminate leukemia stem cells (LSCs). Thus, to improve leukemia therapy, it is critical to identify agents that effectively target LSCs, e.g. via unique cell surface antigens. A target of major interest is CD123, the transmembrane alpha chain of the interleukin-3 receptor, expressed on blasts, leukemic progenitor and LSCs in the majority of AML patients. We have developed an allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell platform using T-cells from third-party healthy donors to generate engineered T-cells targeting CD123 (UCART123). UCART123 cells no longer express a TCR, having undergone a disruption of the TCRα gene using TALEN¨ gene editing technology followed by elimination of TCRα/β-positive cells, thus minimizing the potential for engineered T-cells to cause graft versus host disease (GvHD). We tested the activity of UCART123 cells in vitro using primary AML samples, normal bone marrow (nBM) and cord blood (CB) cells. Additionally, we established patient derived xenograft (PDX), nBM- or CB- humanized xenografts (HuX) and a competitive nBM/AML xenograft model to evaluate the in vivo potential of UCART123 cells to preferentially eliminate AML over normal BM cells. In vitro studies reveled that UCART123 cells eliminate AML cells and had minimum effect on normal cells at effector:target ratios as low as 0.5:1. Next, we evaluated the in vivo activity of UCART123 against PDX (AML37, TP53 mutant relapsed AML and AML20, FLT3-ITD+ and TP53 mutant AML) and normal-HuX mice (n=3). At 3 weeks post T-cell injection we found that UCART123 treatment eliminated the leukemic cells when using 10M or 3M UCART123 cells per mouse and no significant difference between PBS or TCR-deficient T-cells (TCRkoT; 10M/mouse). Toxicity to normal cells was dose dependent, doses of 2.5M UCART123 cells did not significantly affect hematopoietic cells. T-cells were detected in the BM at day 14 after treatment, without evidence of GvHD. Since we found complete elimination of human AML cells in the BM of the PDX precluding serial transplantation to evaluate LSC activity, we initiated two new sets of PDX-AML mice [AML2 (NPM1+FLT3-ITD+) and AML37 (TP53 mutant)] to evaluate long-term survival, and time to relapse. Animals were treated with PBS, UCART123 (2.5M or 1M), TCRkoT (2.5M), or Ara-C (60mg/kg 5 days). Animal weight and peripheral blood (PB) was monitored. Cytokines changes were evaluated at day 2. We found that the cytokine release and the kinetics of AML targeting by UCART123 were dose dependent. We found a significant overall survival (OS) benefit with UCART123 in both PDX tested. For example, all PDX-AML2 mice treated with UCART123 are alive to date (day 167; updates will be presented). All other cohorts were lost (PBS day124, TCRkoT day126, AraC day144) (Figure 1A). Finally, to determine selectivity of UCART123 cells for AML cells over nBM cells, we generated a competitive model bearing both nBM and AML (NPM1+FLT3-ITD+). With PB monitoring, treatment with 1M UCAR123 cells resulted in selective elimination of AML cells. Untreated and TCRkoT treated mice showed a rapid progression of AML, while treated mice showed normal hematopoiesis (Figure 1B). NPM1 transcripts were also monitored in the mice and confirmed molecular remission in mice. Taken together, our data show that UCART123, an "off-the-shelf" allogeneic engineered CAR-T product targeting CD123 potently eliminates AML cells in vivo, prevents relapse, and improves OS in PDX mice. Also, UCART123 cells preferentially targets AML cells in a competitive BM/AML model. A phase I trial of UCART123 in AML is under development. Disclosures Guzman: Cellectis: Research Funding. Sugita:Cellectis: Research Funding. Galetto:Cellectis SA: Employment. Gouble:Cellectis: Employment. Smith:Cellectis SA: Employment. Roboz:Agios, Amgen, Amphivena, Astex, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celator, Celgene, Genoptix, Janssen, Juno, MEI Pharma, MedImmune, Novartis, Onconova, Pfizer, Roche/Genentech, Sunesis, Teva: Consultancy; Cellectis: Research Funding.