Superior Expansion Of γδ T-Cell Subsets For Solid Tumor T-Cell Therapy Using A Chemically Defined Non-Animal Origin Cell Culture Medium

By Karen Roderick, Amy Burkall, Elizabeth Kagan, Chengkang Zhang, Alexis Bossie

Current adoptive T-cell therapy faces limitations due to the inability of engineered αβ T cells to effectively penetrate solid tumors. In contrast, γδ T cells demonstrate exceptional tumor infiltration and direct killing capabilities, independent of HLA-antigen presentation. However, expanding γδ T cells to a clinically relevant scale remains a significant challenge.

To address this, we developed a fully chemically defined, non-animal origin culture medium that supports robust expansion of both αβ and γδ T cells. Our serum-free medium, containing only recombinant proteins, enables over 4,000-fold expansion of γδ T cells from peripheral blood within two weeks. This process, specifically designed to exclude αβ T cells, requires minimal IL-2 and offers a consistent and scalable approach for generating engineered T-cell subsets targeting solid tumors in adoptive T-cell therapy.