Repurposing CD8⁺ T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 for cancer immunotherapy: a positive aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic?

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic has afflicted most countries on the planet. As a result, immunity against SARS-CoV-2, induced via natural infections or imminent vaccinations, is expected to develop in a large fraction of the global population. Here, we propose to exploit SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8⁺ T cells for cancer immunotherapy strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• SARS-CoV-2
• antiviral immunity
• cancer immunotherapy
• antigen spreading
• CD8⁺ T cell epitopes

Abbreviations

APCs	=	Antigen-presenting cells
APECs	=	Antibody-peptide epitope conjugates
ARDS	=	Acute respiratory distress syndrome
COVID-19	=	Coronavirus disease 2019
DAMP	=	damage-associated molecular pattern
HLA	=	Human leukocyte antigen
ICD	=	Immunogenic cell death
ICI	=	Immune checkpoint inhibitor
MAMP	=	microbe-associated molecular pattern
MHC	=	Major histocompatibility complex
NLR	=	NOD-like receptor
OV	=	Oncolytic virus
PRR	=	pattern recognition receptor
RLR	=	RIG-I-like receptor
SARS-CoV-2	=	Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
TCR	=	T cell receptor
TLR	=	Toll-like receptor
TME	=	Tumor microenvironment

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

JGP is named as an inventor on patents for cancer vaccination involving an oncolytic rhabdovirus. These patents have been licensed to Turnstone Biologics of which JGP is a shareholder. GK is a cofounder of Samsara Therapeutics, everImmune, and Therafast Bio.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute (BHCRI), and Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation (DMRF) to S.G. JGP is supported by the Association Française d’Hépatologie (AFEF); the SIRIC Cancer Research and Personalized Medicine (CARPEM); and the Seerave Foundation. Y.K. is supported by CIHR Doctoral Fellowship and DMRF CIBC Graduate Studentship in Cancer Immunotherapies. GK is supported by the Ligue contre le Cancer (équipe labellisée); Agence National de la Recherche (ANR) – Projets blancs; ANR under the frame of E-Rare-2, the ERA-Net for Research on Rare Diseases; Association pour la recherche sur le cancer (ARC); Cancéropôle Ile-de-France; Chancellerie des universités de Paris (Legs Poix), Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM); a donation by Elior; European Research Area Network on Cardiovascular Diseases (ERA-CVD, MINOTAUR); Gustave Roussy Odyssea, the European Union Horizon 2020 Project Oncobiome; Fondation Carrefour; High-end Foreign Expert Program in China]GDW20171100085 and GDW20181100051], Institut National du Cancer (INCa); Inserm (HTE); Institut Universitaire de France; LeDucq Foundation; the LabEx Immuno-Oncology; the RHU Torino Lumière; the Seerave Foundation; the SIRIC Stratified Oncology Cell DNA Repair and Tumor Immune Elimination (SOCRATE); and the SIRIC Cancer Research and Personalized Medicine (CARPEM).