Mimicking homeostatic proliferation in vitro generates T cells with high anti-tumor function in non-lymphopenic hosts

CD8⁺ T cells undergoing homeostatic proliferation (HP) in a lymphopenic environment acquire a central memory-like phenotype (CD44⁺ CD62L⁺ Ly6c⁺). Such cells are readily functional in vitro, with a strong capacity to secrete IFNγ and IL-2 and to lyse target cells upon antigen recognition. In vivo, these memory-like T cells display potent anti-tumor reactivity. When addressing whether these remarkable properties were “acquired” or dependent on sustained HP, we observed, for the first time, that memory-like T cells retained full anti-tumor functions even when removed from their lymphopenic environment and retransferred into non-lymphopenic P14/Rag2^?/? recipients (where HP is prevented). Moreover, memory-like T cells were superior to in vitro expanded effector T cells. We next sought to determine the conditions required to reproduce such a potent phenotype in vitro, in order to obtain optimal cells for adoptive cell transfer therapy. Assessing ex vivo lymph node cultures, dendritic cells, fibroblastic reticular cells, and HP-associated cytokines, we found that stimulation of naïve T cells with anti-CD3/CD28 beads and IL-15 (IL-7 was dispensable) led to the generation of memory-like T cell with a similar phenotype. Both in vitro and in vivo memory-like T cells retained the capacity to efficiently control tumor growth in non-lymphopenic hosts upon adoptive cell transfer. A similar phenotype could be imparted to human peripheral blood leukocytes with comparable culture conditions. Our data reinforce the idea that in vitro-generated memory-like T cells could benefit adoptive cell transfer therapies.