Enzymatically produced piggyBac transposon vectors for efficient non-viral manufacturing of CD19-specific CAR T cells

The piggyBac transposon system provides a non-viral alternative for cost-efficient and simple chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell production. The generation of clinical-grade CAR T cells requires strict adherence to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) standards. Unfortunately, the high costs of commonly used lentiviral or retroviral vectors limit the manufacturing of clinical-grade CAR T cells in many non-commercial academic institutions. Here, we present a manufacturing platform for highly efficient generation of CD19-specific CAR T cells (CAR19 T cells) based on co-electroporation of linear DNA transposon and mRNA encoding the piggyBac transposase. The transposon is prepared enzymatically by PCR and contains the CAR transgene flanked by piggyBac 3' and 5' arms. The mRNA is similarly prepared via transcription. CAR19 T cells are expanded in the combination of cytokines interleukin (IL)-4, IL-7, and IL-21 to prevent terminal differentiation of CAR T cells. The accurate control of vector copy number (VCN) is achieved by decreasing the concentration of the transposon DNA, and the procedure yields up to 1 × 10 CAR19 T cells per one electroporation of 1 × 10 peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after 21 days of culture. Produced cells contain >60% CAR+ cells with VCN < 3. In summary, the described manufacturing platform enables a straightforward cGMP certification, since the transposon and transposase are produced abiotically via enzymatic synthesis. It is suitable for the cost-effective production of highly experimental, early-phase CAR T cell products.