Bae, JooeunPrabhala, RaoVoskertchian, AnnieBrown, AndrewMaguire, CraigRichardson, PaulDranoff, GlenAnderson, KennethMunshi, Nikhil2015-08-032014Bae, Jooeun, Rao Prabhala, Annie Voskertchian, Andrew Brown, Craig Maguire, Paul Richardson, Glen Dranoff, Kenneth C. Anderson, and Nikhil C. Munshi. 2014. “A Multiepitope of XBP1, CD138 and CS1 Peptides Induces Myeloma-Specific Cytotoxic T lymphocytes in T cells of Smoldering Myeloma Patients.” Leukemia 29 (1): 218-229. doi:10.1038/leu.2014.159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/leu.2014.159.0887-6924http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:17820831We evaluated a cocktail of HLA-A2-specific peptides including heteroclitic XBP1 US184-192 (YISPWILAV), heteroclitic XBP1 SP367-375 (YLFPQLISV), native CD138260-268 (GLVGLIFAV) and native CS1239-247 (SLFVLGLFL), for their ability to elicit multipeptide specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (MP-CTL) using T cells from smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM) patients. Our results demonstrate that MP-CTL generated from SMM patients’ T cells show effective anti-MM responses including CD137 (4-1BB) upregulation, CTL proliferation, IFN-γ production, and degranulation (CD107a) in an HLA-A2-restricted and peptide-specific manner. Phenotypically, we observed increased total CD3+CD8+ T cells (>80%) and cellular activation (CD69+) within the memory SMM MP-CTL (CD45RO+/CD3+CD8+) subset after repeated multipeptide stimulation. Importantly, SMM patients could be categorized into distinct groups by their level of MP-CTL expansion and anti-tumor activity. In high responders, the effector memory (CCR7-CD45RO+/CD3+CD8+) T cell subset was enriched, while the remaining responders’ CTL contained a higher frequency of the terminal effector (CCR7-CD45RO-/CD3+CD8+) subset. These results suggest that this multipeptide cocktail has the potential to induce effective and durable memory MP-CTL in SMM patients. Therefore, our findings provide the rationale for clinical evaluation of a therapeutic vaccine to prevent or delay progression of SMM to active disease.en-USSmoldering Multiple MyelomaMultipeptide VaccineXBP1CD138CS1Journal Article2015-08-0310.1038/leu.2014.159