Identification of TIM3 2′-fluoro oligonucleotide aptamer by HT-SELEX for cancer immunotherapy

TIM3 belongs to a family of receptors that are involved in T-cell exhaustion and Treg functions. The development of new therapeutic agents to block this type of receptors is opening a new avenue in cancer immunotherapy. There are currently several clinical trials ongoing to combine different immune-checkpoint blockades to improve the outcome of cancer patients. Among these combinations we should underline PD1:PDL1 axis and TIM3 blockade, which have shown very promising results in preclinical settings. Most of these types of therapeutic agents are protein cell-derived products, which, although broadly used in clinical settings, are still subject to important limitations. In this work we identify by HT-SELEX TIM3 non-antigenic oligonucleotide aptamers (TIM3Apt) that bind with high affinity and specificity to the extracellular motives of TIM3 on the cell surface. The TIM3Apt1 in its monomeric form displays a potent antagonist capacity on TIM3-expressing lymphocytes, determining the increase of IFN-γ secretion. In colon carcinoma tumor-bearing mice, the combinatorial treatment of TIM3Apt1 and PDL1-antibody blockade is synergistic with a remarkable antitumor effect. Immunotherapeutic aptamers could represent an attractive alternative to monoclonal antibodies, as they exhibit important advantages; namely, lower antigenicity, being chemically synthesized agents with a lower price of manufacture, providing higher malleability, and antidote availability.