Domain-swapped T cell receptors improve the safety of TCR gene therapy.

T cells engineered to express a tumor-specific αβ T cell receptor (TCR) mediate anti-tumor immunity. However， mispairing of the therapeutic αβ chains with endogenous αβ chains reduces therapeutic TCR surface expression and generates self-reactive TCRs. We report a general strategy to prevent TCR mispairing: swapping constant domains between the α and β chains of a therapeutic TCR. When paired， domain-swapped (ds)TCRs assemble with CD3， express on the cell surface， and mediate antigen-specific T cell responses. By contrast， dsTCR chains mispaired with endogenous chains cannot properly assemble with CD3 or signal， preventing autoimmunity. We validate this approach in cell-based assays and in a mouse model of TCR gene transfer-induced graft-versus-host disease. We also validate a related approach whereby replacement of αβ TCR domains with corresponding γδ TCR domains yields a functional TCR that does not mispair. This work enables the design of safer TCR gene therapies for cancer immunotherapy.