# Slow cycling cell RNA based T cell therapy to prevent recurrence in GBM

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2021 · $190,625

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT
Conventional cancer treatments target fast-cycling cells, however slowly dividing populations tend to be spared
recapitulating the tumor via their self-renewing abilities. We reported the existence of slow-cycling cells (SCCs)
that are extremely resistant to therapies and play a critical role in recurrence of glioblastoma (GBM). Clinical
strategies able to target this specific phenotype hold great promises for improving prognosis.
Importantly, these pathogenic drivers demonstrated expression of predicted immunogenic antigens providing
therapeutic opportunities that we propose to exploit in the context of immunotherapy. We have established a
new platform for adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) employing the use of total tumor RNA-pulsed dendritic cells
(DCs) to expand tumor reactive T lymphocytes. We are currently testing in multiple clinical trials this treatment
modality in patients with brain tumors (ACTION-IND#17298, REMATCH-IND#14058, BRAVO-IND#17298).
The goal of this project is to leverage the power of this therapeutic platform to achieve robust targeting of
treatment-resistant clones using a novel model of recurrent GBM. We hypothesize that the cytotoxic activity of
tumor-specific T cells can be directed toward clones promoting recurrence by SCC RNA-pulsed dendritic cells,
thus impeding disease relapse.
To test our hypothesis, the specific aims of this proposal are to:
Aim 1. Determine the immunogenicity and efficacy of slow-cycling cell RNA-based T cell treatment in a preclinical
model of recurrent GBM
Aim 2. Evaluate the slow-cycling cell RNA-based T cell platform in a human autologous setting.
Successfully completed, this proposal has a strong likelihood to impact favorably on treatment options for
patients with malignant gliomas.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10128046
- **Project number:** 1R21NS116578-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Loic Pierre Deleyrolle
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $190,625
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-02-01 → 2023-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10128046

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10128046, Slow cycling cell RNA based T cell therapy to prevent recurrence in GBM (1R21NS116578-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10128046. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*