T cell margination: investigating the detour of T cells following forimtamig treatment in humanized mice

MAbs. 2025 Dec;17(1):2440578. doi: 10.1080/19420862.2024.2440578. Epub 2024 Dec 16.

Abstract

T cell bispecific antibodies (TCBs) are a promising new class of therapeutics for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. A frequently observed, yet incompletely understood effect of this treatment is the transient reduction of circulating T cell counts, also known as T cell margination (TCM). After administration of the GPRC5D-targeting TCB forimtamig (RG6234), TCM occurred in patients and correlated with cytokine release and soluble B cell maturation antigen decrease. We demonstrate that TCM is accurately represented in the humanized NSG mouse model and occurs at a lower threshold of target expression than systemic cytokine release. Application of whole-mouse tissue clearing and 3D imaging revealed that T cells accumulate in the bone marrow after treatment. We hypothesize that low amounts of targets are sufficient to rapidly redirect T cells upon TCB engagement. Therefore, we propose TCM as a beneficial, highly sensitive and early effect of forimtamig that leads T cells to likely sites of bone marrow tumor lesions.

Keywords: BsAb; LSFM; T cell engager; TCB; cytokines; margination; multiple myeloma.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Bispecific* / immunology
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • Mice, SCID
  • Multiple Myeloma* / immunology
  • Multiple Myeloma* / therapy
  • T-Lymphocytes* / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bispecific

Grants and funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.