TCR Libraries

Overview

Adoptive cell therapy (ACT) has led to highly effective cancer treatments for patients who had very few treatment options. It utilizes the patient’s own immune system to attack cancer cells. 

Engineered TCR therapy is a type of ACT that leverages engineered T cell receptors to target tumor specific antigens. This starts with sequencing of the tumor biopsy to identify tumor mutations, and typically, the peripheral blood to uncover the TCR repertoire. 

TCR repertoire sequencing can be done via single cell sequencing or bulk sequencing. Each has it’s own advantages. Bulk sequencing enables you to sample more of the sequence space but information about the alpha-beta TCR pairing is lost. Single-cell sequencing enables you to capture information on the alpha-beta chain pairing and receptor composition. However, single-cell sequencing has a much lower throughput than bulk sequencing.  

How can Twist help me build TCR libraries?

Twist offers TCR libraries that complements both strategies:

Paired Pooled TCR Library (figure 1A)

• Enables you to retain the original alpha-beta chain pairing to maximize hit validation and replicate the TCR repertoire
• This is a good complement to single-cell sequencing where the alpha-beta TCR pairing is known

Combinatorial TCR Library (figure 1B)

• Enables you to shuffle alpha and beta chain pairs to create additional diversity and explore novel combinations beyond the identified repertoire
• This is a good complement to bulk sequencing where the alpha-beta TCR pairing is unknown