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Olusola BA, Olaleye DO, Odaibo GN. Non-synonymous Substitutions in HIV-1 GAG Are Frequent in Epitopes Outside the Functionally Conserved Regions and Associated With Subtype Differences. Front Microbiol 2021; 11:615721. [PMID: 33505382 PMCID: PMC7829476 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.615721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In 2019, 38 million people lived with HIV-1 infection resulting in 690,000 deaths. Over 50% of this infection and its associated deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa. The West African region is a known hotspot of the HIV-1 epidemic. There is a need to develop an HIV-1 vaccine if the HIV epidemic would be effectively controlled. Few protective cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes within the HIV-1 GAG (HIV_gagconsv) have been previously identified to be functionally conserved among the HIV-1 M group. These epitopes are currently the focus of universal HIV-1 T cell-based vaccine studies. However, these epitopes' phenotypic and genetic properties have not been observed in natural settings for HIV-1 strains circulating in the West African region. This information is critical as the usefulness of universal HIV-1 vaccines in the West African region depends on these epitopes' occurrence in strains circulating in the area. This study describes non-synonymous substitutions within and without HIV_gagconsv genes isolated from 10 infected Nigerians at the early stages of HIV-1 infection. Furthermore, we analyzed these substitutions longitudinally in five infected individuals from the early stages of infection till after seroconversion. We identified three non-synonymous substitutions within HIV_gagconsv genes isolated from early HIV infected individuals. Fourteen and nineteen mutations outside the HIV_gagconsv were observed before and after seroconversion, respectively, while we found four mutations within the HIV_gagconsv. These substitutions include previously mapped CTL epitope immune escape mutants. CTL immune pressure likely leaves different footprints on HIV-1 GAG epitopes within and outside the HIV_gagconsv. This information is crucial for universal HIV-1 vaccine designs for use in the West African region.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Georgina N. Odaibo
- Department of Virology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
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Zhao Z, Ma X, Zhang R, Hu F, Zhang T, Liu Y, Han MH, You F, Yang Y, Zheng W. A novel liposome-polymer hybrid nanoparticles delivering a multi-epitope self-replication DNA vaccine and its preliminary immune evaluation in experimental animals. NANOMEDICINE-NANOTECHNOLOGY BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 2020; 35:102338. [PMID: 33197626 PMCID: PMC7664365 DOI: 10.1016/j.nano.2020.102338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
DNA vaccine is an attractive immune platform for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases, but existing disadvantages limit its use in preclinical and clinical assays, such as weak immunogenicity and short half-life. Here, we reported a novel liposome-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (pSFV-MEG/LNPs) consisting of a biodegradable core (mPEG-PLGA) and a hydrophilic shell (lecithin/PEG-DSPE-Mal 2000) for delivering a multi-epitope self-replication DNA vaccine (pSFV-MEG). The pSFV-MEG/LNPs with optimal particle size (161.61 ± 15.63 nm) and high encapsulation efficiency (87.60 ± 8.73%) induced a strong humoral (3.22-fold) and cellular immune responses (1.60-fold) compared to PBS. Besides, the humoral and cellular immune responses of pSFV-MEG/LNPs were 1.58- and 1.05-fold than that of pSFV-MEG. All results confirmed that LNPs was a very promising tool to enhance the humoral and cellular immune responses of pSFV-MEG. In addition, the rational design and delivery platform can be used for the development of DNA vaccines for other infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhangting Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Xingyuan Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Ruihuan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Fabiao Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Tong Zhang
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Yuping Liu
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China
| | - Myong Hun Han
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China; Department of Genetics, Faculty of Life Science, KIM IL SUNG University, Pyongyang, Democratic People's Republic of Korea
| | - Fang You
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117585, Singapore
| | - Yi Yang
- SinGENE Biotech Pte Ltd, Singapore Science Park, Singapore 118258, Singapore.
| | - Wenyun Zheng
- Shanghai Key Laboratory of New Drug Design, School of Pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, PR China.
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