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Javidan M, Amiri AM, Koohi N, Joudaki N, Bashirrohelleh MA, Pirsadeghi A, Biregani AF, Rashno M, Dehcheshmeh MG, Sharifat M, Khodadadi A, Mafakher L. Restoring immune balance with Tregitopes: A new approach to treating immunological disorders. Biomed Pharmacother 2024; 177:116983. [PMID: 38908205 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.116983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2024] [Revised: 06/08/2024] [Accepted: 06/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/24/2024] Open
Abstract
The induction of immunological tolerance is a promising strategy for managing autoimmune diseases, allergies, and transplant rejection. Tregitopes, a class of peptides, have emerged as potential agents for this purpose. They activate regulatory T cells, which are pivotal in reducing inflammation and promoting tolerance, by binding to MHC II molecules and facilitating their processing and presentation to Treg cells, thereby encouraging their proliferation. Moreover, Tregitopes influence the phenotype of antigen-presenting cells by attenuating the expression of CD80, CD86, and MHC class II while enhancing ILT3, resulting in the inhibition of NF-kappa B signaling pathways. Various techniques, including in vitro and in silico methods, are applied to identify Tregitope candidates. Currently, Tregitopes play a vital role in balancing immune activation and tolerance in clinical applications such as Pompe disease, diabetes-related antigens, and the prevention of spontaneous abortions in autoimmune diseases. Similarly, Tregitopes can induce antigen-specific regulatory T cells. Their anti-inflammatory effects are significant in conditions such as autoimmune encephalomyelitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Additionally, Tregitopes have been leveraged to enhance vaccine design and efficacy. Recent advancements in understanding the potential benefits and drawbacks of IVIG and the discovery of the function and mechanism of Tregitopes have introduced Tregitopes as a popular option for immune system modulation. It is expected that they will bring about a significant revolution in the management and treatment of autoimmune and immunological diseases. This article is a comprehensive review of Tregitopes, concluding with the potential of these epitopes as a therapeutic avenue for immunological disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moslem Javidan
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Amir Mohamad Amiri
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Narges Koohi
- Student Research Committee, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Nazanin Joudaki
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran; Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
| | - Mohammad Ali Bashirrohelleh
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Ali Pirsadeghi
- Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Ali Farhadi Biregani
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Mohammad Rashno
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Medical Basic Sciences Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | | | - Moosa Sharifat
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
| | - Ali Khodadadi
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; Cancer, Petroleum, and Environmental Pollutants Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
| | - Ladan Mafakher
- Thalassemia & Hemoglobinopathy Research center, Health research institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
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2
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Hulin-Curtis S, Geary JK, MacLachlan BJ, Altmann DM, Baillon L, Cole DK, Greenshields-Watson A, Hesketh SJ, Humphreys IR, Jones IM, Lauder SN, Mason GH, Smart K, Scourfield DO, Scott J, Sukhova K, Stanton RJ, Wall A, Rizkallah PJ, Barclay WS, Gallimore A, Godkin A. A targeted single mutation in influenza A virus universal epitope transforms immunogenicity and protective immunity via CD4 + T cell activation. Cell Rep 2024; 43:114259. [PMID: 38819988 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2023] [Revised: 02/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024] Open
Abstract
CD4+ T cells are central to adaptive immunity. Their role in cross-protection in viral infections such as influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is well documented; however, molecular rules governing T cell receptor (TCR) engagement of peptide-human leukocyte antigen (pHLA) class II are less understood. Here, we exploit an aspect of HLA class II presentation, the peptide-flanking residues (PFRs), to "tune" CD4+ T cell responses within an in vivo model system of influenza. Using a recombinant virus containing targeted substitutions at immunodominant HLA-DR1 epitopes, we demonstrate limited weight loss and improved clinical scores after heterosubtypic re-challenge. We observe enhanced protection linked to lung-derived influenza-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells prior to re-infection. Structural analysis of the ternary TCR:pHLA complex identifies that flanking amino acids influence side chains in the core 9-mer peptide, increasing TCR affinity. Augmentation of CD4+ T cell immunity is achievable with a single mutation, representing a strategy to enhance adaptive immunity that is decoupled from vaccine modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Hulin-Curtis
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - James K Geary
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK.
| | - Bruce J MacLachlan
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Danny M Altmann
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Laury Baillon
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - David K Cole
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Alex Greenshields-Watson
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK; Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3LB, UK
| | - Sophie J Hesketh
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Ian R Humphreys
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Ian M Jones
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6AH, UK
| | - Sarah N Lauder
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Georgina H Mason
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Kathryn Smart
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - D Oliver Scourfield
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Jake Scott
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Ksenia Sukhova
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Richard J Stanton
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Aaron Wall
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Pierre J Rizkallah
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Wendy S Barclay
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, Hammersmith Hospital, London W12 0NN, UK
| | - Awen Gallimore
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
| | - Andrew Godkin
- Division of Infection and Immunity/Systems Immunity University Research Institute, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK.
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3
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Chao L, Feng H, Qian G, Limin L, Ziwei L, Shuangshuang L, Xiaoyan L, Yuechao H, Mengjie Y, Yingze Z, Jun L, Xuancheng L, Shuguang D. Establishment of a humanized ST6GAL1 mouse model for influenza research. Animal Model Exp Med 2024; 7:337-346. [PMID: 38859745 PMCID: PMC11228095 DOI: 10.1002/ame2.12449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2024] [Revised: 05/18/2024] [Accepted: 05/25/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND This study aimed to construct and characterize a humanized influenza mouse model expressing hST6GAL1. METHODS Humanized fragments, consisting of the endothelial cell-specific K18 promoter, human ST6GAL1-encoding gene, and luciferase gene, were microinjected into the fertilized eggs of mice. The manipulated embryos were transferred into the oviducts of pseudopregnant female mice. The offspring were identified using PCR. Mice exhibiting elevated expression of the hST6GAL1 gene were selectively bred for propagation, and in vivo analysis was performed for screening. Expression of the humanized gene was tested by performing immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. Hematologic and biochemical analyses using the whole blood and serum of humanized hST6GAL1 mice were performed. RESULTS Successful integration of the human ST6GAL1 gene into the mouse genome led to the overexpression of human SiaT ST6GAL1. Seven mice were identified as carrying copies of the humanized gene, and the in vivo analysis indicated that hST6GAL1 gene expression in positive mice mirrored influenza virus infection characteristics. The IHC results revealed that hST6GAL1 was expressed in the lungs of humanized mice. Moreover, the hematologic and biochemical parameters of the positive mice were within the normal range. CONCLUSION A humanized influenza mouse model expressing the hST6GAL1 gene was successfully established and characterized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lyu Chao
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Han Feng
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Gao Qian
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Lv Limin
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lu Ziwei
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Lu Shuangshuang
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Li Xiaoyan
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Hu Yuechao
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Mengjie
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
- Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics, Key Laboratory of Laboratory Medicine, Ministry of Education, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Sciences, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Zhao Yingze
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Liu Jun
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Lu Xuancheng
- National Key Laboratory of Intelligent Tracking and Forecasting for Infectious Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Duo Shuguang
- Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Richard G, Ruggiero N, Steinberg GD, Martin WD, De Groot AS. Neoadjuvant personalized cancer vaccines: the final frontier? Expert Rev Vaccines 2024; 23:205-212. [PMID: 38189107 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2024.2303015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/04/2024] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Clinical trials of personalized cancer vaccines have shown that on-demand therapies that are manufactured for each patient, result in activated T cell responses against individual tumor neoantigens. However, their use has been traditionally restricted to adjuvant settings and late-stage cancer therapy. There is growing support for the implementation of PCV earlier in the cancer therapy timeline, for reasons that will be discussed in this review. AREAS COVERED The efficacy of cancer vaccines may be to some extent dependent on treatment(s) given prior to vaccine administration. Tumors can undergo radical immunoediting following treatment with immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibitors, which may affect the presence of the very mutations targeted by cancer vaccines. This review will cover the topics of neoantigen cancer vaccines, tumor immunoediting, and therapy timing. EXPERT OPINION Therapy timing remains a critical topic to address in optimizing the efficacy of personalized cancer vaccines. Most personalized cancer vaccines are being evaluated in late-stage cancer patients and after treatment with checkpoint inhibitors, but they may offer a greater benefit to the patient if administered in earlier clinical settings, such as the neoadjuvant setting, where patients are not facing T cell exhaustion and/or a further compromised immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Gary D Steinberg
- EpiVax Therapeutics, Inc., Providence, RI, USA
- RUSH University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, USA
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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5
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Haltaufderhyde K, Roberts BJ, Khan S, Terry F, Boyle CM, McAllister M, Martin W, Rosenberg A, De Groot AS. Immunoinformatic Risk Assessment of Host Cell Proteins During Process Development for Biologic Therapeutics. AAPS J 2023; 25:87. [PMID: 37697150 DOI: 10.1208/s12248-023-00852-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 08/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The identification and removal of host cell proteins (HCPs) from biologic products is a critical step in drug development. Despite recent improvements to purification processes, biologics such as monoclonal antibodies, enzyme replacement therapies, and vaccines that are manufactured in a range of cell lines and purified using diverse processes may contain HCP impurities, making it necessary for developers to identify and quantify impurities during process development for each drug product. HCPs that contain sequences that are less conserved with human homologs may be more immunogenic than those that are more conserved. We have developed a computational tool, ISPRI-HCP, that estimates the immunogenic potential of HCP sequences by evaluating and quantifying T cell epitope density and relative conservation with similar T cell epitopes in the human proteome. Here we describe several case studies that support the use of this method for classifying candidate HCP impurities according to their immunogenicity risk.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Brian J Roberts
- EpiVax, Inc, 188 Valley St #424, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Sundos Khan
- EpiVax, Inc, 188 Valley St #424, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Frances Terry
- EpiVax, Inc, 188 Valley St #424, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | | | | | - William Martin
- EpiVax, Inc, 188 Valley St #424, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Amy Rosenberg
- EpiVax, Inc, 188 Valley St #424, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
| | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc, 188 Valley St #424, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.
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6
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Eickhoff CS, Meza KA, Terry FE, Colbert CG, Blazevic A, Gutiérrez AH, Stone ET, Brien JD, Pinto AK, El Sahly HM, Mulligan MJ, Rouphael N, Alcaide ML, Tomashek KM, Focht C, Martin WD, Moise L, De Groot AS, Hoft DF. Identification of immunodominant T cell epitopes induced by natural Zika virus infection. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1247876. [PMID: 37705976 PMCID: PMC10497216 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1247876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus primarily transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, first discovered in Africa in 1947, that disseminated through Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands in the 2000s. The first ZIKV infections in the Americas were identified in 2014, and infections exploded through populations in Brazil and other countries in 2015/16. ZIKV infection during pregnancy can cause severe brain and eye defects in offspring, and infection in adults has been associated with higher risks of Guillain-Barré syndrome. We initiated a study to describe the natural history of Zika (the disease) and the immune response to infection, for which some results have been reported. In this paper, we identify ZIKV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes that induce responses during infection. Two screening approaches were utilized: an untargeted approach with overlapping peptide arrays spanning the entire viral genome, and a targeted approach utilizing peptides predicted to bind human MHC molecules. Immunoinformatic tools were used to identify conserved MHC class I supertype binders and promiscuous class II binding peptide clusters predicted to bind 9 common class II alleles. T cell responses were evaluated in overnight IFN-γ ELISPOT assays. We found that MHC supertype binding predictions outperformed the bulk overlapping peptide approach. Diverse CD4+ T cell responses were observed in most ZIKV-infected participants, while responses to CD8+ T cell epitopes were more limited. Most individuals developed a robust T cell response against epitopes restricted to a single MHC class I supertype and only a single or few CD8+ T cell epitopes overall, suggesting a strong immunodominance phenomenon. Noteworthy is that many epitopes were commonly immunodominant across persons expressing the same class I supertype. Nearly all of the identified epitopes are unique to ZIKV and are not present in Dengue viruses. Collectively, we identified 31 immunogenic peptides restricted by the 6 major class I supertypes and 27 promiscuous class II epitopes. These sequences are highly relevant for design of T cell-targeted ZIKV vaccines and monitoring T cell responses to Zika virus infection and vaccination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher S. Eickhoff
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Krystal A. Meza
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | | | - Chase G. Colbert
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Azra Blazevic
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | | | - E. Taylor Stone
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - James D. Brien
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Amelia K. Pinto
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Hana M. El Sahly
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Mark J. Mulligan
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, New York, NY, United States
| | - Nadine Rouphael
- Emory University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Maria L. Alcaide
- University of Miami, Division of Infectious Diseases, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Kay M. Tomashek
- Division of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Chris Focht
- The Emmes Company, LLC., Rockville, MD, United States
| | | | | | - Anne S. De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, United States
- University of Georgia Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Daniel F. Hoft
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
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7
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Tonouchi K, Adachi Y, Suzuki T, Kuroda D, Nishiyama A, Yumoto K, Takeyama H, Suzuki T, Hashiguchi T, Takahashi Y. Structural basis for cross-group recognition of an influenza virus hemagglutinin antibody that targets postfusion stabilized epitope. PLoS Pathog 2023; 19:e1011554. [PMID: 37556494 PMCID: PMC10411744 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Plasticity of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) conformation increases an opportunity to generate conserved non-native epitopes with unknown functionality. Here, we have performed an in-depth analysis of human monoclonal antibodies against a stem-helix region that is occluded in native prefusion yet exposed in postfusion HA. A stem-helix antibody, LAH31, provided IgG Fc-dependent cross-group protection by targeting a stem-helix kinked loop epitope, with a unique structure emerging in the postfusion state. The structural analysis and molecular modeling revealed key contact sites responsible for the epitope specificity and cross-group breadth that relies on somatically mutated light chain. LAH31 was inaccessible to the native prefusion HA expressed on cell surface; however, it bound to the HA structure present on infected cells with functional linkage to the Fc-mediated clearance. Our study uncovers a novel non-native epitope that emerges in the postfusion HA state, highlighting the utility of this epitope for a broadly protective antigen design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keisuke Tonouchi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yu Adachi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tateki Suzuki
- Laboratory of Medical Virology, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Daisuke Kuroda
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ayae Nishiyama
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Laboratory of Precision Immunology, Center for Intractable Diseases and ImmunoGenomics research, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition; Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki City, Osaka, Japan
| | - Kohei Yumoto
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Haruko Takeyama
- Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Computational Bio Big-Data Open Innovation Laboratory (CBBD-OIL), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Research Organization for Nano and Life Innovation, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
- Institute for Advanced Research of Biosystem Dynamics, Waseda Research Institute for Science and Engineering, Waseda University, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Tadaki Suzuki
- Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takao Hashiguchi
- Laboratory of Medical Virology, Institute for Life and Medical Sciences, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yoshimasa Takahashi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
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8
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Nishiyama A, Adachi Y, Tonouchi K, Moriyama S, Sun L, Aoki M, Asanuma H, Shirakura M, Fukushima A, Yamamoto T, Takahashi Y. Post-fusion influenza vaccine adjuvanted with SA-2 confers heterologous protection via Th1-polarized, non-neutralizing antibody responses. Vaccine 2023; 41:4525-4533. [PMID: 37330368 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.06.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Revised: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Development of a universal influenza vaccine that can provide robust and long-lasting protection against heterologous infections is a global public health priority. A variety of vaccine antigens are designed to increase the antigenicity of conserved epitopes to elicit cross-protective antibodies that often lack virus-neutralizing activity. Given the contribution of antibody effector functions to cross-protection, adjuvants need to be added to modulate antibody effector functions as well as to enhance antibody quantity. We previously showed that post-fusion influenza vaccine antigens elicit non-neutralizing but cross-protective antibodies against conserved epitopes. Here, using a murine model, we comparably assessed the adjuvanticity of the newly developed SA-2 adjuvant containing a synthetic TLR7 agonist DSP-0546 and squalene-based MF59 analog as representative Th1- or Th2-type adjuvants, respectively. Both types of adjuvants in the post-fusion vaccine comparably enhanced cross-reactive IgG titers against heterologous strains. However, only SA-2 skewed the IgG subclass into the IgG2c subclass in association to its Th1-polarizing nature. SA-2-enhanced IgG2c responses exhibited antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity against heterologous virus strains, without cross-neutralizing activity. Eventually, the SA-2-adjuvanted vaccination provided protection against lethal infection by heterologous H3N2 and H1N1 viruses. Together, we conclude that the combination with a SA-2 is advantageous for enhancing the cross-protective capability of post-fusion HA vaccines that elicit non-neutralizing IgG antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayae Nishiyama
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan; Laboratory of Precision Immunology, Center for Intractable Diseases and ImmunoGenomics, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 7-6-8, Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki City, Osaka 567-0085, Japan
| | - Yu Adachi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Keisuke Tonouchi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan; Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Waseda University, 2-2 Wakamatsucho Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8480, Japan
| | - Saya Moriyama
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Lin Sun
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
| | - Masamitsu Aoki
- Sumitomo Pharma. Co., Ltd., 3-1-98, Kasugade-naka, Konohana-ku, Osaka 554-0022, Japan
| | - Hideki Asanuma
- Research Center for Influenza and Respiratory Viruses, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Gakuen 4-7-1, Musashimurayama-shi, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Masayuki Shirakura
- Research Center for Influenza and Respiratory Viruses, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Gakuen 4-7-1, Musashimurayama-shi, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Akihisa Fukushima
- Sumitomo Pharma. Co., Ltd., 3-1-98, Kasugade-naka, Konohana-ku, Osaka 554-0022, Japan
| | - Takuya Yamamoto
- Laboratory of Precision Immunology, Center for Intractable Diseases and ImmunoGenomics, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 7-6-8, Saito-Asagi, Ibaraki City, Osaka 567-0085, Japan; Laboratory of Aging and Immune Regulation, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan; Department of Virology and Immunology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yoshimasa Takahashi
- Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan.
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9
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Huffman A, Ong E, Hur J, D’Mello A, Tettelin H, He Y. COVID-19 vaccine design using reverse and structural vaccinology, ontology-based literature mining and machine learning. Brief Bioinform 2022; 23:bbac190. [PMID: 35649389 PMCID: PMC9294427 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Revised: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Rational vaccine design, especially vaccine antigen identification and optimization, is critical to successful and efficient vaccine development against various infectious diseases including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In general, computational vaccine design includes three major stages: (i) identification and annotation of experimentally verified gold standard protective antigens through literature mining, (ii) rational vaccine design using reverse vaccinology (RV) and structural vaccinology (SV) and (iii) post-licensure vaccine success and adverse event surveillance and its usage for vaccine design. Protegen is a database of experimentally verified protective antigens, which can be used as gold standard data for rational vaccine design. RV predicts protective antigen targets primarily from genome sequence analysis. SV refines antigens through structural engineering. Recently, RV and SV approaches, with the support of various machine learning methods, have been applied to COVID-19 vaccine design. The analysis of post-licensure vaccine adverse event report data also provides valuable results in terms of vaccine safety and how vaccines should be used or paused. Ontology standardizes and incorporates heterogeneous data and knowledge in a human- and computer-interpretable manner, further supporting machine learning and vaccine design. Future directions on rational vaccine design are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Huffman
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Edison Ong
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
| | - Junguk Hur
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58202, USA
| | - Adonis D’Mello
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Hervé Tettelin
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Yongqun He
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Center for Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA
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10
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Moise L, Meyers LM, Jang H, Grizotte-Lake M, Boyle CM, McGonnigal B, Ge P, Ross TM, De Groot AS. Novel H7N9 influenza immunogen design enhances mobilization of seasonal influenza T cell memory in H3N2 pre-immune mice. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2022; 18:2082191. [PMID: 35704783 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2022.2082191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Strategies that improve influenza vaccine immunogenicity are critical for the development of vaccines for pandemic preparedness. Hemagglutinin (HA)-specific CD4+ T cell epitopes support protective B cell responses against seasonal influenza. However, in the case of avian H7N9, which poses a pandemic threat, HA elicits only weak neutralizing antibody responses in infection and vaccination without adjuvant. We hypothesized that an immune-engineered H7N9 HA incorporating a broadly reactive H3N2 HA-specific memory CD4+ T cell epitope that replaces a regulatory T cell-inducing epitope at the corresponding position in H7N9 HA could harness preexisting influenza T cell immunity to increase CD4+ T cells that are needed for protective antibody development. We designed and produced a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine that carries the epitope augmented H7N9 HA (OPT1) and immunized HLA-DR3 transgenic mice with established H3N2 immunity. OPT1-VLPs stimulated higher stem cell, central, and effector memory CD4+ T cell levels over wild type VLP immunization. In addition, activated, IL-21-producing follicular helper T cell frequencies were enhanced. This novel immunogen design strategy illustrates that site-specific modifications aimed to augment T cell epitope content enhance CD4+ T cell responses among critical subpopulations capable of aiding protective immune responses upon antigen re-encounter and that mobilization of immune memory can be used to overcome the poor immunogenicity of avian influenza viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonard Moise
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, USA.,Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | | | - Hyesun Jang
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Pan Ge
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Ted M Ross
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.,Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, USA.,Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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11
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Richard G, Princiotta MF, Bridon D, Martin WD, Steinberg GD, De Groot AS. Neoantigen-based personalized cancer vaccines: the emergence of precision cancer immunotherapy. Expert Rev Vaccines 2021; 21:173-184. [PMID: 34882038 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2022.2012456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The field of cancer therapy has undergone a major transformation in less than a decade due to the introduction of checkpoint inhibitors, the advent of next generation sequencing and the discovery of neoantigens. The key observation that the breadth of each patient's immune response to the unique mutations or neoantigens present in their tumor is directly related to their survival has led oncologists to focus on driving immune responses to neoantigens through vaccination. Oncology has entered the era of precision immunotherapy, and cancer vaccine development is undergoing a paradigm shift. AREAS COVERED Neoantigens are short peptide sequences found in tumors, but not noncancerous tissues, the vast majority of which are unique to each patient. In addition to providing a description of the distinguishing features of neoantigen discovery platforms, this review will address cross-cutting personalized cancer vaccine design themes and developmental stumbling blocks. EXPERT OPINION Immunoinformatic pipelines that can rapidly scan cancer genomes and identify 'the best' neoantigens are in high demand. Despite the need for such tools, immunoinformatic methods for identifying neoepitopes in cancer genomes are diverse and have not been well-validated. Validation of 'personalized vaccine design pipelines' will bring about a revolution in neoantigen-based vaccine design and delivery.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Gary D Steinberg
- EpiVax Therapeutics, Inc., Providence, RI, USA.,Perlmutter Cancer Center, Department of Urology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, USA.,Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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12
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Kotraiah V, Phares TW, Terry FE, Hindocha P, Silk SE, Nielsen CM, Moise L, Tucker KD, Ashfield R, Martin WD, De Groot AS, Draper SJ, Gutierrez GM, Noe AR. Identification and Immune Assessment of T Cell Epitopes in Five Plasmodium falciparum Blood Stage Antigens to Facilitate Vaccine Candidate Selection and Optimization. Front Immunol 2021; 12:690348. [PMID: 34305923 PMCID: PMC8294059 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.690348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The hurdles to effective blood stage malaria vaccine design include immune evasion tactics used by the parasite such as redundant invasion pathways and antigen variation among circulating parasite strains. While blood stage malaria vaccine development primarily focuses on eliciting optimal humoral responses capable of blocking erythrocyte invasion, clinically-tested Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) vaccines have not elicited sterile protection, in part due to the dramatically high levels of antibody needed. Recent development efforts with non-redundant, conserved blood stage antigens suggest both high antibody titer and rapid antibody binding kinetics are important efficacy factors. Based on the central role of helper CD4 T cells in development of strong, protective immune responses, we systematically analyzed the class II epitope content in five leading Pf blood stage antigens (RH5, CyRPA, RIPR, AMA1 and EBA175) using in silico, in vitro, and ex vivo methodologies. We employed in silico T cell epitope analysis to enable identification of 67 HLA-restricted class II epitope clusters predicted to bind a panel of nine HLA-DRB1 alleles. We assessed a subset of these for HLA-DRB1 allele binding in vitro, to verify the in silico predictions. All clusters assessed (40 clusters represented by 46 peptides) bound at least two HLA-DR alleles in vitro. The overall epitope prediction to in vitro HLA-DRB1 allele binding accuracy was 71%. Utilizing the set of RH5 class II epitope clusters (10 clusters represented by 12 peptides), we assessed stimulation of T cells collected from HLA-matched RH5 vaccinees using an IFN-γ T cell recall assay. All clusters demonstrated positive recall responses, with the highest responses – by percentage of responders and response magnitude – associated with clusters located in the N-terminal region of RH5. Finally, a statistically significant correlation between in silico epitope predictions and ex vivo IFN-γ recall response was found when accounting for HLA-DR matches between the epitope predictions and donor HLA phenotypes. This is the first comprehensive analysis of class II epitope content in RH5, CyRPA, RIPR, AMA1 and EBA175 accompanied by in vitro HLA binding validation for all five proteins and ex vivo T cell response confirmation for RH5.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Sarah E Silk
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | - Rebecca Ashfield
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax Inc., Providence, RI, United States.,Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Simon J Draper
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Amy R Noe
- Leidos Life Sciences, Leidos Inc., Frederick, MD, United States
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13
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Nguyen TQ, Rollon R, Choi YK. Animal Models for Influenza Research: Strengths and Weaknesses. Viruses 2021; 13:1011. [PMID: 34071367 PMCID: PMC8228315 DOI: 10.3390/v13061011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Influenza remains one of the most significant public health threats due to its ability to cause high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although understanding of influenza viruses has greatly increased in recent years, shortcomings remain. Additionally, the continuous mutation of influenza viruses through genetic reassortment and selection of variants that escape host immune responses can render current influenza vaccines ineffective at controlling seasonal epidemics and potential pandemics. Thus, there is a knowledge gap in the understanding of influenza viruses and a corresponding need to develop novel universal vaccines and therapeutic treatments. Investigation of viral pathogenesis, transmission mechanisms, and efficacy of influenza vaccine candidates requires animal models that can recapitulate the disease. Furthermore, the choice of animal model for each research question is crucial in order for researchers to acquire a better knowledge of influenza viruses. Herein, we reviewed the advantages and limitations of each animal model-including mice, ferrets, guinea pigs, swine, felines, canines, and non-human primates-for elucidating influenza viral pathogenesis and transmission and for evaluating therapeutic agents and vaccine efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thi-Quyen Nguyen
- College of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea; (T.-Q.N.); (R.R.)
| | - Rare Rollon
- College of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea; (T.-Q.N.); (R.R.)
| | - Young-Ki Choi
- College of Medicine and Medical Research Institute, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea; (T.-Q.N.); (R.R.)
- Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Research Center, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea
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14
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Multi-step screening of neoantigens' HLA- and TCR-interfaces improves prediction of survival. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9983. [PMID: 33976291 PMCID: PMC8113358 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-89016-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Improvement of risk stratification through prognostic biomarkers may enhance the personalization of cancer patient monitoring and treatment. We used Ancer, an immunoinformatic CD8, CD4, and regulatory T cell neoepitope screening system, to perform an advanced neoantigen analysis of genomic data derived from the urothelial cancer cohort of The Cancer Genome Atlas. Ancer demonstrated improved prognostic stratification and five-year survival prediction compared to standard analyses using tumor mutational burden or neoepitope identification using NetMHCpan and NetMHCIIpan. The superiority of Ancer, shown in both univariate and multivariate survival analyses, is attributed to the removal of neoepitopes that do not contribute to tumor immunogenicity based on their homology with self-epitopes. This analysis suggests that the presence of a higher number of unique, non-self CD8- and CD4-neoepitopes contributes to cancer survival, and that prospectively defining these neoepitopes using Ancer is a novel prognostic or predictive biomarker.
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15
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De Groot AS, Rosenberg AS, Miah SMS, Skowron G, Roberts BJ, Lélias S, Terry FE, Martin WD. Identification of a potent regulatory T cell epitope in factor V that modulates CD4+ and CD8+ memory T cell responses. Clin Immunol 2021; 224:108661. [PMID: 33412295 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2020.108661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 12/29/2020] [Accepted: 12/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Identification of T cell epitopes that are recognized by Tregs may elucidate the relative contributions of thymic Tregs and induced Tregs to control of autoimmune diseases and allergy. One such T regulatory cell epitope or 'Tregitope', derived from blood Factor V, is described here. Tregs responding to Tregitope FV621 are potent suppressors of CD4+ T effector responses to Tetanus Toxoid in an in vitro bystander suppression assay, strongly inhibit proliferation of effector CD8+ T cells, down-modulate CD86 and HLA DR on antigen-presenting cells, and enhance expression of granzyme B in Tregs. Tregitope FV621 also suppresses anti-OVA immune responses in vivo. The immunomodulatory effect of Tregitope FV621 is enhanced when conjugated to albumin, suggesting that the short half-life of Tregitope peptides can be prolonged. The in silico tools used to prospectively identify the FV Tregitope described here, when combined with in vitro /in vivo validating assays, may facilitate future Tregitope discoveries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, USA; Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, USA.
| | - Amy S Rosenberg
- Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, White Oak, MD, USA
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16
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Ong E, Huang X, Pearce R, Zhang Y, He Y. Computational design of SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoproteins to increase immunogenicity by T cell epitope engineering. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2020; 19:518-529. [PMID: 33398234 PMCID: PMC7773544 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.12.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 12/24/2020] [Accepted: 12/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The development of effective and safe vaccines is the ultimate way to efficiently stop the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Built on the fact that SARS-CoV-2 utilizes the association of its Spike (S) protein with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor to invade host cells, we computationally redesigned the S protein sequence to improve its immunogenicity and antigenicity. Toward this purpose, we extended an evolutionary protein design algorithm, EvoDesign, to create thousands of stable S protein variants that perturb the core protein sequence but keep the surface conformation and B cell epitopes. The T cell epitope content and similarity scores of the perturbed sequences were calculated and evaluated. Out of 22,914 designs with favorable stability energy, 301 candidates contained at least two pre-existing immunity-related epitopes and had promising immunogenic potential. The benchmark tests showed that, although the epitope restraints were not included in the scoring function of EvoDesign, the top S protein design successfully recovered 31 out of the 32 major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-II T cell promiscuous epitopes in the native S protein, where two epitopes were present in all seven human coronaviruses. Moreover, the newly designed S protein introduced nine new MHC-II T cell promiscuous epitopes that do not exist in the wildtype SARS-CoV-2. These results demonstrated a new and effective avenue to enhance a target protein's immunogenicity using rational protein design, which could be applied for new vaccine design against COVID-19 and other pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edison Ong
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Xiaoqiang Huang
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Robin Pearce
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Yang Zhang
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Yongqun He
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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17
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Self-Replicating RNAs Drive Protective Anti-tumor T Cell Responses to Neoantigen Vaccine Targets in a Combinatorial Approach. Mol Ther 2020; 29:1186-1198. [PMID: 33278563 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2020.11.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Historically poor clinical results of tumor vaccines have been attributed to weakly immunogenic antigen targets, limited specificity, and vaccine platforms that fail to induce high-quality polyfunctional T cells, central to mediating cellular immunity. We show here that the combination of antigen selection, construct design, and a robust vaccine platform based on the Synthetically Modified Alpha Replicon RNA Technology (SMARRT), a self-replicating RNA, leads to control of tumor growth in mice. Therapeutic immunization with SMARRT replicon-based vaccines expressing tumor-specific neoantigens or tumor-associated antigen were able to generate polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses in mice. Additionally, checkpoint inhibitors, or co-administration of cytokine also expressed from the SMARRT platform, synergized to enhance responses further. Lastly, SMARRT-based immunization of non-human primates was able to elicit high-quality T cell responses, demonstrating translatability and clinical feasibility of synthetic replicon technology for therapeutic oncology vaccines.
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18
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Zhu J, Kim J, Xiao X, Wang Y, Luo D, Jiang S, Chen R, Xu L, Zhang H, Moise L, Gutierrez AH, De Groot AS, Xiao G, Schoggins JW, Zhan X, Wang T, Xie Y. The immune vulnerability landscape of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020:2020.02.08.939553. [PMID: 32908981 PMCID: PMC7480032 DOI: 10.1101/2020.02.08.939553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
The outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) rapidly spread from Wuhan, China to more than 150 countries, areas, or territories, causing staggering numbers of infections and deaths. In this study, bioinformatics analyses were performed on 5,568 complete genomes of SARS-CoV-2 virus to predict the T cell and B cell immunogenic epitopes of all viral proteins, which formed a systematic immune vulnerability landscape of SARS-CoV-2. The immune vulnerability and genetic variation profiles of SARS-CoV were compared with those of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. In addition, a web portal was developed to broadly share the data and results as a resource for the research community. Using this resource, we showed that genetic variations in SARS-CoV-2 are associated with loss of B cell immunogenicity, an increase in CD4+ T cell immunogenicity, and a minimum loss in CD8+ T cell immunogenicity, indicating the existence of a curious correlation between SARS-CoV-2 genetic evolutions and the immunity pressure from the host. Overall, we present an immunological resource for SARS-CoV-2 that could promote both therapeutic/vaccine development and mechanistic research.
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Affiliation(s)
- James Zhu
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Jiwoong Kim
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Xue Xiao
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Yunguan Wang
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Danni Luo
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Shuang Jiang
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Ran Chen
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Lin Xu
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - He Zhang
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Lenny Moise
- EpiVax, Inc. RI, USA, 02909
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, GA, USA, 30605
| | | | - Anne S. De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc. RI, USA, 02909
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, GA, USA, 30605
| | - Guanghua Xiao
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
- Department of Bioinformatics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - John W. Schoggins
- Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Xiaowei Zhan
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
- Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Tao Wang
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
- Center for the Genetics of Host Defense, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
| | - Yang Xie
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA, 75390
- EpiVax, Inc. RI, USA, 02909
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19
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Jang H, Meyers LM, Boyle C, De Groot AS, Moise L, Ross TM. Immune-engineered H7N9 influenza hemagglutinin improves protection against viral influenza virus challenge. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2020; 16:2042-2050. [PMID: 32783766 PMCID: PMC7553694 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2020.1793711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The influenza hemagglutinin (HA) isolated from avian H7N9 influenza virus strains elicit weak immune responses. This low immunogenicity may be due to a regulatory T cell (Treg)-stimulating epitopes in HA from the H7N9 isolate A/Anhui/1/2013 (Anh/13). In this report, this Treg stimulating sequence was removed from the wild-type (WT) H7 HA amino acid sequence and replaced with a conserved CD4 + T cell stimulating sequences from human seasonal H3N2 strains and designed OPT1 H7 HA. The effectiveness of this optimized H7 HA protein was determined using a humanized mouse (HLA-DR3) expressing the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR3 allele. HLA-DR3 mice were pre-immunized by infecting with H3N2 influenza virus, A/Hong Kong/4108/2014 and then vaccinated intramuscularly with either the WT H7 HA from Anh/13 or the OPT1 H7 HA antigen without adjuvant. The OPT1 H7 HA vaccination group elicited higher H7 HA-specific IgG titers that resulted in a lower mortality, weight loss, and lung viral titer following lethal challenge with the H7N9 Anh/13 influenza virus compared to WT-vaccinated mice. Overall, T-cell epitope-engineered vaccines can improve the immunogenicity of H7 HA antigens resulting in enhanced survival and lower morbidity against H7N9 influenza virus challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyesun Jang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA.,Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA
| | | | | | - Anne S De Groot
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA.,EpiVax , Providence, RI, USA
| | - Lenny Moise
- EpiVax , Providence, RI, USA.,Institute of Immunology and Informatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Rhode Island , Providence, RI, USA
| | - Ted M Ross
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA.,Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia , Athens, GA, USA
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20
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De Groot AS, Moise L, Terry F, Gutierrez AH, Hindocha P, Richard G, Hoft DF, Ross TM, Noe AR, Takahashi Y, Kotraiah V, Silk SE, Nielsen CM, Minassian AM, Ashfield R, Ardito M, Draper SJ, Martin WD. Better Epitope Discovery, Precision Immune Engineering, and Accelerated Vaccine Design Using Immunoinformatics Tools. Front Immunol 2020; 11:442. [PMID: 32318055 PMCID: PMC7154102 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Computational vaccinology includes epitope mapping, antigen selection, and immunogen design using computational tools. Tools that facilitate the in silico prediction of immune response to biothreats, emerging infectious diseases, and cancers can accelerate the design of novel and next generation vaccines and their delivery to the clinic. Over the past 20 years, vaccinologists, bioinformatics experts, and advanced programmers based in Providence, Rhode Island, USA have advanced the development of an integrated toolkit for vaccine design called iVAX, that is secure and user-accessible by internet. This integrated set of immunoinformatic tools comprises algorithms for scoring and triaging candidate antigens, selecting immunogenic and conserved T cell epitopes, re-engineering or eliminating regulatory T cell epitopes, and re-designing antigens to induce immunogenicity and protection against disease for humans and livestock. Commercial and academic applications of iVAX have included identifying immunogenic T cell epitopes in the development of a T-cell based human multi-epitope Q fever vaccine, designing novel influenza vaccines, identifying cross-conserved T cell epitopes for a malaria vaccine, and analyzing immune responses in clinical vaccine studies. Animal vaccine applications to date have included viral infections of pigs such as swine influenza A, PCV2, and African Swine Fever. “Rapid-Fire” applications for biodefense have included a demonstration project for Lassa Fever and Q fever. As recent infectious disease outbreaks underscore the significance of vaccine-driven preparedness, the integrated set of tools available on the iVAX toolkit stand ready to help vaccine developers deliver genome-derived, epitope-driven vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, United States.,Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Leonard Moise
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, United States.,Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Providence, RI, United States
| | | | - Andres H Gutierrez
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, United States.,Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Providence, RI, United States
| | | | | | - Daniel Fredric Hoft
- Departments of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology and Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy & Immunology, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, United States
| | - Ted M Ross
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Amy R Noe
- Leidos Life Sciences, Frederick, MD, United States
| | | | | | - Sarah E Silk
- Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | | | | | | | - Simon J Draper
- Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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21
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Boyoglu-Barnum S, Hutchinson GB, Boyington JC, Moin SM, Gillespie RA, Tsybovsky Y, Stephens T, Vaile JR, Lederhofer J, Corbett KS, Fisher BE, Yassine HM, Andrews SF, Crank MC, McDermott AB, Mascola JR, Graham BS, Kanekiyo M. Glycan repositioning of influenza hemagglutinin stem facilitates the elicitation of protective cross-group antibody responses. Nat Commun 2020; 11:791. [PMID: 32034141 PMCID: PMC7005838 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14579-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2019] [Accepted: 01/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The conserved hemagglutinin (HA) stem has been a focus of universal influenza vaccine efforts. Influenza A group 1 HA stem-nanoparticles have been demonstrated to confer heterosubtypic protection in animals; however, the protection does not extend to group 2 viruses, due in part to differences in glycosylation between group 1 and 2 stems. Here, we show that introducing the group 2 glycan at Asn38HA1 to a group 1 stem-nanoparticle (gN38 variant) based on A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1) broadens antibody responses to cross-react with group 2 HAs. Immunoglobulins elicited by the gN38 variant provide complete protection against group 2 H7N9 virus infection, while the variant loses protection against a group 1 H5N1 virus. The N38HA1 glycan thus is pivotal in directing antibody responses by controlling access to group-determining stem epitopes. Precise targeting of stem-directed antibody responses to the site of vulnerability by glycan repositioning may be a step towards achieving cross-group influenza protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seyhan Boyoglu-Barnum
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Geoffrey B Hutchinson
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Jeffrey C Boyington
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Syed M Moin
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Rebecca A Gillespie
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Yaroslav Tsybovsky
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, ATRF, 8560 Progressive Drive, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - Tyler Stephens
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Cancer Research Technology Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, ATRF, 8560 Progressive Drive, Frederick, MD, 21702, USA
| | - John R Vaile
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Julia Lederhofer
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Kizzmekia S Corbett
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Brian E Fisher
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Hadi M Yassine
- Biomedical Research Center, Qatar University, New Research Complex Zone 5, Doha, Qatar
| | - Sarah F Andrews
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Michelle C Crank
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Adrian B McDermott
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - John R Mascola
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA
| | - Barney S Graham
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
| | - Masaru Kanekiyo
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, 40 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
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22
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Yamamoto T, Masuta Y, Momota M, Kanekiyo M, Kanuma T, Takahama S, Moriishi E, Yasutomi Y, Saito T, Graham BS, Takahashi Y, Ishii KJ. A unique nanoparticulate TLR9 agonist enables a HA split vaccine to confer FcγR-mediated protection against heterologous lethal influenza virus infection. Int Immunol 2020; 31:81-90. [PMID: 30535055 DOI: 10.1093/intimm/dxy069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Accepted: 11/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of a universal influenza vaccine that can provide a robust and long-lasting protection against a broader range of influenza virus strains is a global public health priority. One approach to improve vaccine efficacy is to use an adjuvant to boost immune responses to the target antigens; nevertheless, the role of adjuvants in the context of influenza vaccines is not fully understood. We have previously developed the K3-schizophyllan (SPG) adjuvant, which is composed of nanoparticulated oligodeoxynucleotides K3, a TLR9 agonist, with SPG, a non-agonistic β-glucan ligand of Dectin-1. In this study, K3-SPG given with conventional influenza hemagglutinin (HA) split vaccine (K3-SPG HA) conferred protection against antigenically mismatched heterologous virus challenge. While K3-SPG HA elicited robust cross-reactive HA-specific IgG2c and CD8 T-cell responses, CD8 T-cell depletion had no impact on this cross-protection. In contrast, K3-SPG HA was not able to confer protection against heterologous virus challenge in FcRγ-deficient mice. Our results indicated that FcγR-mediated antibody responses induced by the HA antigen and K3-SPG adjuvant were important for potent protection against antigenically mismatched influenza virus infection. Thus, we demonstrated that the K3-SPG-adjuvanted vaccine strategy broadens protective immunity against influenza and provides a basis for the development of next-generation influenza vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takuya Yamamoto
- Laboratory of Adjuvant Innovation, Center for Vaccine and Adjuvant Research, Osaka, Japan.,Laboratory of Immunosenescence, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yuji Masuta
- Laboratory of Adjuvant Innovation, Center for Vaccine and Adjuvant Research, Osaka, Japan.,Laboratories of Discovery Research, Nippon Shinyaku Co., Ltd., Kyoto, Japan
| | - Masatoshi Momota
- Laboratory of Adjuvant Innovation, Center for Vaccine and Adjuvant Research, Osaka, Japan.,Laboratory of Vaccine Science, World Premier International Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
| | - Masaru Kanekiyo
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Tomohiro Kanuma
- Laboratory of Adjuvant Innovation, Center for Vaccine and Adjuvant Research, Osaka, Japan.,Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Vaccine Research, Tsukuba Primate Research Center, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Shoukichi Takahama
- Laboratory of Immunosenescence, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Osaka, Japan.,Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Vaccine Research, Tsukuba Primate Research Center, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Eiko Moriishi
- Laboratory of Immunosenescence, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Osaka, Japan
| | - Yasuhiro Yasutomi
- Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Vaccine Research, Tsukuba Primate Research Center, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Ibaraki, Japan
| | - Takashi Saito
- Laboratory for Cell Signaling, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS), Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Barney S Graham
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yoshimasa Takahashi
- Department of Immunology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Ken J Ishii
- Laboratory of Adjuvant Innovation, Center for Vaccine and Adjuvant Research, Osaka, Japan.,Laboratory of Vaccine Science, World Premier International Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
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23
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Kruiswijk C, Richard G, Salverda MLM, Hindocha P, Martin WD, De Groot AS, Van Riet E. In silico identification and modification of T cell epitopes in pertussis antigens associated with tolerance. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2020; 16:277-285. [PMID: 31951773 PMCID: PMC7062413 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2019.1703453] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
The resurgence of whooping cough since the introduction of acellular (protein) vaccines has led to a renewed interest in the development of improved pertussis vaccines; Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) carrying pertussis antigens have emerged as viable candidates. An in silico immunogenicity screen was carried out on 49 well-known Bordetella pertussis proteins in order to better understand their potential role toward the efficacy of pertussis OMVs for vaccine design; seven proteins were identified as being good candidates for including in optimized cellular and acellular pertussis vaccines. We then screened these antigens for putative tolerance-inducing sequences, as proteins with reduced tolerogenicity have improved vaccine potency in preclinical models. We used specialized homology tools (JanusMatrix) to identify peptides in the proteins that were cross-reactive with human sequences. Four of the 19 identified cross-reactive peptides were detolerized in silico using a separate tool, OptiMatrix, which disrupted the potential of these peptides to bind to human HLA and murine MHC. Four selected cross-reactive peptides and their detolerized variants were synthesized and their binding to a set of eight common HLA class II alleles was assessed in vitro. Reduced binding affinity to HLA class II was observed for the detolerized variants compared to the wild-type peptides, highlighting the potential of this approach for designing more efficacious pertussis vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corine Kruiswijk
- Department of Experimental Immunology & Clinical Research, Intravacc, Bilthoven, Netherlands
| | | | - Merijn L M Salverda
- Department of Experimental Immunology & Clinical Research, Intravacc, Bilthoven, Netherlands
| | | | | | | | - Elly Van Riet
- Department of Experimental Immunology & Clinical Research, Intravacc, Bilthoven, Netherlands
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24
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Luo J, Liu XP, Xiong FF, Gao FX, Yi YL, Zhang M, Chen Z, Tan WS. Enhancing Immune Response and Heterosubtypic Protection Ability of Inactivated H7N9 Vaccine by Using STING Agonist as a Mucosal Adjuvant. Front Immunol 2019; 10:2274. [PMID: 31611875 PMCID: PMC6777483 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.02274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Influenza vaccines for H7N9 subtype have shown low immunogenicity in human clinical trials. Using novel adjuvants might represent the optimal available option in vaccine development. In this study, we demonstrated that the using of the STING agonist cGAMP as a mucosal adjuvant is effective in enhancing humoral, cellular and mucosal immune responses of whole virus, inactivated H7N9 vaccine in mice. A single dose of immunization was able to completely protect mice against a high lethal doses of homologous virus challenge with an significant dose-sparing effect. We also found that intranasal co-administration of H7N9 vaccine with cGAMP could provide effective cross protection against H1N1, H3N2, and H9N2 influenza virus. Furthermore, cGAMP induced significantly higher nucleoprotein specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells responses in immunized mice, as well as upregulated the IFN-γ and Granzyme B expression in the lung tissue of mice in the early stages post a heterosubtypic virus challenge. These results indicated that STING agonist cGAMP was expected to be an effective mucosal immune adjuvant for pre-pandemic vaccines such as H7N9 vaccines, and the cGAMP combined nasal inactivated influenza vaccine will also be a promising strategy for development of broad-spectrum influenza vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Luo
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, China
| | - Xu-Ping Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Fei-Fei Xiong
- Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, China
| | - Fei-Xia Gao
- Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, China
| | - Ying-Lei Yi
- Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, China
| | - Min Zhang
- Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, China
| | - Ze Chen
- Shanghai Institute of Biological Products, Shanghai, China
| | - Wen-Song Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
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25
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Exposure of an occluded hemagglutinin epitope drives selection of a class of cross-protective influenza antibodies. Nat Commun 2019; 10:3883. [PMID: 31462639 PMCID: PMC6713747 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11821-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Germinal center (GC) B cells at viral replication sites acquire specificity to poorly immunogenic but conserved influenza hemagglutinin (HA) epitopes. Here, high-throughput epitope mapping of local GC B cells is used to identify conserved HA epitope selecting cross-reactive antibodies that mediate heterosubtypic protection. A distinct feature of this epitope is an occlusion in the naive trimeric HA structure that is exposed in the post-fusion HA structure to occur under low pH conditions during viral replication. Importantly, systemic immunization by the post-fusion HA antigen results in GC B cells targeting the occluded epitope, and induces a class of protective antibodies that have cross-group specificity and afford protection independent of virus neutralization activity. Furthermore, this class of broadly protective antibodies develops at late time points and persists. Our results identify a class of cross-protective antibodies that are selected at the viral replication site, and provide insights into vaccine strategies using the occluded epitope. Antibody cross-reactivity can help to prevent escape mutations from enabling viral escape, but underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here the authors identify influenza hemagglutinin epitopes that are exposed during viral replication and which result in the generation of a class of protective cross-reactive antibodies.
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26
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Eickhoff CS, Terry FE, Peng L, Meza KA, Sakala IG, Van Aartsen D, Moise L, Martin WD, Schriewer J, Buller RM, De Groot AS, Hoft DF. Highly conserved influenza T cell epitopes induce broadly protective immunity. Vaccine 2019; 37:5371-5381. [PMID: 31331771 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.07.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Revised: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Influenza world-wide causes significant morbidity and mortality annually, and more severe pandemics when novel strains evolve to which humans are immunologically naïve. Because of the high viral mutation rate, new vaccines must be generated based on the prevalence of circulating strains every year. New approaches to induce more broadly protective immunity are urgently needed. Previous research has demonstrated that influenza-specific T cells can provide broadly heterotypic protective immunity in both mice and humans, supporting the rationale for developing a T cell-targeted universal influenza vaccine. We used state-of-the art immunoinformatic tools to identify putative pan-HLA-DR and HLA-A2 supertype-restricted T cell epitopes highly conserved among > 50 widely diverse influenza A strains (representing hemagglutinin types 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9). We found influenza peptides that are highly conserved across influenza subtypes that were also predicted to be class I epitopes restricted by HLA-A2. These peptides were found to be immunoreactive in HLA-A2 positive but not HLA-A2 negative individuals. Class II-restricted T cell epitopes that were highly conserved across influenza subtypes were identified. Human CD4+ T cells were reactive with these conserved CD4 epitopes, and epitope expanded T cells were responsive to both H1N1 and H3N2 viruses. Dendritic cell vaccines pulsed with conserved epitopes and DNA vaccines encoding these epitopes were developed and tested in HLA transgenic mice. These vaccines were highly immunogenic, and more importantly, vaccine-induced immunity was protective against both H1N1 and H3N2 influenza challenges. These results demonstrate proof-of-principle that conserved T cell epitopes expressed by widely diverse influenza strains can induce broadly protective, heterotypic influenza immunity, providing strong support for further development of universally relevant multi-epitope T cell-targeting influenza vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher S Eickhoff
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Frances E Terry
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States
| | - Linda Peng
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Krystal A Meza
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Isaac G Sakala
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Daniel Van Aartsen
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Leonard Moise
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States; University of Rhode Island, Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, 80 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903, United States
| | - William D Martin
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States
| | - Jill Schriewer
- Saint Louis University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - R Mark Buller
- Saint Louis University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States; University of Rhode Island, Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, 80 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903, United States
| | - Daniel F Hoft
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States; Saint Louis University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States.
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27
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Innovation in Newcastle Disease Virus Vectored Avian Influenza Vaccines. Viruses 2019; 11:v11030300. [PMID: 30917500 PMCID: PMC6466292 DOI: 10.3390/v11030300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2019] [Revised: 03/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and Newcastle disease are economically important avian diseases worldwide. Effective vaccination is critical to control these diseases in poultry. Live attenuated Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vectored vaccines have been developed for bivalent vaccination against HPAI viruses and NDV. These vaccines have been generated by inserting the hemagglutinin (HA) gene of avian influenza virus into NDV genomes. In laboratory settings, several experimental NDV-vectored vaccines have protected specific pathogen-free chickens from mortality, clinical signs, and virus shedding against H5 and H7 HPAI viruses and NDV challenges. NDV-vectored H5 vaccines have been licensed for poultry vaccination in China and Mexico. Recently, an antigenically chimeric NDV vector has been generated to overcome pre-existing immunity to NDV in poultry and to provide early protection of poultry in the field. Prime immunization of one-day-old poults with a chimeric NDV vector followed by boosting with a conventional NDV vector has shown to protect broiler chickens against H5 HPAI viruses and a highly virulent NDV. This novel vaccination approach can provide efficient control of HPAI viruses in the field and facilitate poultry vaccination.
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28
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Krishnakumar V, Durairajan SSK, Alagarasu K, Li M, Dash AP. Recent Updates on Mouse Models for Human Immunodeficiency, Influenza, and Dengue Viral Infections. Viruses 2019; 11:E252. [PMID: 30871179 PMCID: PMC6466164 DOI: 10.3390/v11030252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2019] [Revised: 02/09/2019] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Well-developed mouse models are important for understanding the pathogenesis and progression of immunological response to viral infections in humans. Moreover, to test vaccines, anti-viral drugs and therapeutic agents, mouse models are fundamental for preclinical investigations. Human viruses, however, seldom infect mice due to differences in the cellular receptors used by the viruses for entry, as well as in the innate immune responses in mice and humans. In other words, a species barrier exists when using mouse models for investigating human viral infections. Developing transgenic (Tg) mice models expressing the human genes coding for viral entry receptors and knock-out (KO) mice models devoid of components involved in the innate immune response have, to some extent, overcome this barrier. Humanized mouse models are a third approach, developed by engrafting functional human cells and tissues into immunodeficient mice. They are becoming indispensable for analyzing human viral diseases since they nearly recapitulate the human disease. These mouse models also serve to test the efficacy of vaccines and antiviral agents. This review provides an update on the Tg, KO, and humanized mouse models that are used in studies investigating the pathogenesis of three important human-specific viruses, namely human immunodeficiency (HIV) virus 1, influenza, and dengue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinodhini Krishnakumar
- Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Tamilnadu, Tiruvarur 610 005, India.
| | | | - Kalichamy Alagarasu
- Dengue/Chikungunya Group, ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune 411001, India.
| | - Min Li
- Neuroscience Research Laboratory, Mr. & Mrs. Ko Chi-Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, HKSAR, China.
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29
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Moise L, M Biron B, Boyle CM, Kurt Yilmaz N, Jang H, Schiffer C, M Ross T, Martin WD, De Groot AS. T cell epitope engineering: an avian H7N9 influenza vaccine strategy for pandemic preparedness and response. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2018; 14:2203-2207. [PMID: 30015562 PMCID: PMC6183197 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2018.1495303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The delayed availability of vaccine during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic created a sense of urgency to better prepare for the next influenza pandemic. Advancements in manufacturing technology, speed and capacity have been achieved but vaccine effectiveness remains a significant challenge. Here, we describe a novel vaccine design strategy called immune engineering in the context of H7N9 influenza vaccine development. The approach combines immunoinformatic and structure modeling methods to promote protective antibody responses against H7N9 hemagglutinin (HA) by engineering whole antigens to carry seasonal influenza HA memory CD4+ T cell epitopes – without perturbing native antigen structure – by galvanizing HA-specific memory helper T cells that support sustained antibody development against the native target HA. The premise for this vaccine concept rests on (i) the significance of CD4+ T cell memory to influenza immunity, (ii) the essential role CD4+ T cells play in development of neutralizing antibodies, (iii) linked specificity of HA-derived CD4+ T cell epitopes to antibody responses, (iv) the structural plasticity of HA and (v) an illustration of improved antibody response to a prototype engineered recombinant H7-HA vaccine. Immune engineering can be applied to development of vaccines against pandemic concerns, including avian influenza, as well as other difficult targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonard Moise
- a EpiVax, Inc ., Providence , RI , USA.,b Institute for Immunology and Informatics , University of Rhode Island , Providence , RI , USA.,c Department of Cell and Molecular Biology , University of Rhode Island , Providence , RI , USA
| | | | | | - Nese Kurt Yilmaz
- d Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology , UMass Medical School , Worcester , MA , USA
| | - Hyesun Jang
- e Center for Vaccines and Immunology , University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA
| | - Celia Schiffer
- d Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology , UMass Medical School , Worcester , MA , USA
| | - Ted M Ross
- e Center for Vaccines and Immunology , University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA.,f Department of Infectious Diseases , University of Georgia , Athens , GA , USA
| | | | - Anne S De Groot
- a EpiVax, Inc ., Providence , RI , USA.,b Institute for Immunology and Informatics , University of Rhode Island , Providence , RI , USA.,c Department of Cell and Molecular Biology , University of Rhode Island , Providence , RI , USA
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30
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Lee B, Jo E, Yoon HY, Yoon CJ, Lee H, Kwon KC, Kim TW, Lee J. Nonimmunogenetic Viral Capsid Carrier with Cancer Targeting Activity. ADVANCED SCIENCE (WEINHEIM, BADEN-WURTTEMBERG, GERMANY) 2018; 5:1800494. [PMID: 30128257 PMCID: PMC6097151 DOI: 10.1002/advs.201800494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2018] [Revised: 05/03/2018] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Although protein nanoparticles (PNPs) (e.g., viral capsids) capable of delivering a broad range of drug agents have shown distinctive advantages over synthetic nanomaterials, PNPs have an intrinsic drawback that hampers their clinical application, that is, potential immunogenicity. Here, a novel method for resolving the immunogenicity problem of PNPs, which is based on the genetic presentation of albumin-binding peptides (ABPs) on the surface of PNP, is reported. ABPs are inserted into the surface of a viral capsid (hepatitis B virus capsid/HBVC) while preserving the native self-assembly function of HBVC. The ABPs effectively gather human serum albumins around HBVC and significantly reduce both inflammatory response and immunoglobulin titer in live mice compared to ABP-free HBVC. Furthermore, ABP-conjugated HBVCs remain within tumors for a longer period than HBVCs conjugated to tumor cell receptor-bindingpeptides, indicating that the ABPs are also capable of enhancing tumor-targeting performance. Although applied to HBVC for proof of concept, this novel approach may provide a general platform for resolving immunogenicity and cancer-targeting problems of PNPs, which enables the development of a variety of PNP-based drug delivery carriers with high safety and efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bo‐Ram Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringCollege of EngineeringKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
| | - Eunji Jo
- Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringCollege of EngineeringKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
| | - Hong Yeol Yoon
- Center for TheragnosisBiomedical Research InstituteKorea Institute of Science and Technology39‐1 Hawolgok‐dong, Seongbuk‐guSeoul136‐791Republic of Korea
| | - Chul Joo Yoon
- Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringCollege of EngineeringKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
| | - Hyo‐Jung Lee
- Division of Infection and ImmunologyGraduate School of MedicineKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
| | - Koo Chul Kwon
- Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringCollege of EngineeringKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
| | - Tae Woo Kim
- Division of Infection and ImmunologyGraduate School of MedicineKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
| | - Jeewon Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biological EngineeringCollege of EngineeringKorea UniversityAnam‐Ro 145Seoul136‐713Republic of Korea
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Sasaki E, Momose H, Hiradate Y, Furuhata K, Mizukami T, Hamaguchi I. Development of a preclinical humanized mouse model to evaluate acute toxicity of an influenza vaccine. Oncotarget 2018; 9:25751-25763. [PMID: 29899819 PMCID: PMC5995229 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.25399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Safety evaluation of a human vaccine is critical for vaccine development and for preventing an unexpected adverse reaction in humans. Nonetheless, to date, very few systems have been described for preclinical studies of human adverse reactions in vivo. Previously, we have identified biomarker genes expressed in the lungs for evaluation of influenza vaccine safety, and their usefulness in rodent models and for adjuvant-containing vaccines has already been reported. Here, our purpose was to develop a novel humanized mouse model retaining human innate-immunity–related cells to assess the safety of influenza vaccines using the previously identified biomarker genes. In the present study, we tested whether the two humanized models, a short-term and long-term reconstitution model of NOD/Shi-scid IL2rγnull mice, are suitable for biomarker gene–based safety evaluation. In the short-term model, human CD14+ cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and B cells were retained in the lungs. Among these cells, human CD14+ cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells were not detected in the lungs of the long-term model. After the vaccination, the expression levels of human biomarker genes were elevated only in the short-term model when the toxicity reference vaccine was inoculated. This phenomenon was not observed in the long-term model. The levels of human cytokines and chemokines in the lungs increased in response to the toxicity reference vaccine in the short-term mouse model. According to these results, the short-term model provides a better platform for evaluating vaccine safety in terms of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell–mediated initial reactions in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eita Sasaki
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Haruka Momose
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Yuki Hiradate
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Keiko Furuhata
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Takuo Mizukami
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
| | - Isao Hamaguchi
- Department of Safety Research on Blood and Biological Products, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208-0011, Japan
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Dhanda SK, Grifoni A, Pham J, Vaughan K, Sidney J, Peters B, Sette A. Development of a strategy and computational application to select candidate protein analogues with reduced HLA binding and immunogenicity. Immunology 2017; 153:118-132. [PMID: 28833085 DOI: 10.1111/imm.12816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Revised: 07/27/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Unwanted immune responses against protein therapeutics can reduce efficacy or lead to adverse reactions. T-cell responses are key in the development of such responses, and are directed against immunodominant regions within the protein sequence, often associated with binding to several allelic variants of HLA class II molecules (promiscuous binders). Herein, we report a novel computational strategy to predict 'de-immunized' peptides, based on previous studies of erythropoietin protein immunogenicity. This algorithm (or method) first predicts promiscuous binding regions within the target protein sequence and then identifies residue substitutions predicted to reduce HLA binding. Further, this method anticipates the effect of any given substitution on flanking peptides, thereby circumventing the creation of nascent HLA-binding regions. As a proof-of-principle, the algorithm was applied to Vatreptacog α, an engineered Factor VII molecule associated with unintended immunogenicity. The algorithm correctly predicted the two immunogenic peptides containing the engineered residues. As a further validation, we selected and evaluated the immunogenicity of seven substitutions predicted to simultaneously reduce HLA binding for both peptides, five control substitutions with no predicted reduction in HLA-binding capacity, and additional flanking region controls. In vitro immunogenicity was detected in 21·4% of the cultures of peptides predicted to have reduced HLA binding and 11·4% of the flanking regions, compared with 46% for the cultures of the peptides predicted to be immunogenic. This method has been implemented as an interactive application, freely available online at http://tools.iedb.org/deimmunization/.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Kumar Dhanda
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alba Grifoni
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - John Pham
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kerrie Vaughan
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
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Hu Z, Jiao X, Liu X. Antibody Immunity Induced by H7N9 Avian Influenza Vaccines: Evaluation Criteria, Affecting Factors, and Implications for Rational Vaccine Design. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:1898. [PMID: 29018438 PMCID: PMC5622983 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2017] [Accepted: 09/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Severe H7N9 avian influenza virus (AIV) infections in humans have public health authorities around the world on high alert for the potential development of a human influenza pandemic. Currently, the newly-emerged highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H7N9) virus poses a dual challenge for public health and poultry industry. Numerous H7N9 vaccine candidates have been generated using various platforms. Immunization trials in animals and humans showed that H7N9 vaccines are apparently poorly immunogenic because they induced low hemagglutination inhibition and virus neutralizing antibody titers. However, H7N9 vaccines elicit comparable levels of total hemagglutinin (HA)-reactive IgG antibody as the seasonal influenza vaccines, suggesting H7N9 vaccines are as immunogenic as their seasonal counterparts. A large fraction of overall IgG antibody is non-neutralizing antibody and they target unrecognized epitopes outside of the traditional antigenic sites in HA. Further, the Treg epitope identified in H7 HA may at least partially contribute to regulation of antibody immunity. Here, we review the latest advances for the development of H7N9 vaccines and discuss the influence of serological criteria on evaluation of immunogenicity of H7N9 vaccines. Next, we discuss factors affecting antibody immunity induced by H7N9 vaccines, including the change in antigenic epitopes in HA and the presence of the Treg epitope. Last, we present our perspectives for the unique features of antibody immunity of H7N9 vaccines and propose some future directions to improve or modify antibody response induced by H7N9 vaccines. This perspective would provide critical implications for rational design of H7N9 vaccines for human and veterinary use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zenglei Hu
- Animal Infectious Disease Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Xinan Jiao
- Animal Infectious Disease Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Biological Hazard Factors (Animal Origin) for Agri-Food Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Xiufan Liu
- Animal Infectious Disease Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
- Key Laboratory of Prevention and Control of Biological Hazard Factors (Animal Origin) for Agri-Food Safety and Quality, Ministry of Agriculture of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
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