1
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Paparoditis PCG, Fruehwirth A, Bevc K, Low JS, Jerak J, Terzaghi L, Foglierini M, Fernandez B, Jarrossay D, Corti D, Sallusto F, Lanzavecchia A, Cassotta A. Site-specific serology unveils cross-reactive monoclonal antibodies targeting influenza A hemagglutinin epitopes. Eur J Immunol 2024:e2451045. [PMID: 39031535 DOI: 10.1002/eji.202451045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/22/2024]
Abstract
Efficient identification of human monoclonal antibodies targeting specific antigenic sites is pivotal for advancing vaccines and immunotherapies against infectious diseases and cancer. Existing screening techniques, however, limit our ability to discover monoclonal antibodies with desired specificity. In this study, we introduce a novel method, blocking of binding (BoB) enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), enabling the detection of high-avidity human antibodies directed to defined epitopes. Leveraging BoB-ELISA, we analyzed the antibody response to known epitopes of influenza A hemagglutinin (HA) in the serum of vaccinated donors. Our findings revealed that serum antibodies targeting head epitopes were immunodominant, whereas antibodies against the stem epitope, although subdominant, were highly prevalent. Extending our analysis across multiple HA strains, we examined the cross-reactive antibody response targeting the stem epitope. Importantly, employing BoB-ELISA we identified donors harboring potent heterosubtypic antibodies targeting the HA stem. B-cell clonal analysis of these donors revealed three novel, genealogically independent monoclonal antibodies with broad cross-reactivity to multiple HAs. In summary, we demonstrated that BoB-ELISA is a sensitive technique for measuring B-cell epitope immunogenicity, enabling the identification of novel monoclonal antibodies with implications for enhanced vaccine development and immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp C G Paparoditis
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Fruehwirth
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Kajetana Bevc
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Jun Siong Low
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Josipa Jerak
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Laura Terzaghi
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Mathilde Foglierini
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Blanca Fernandez
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - David Jarrossay
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Davide Corti
- Humabs Biomed SA, a subsidiary of Vir Biotechnology, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Federica Sallusto
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
- Institute for Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Antonio Lanzavecchia
- Humabs Biomed SA, a subsidiary of Vir Biotechnology, Bellinzona, Switzerland
- National Institute of Molecular Genetics, Milano, Italy
| | - Antonino Cassotta
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
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2
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Blum JE, Kong R, Schulman E, Chen FM, Upadhyay R, Romero-Meza G, Littman DR, Fischbach MA, Nagashima K, Sattely ES. Discovery and characterization of dietary antigens in oral tolerance. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.26.593976. [PMID: 38853977 PMCID: PMC11160622 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.26.593976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2024]
Abstract
Food antigens elicit immune tolerance through the action of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the intestine. Although antigens that trigger common food allergies are known, the epitopes that mediate tolerance to most foods have not been described. Here, we identified murine T cell receptors specific for maize, wheat, and soy, and used expression cloning to de-orphan their cognate epitopes. All of the epitopes derive from seed storage proteins that are resistant to degradation and abundant in the edible portion of the plant. Multiple unrelated T cell clones were specific for an epitope at the C-terminus of 19 kDa alpha-zein, a protein from maize kernel. An MHC tetramer loaded with this antigen revealed that zein-specific T cells are predominantly Tregs localized to the intestine. These cells, which develop concurrently with weaning, constitute up to 2% of the peripheral Treg pool. Bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that these cells express higher levels of immunosuppressive markers and chemokines compared to other Tregs. These data suggest that immune tolerance to plant-derived foods is focused on a specific class of antigens with common features, and they reveal the functional properties of naturally occurring food-specific Tregs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie E. Blum
- Department of Chemical Engineering; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA and New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY USA
| | - Ryan Kong
- Department of Chemical Engineering; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - E.A. Schulman
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA and New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY USA
| | - Francis M. Chen
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Rabi Upadhyay
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY 10016, USA
- Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Health; New York, NY 10016 USA
| | - Gabriela Romero-Meza
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA and New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY USA
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Dan R. Littman
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA and New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY USA
- Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Michael A. Fischbach
- Department of Bioengineering; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305 USA
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub; San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Kazuki Nagashima
- Department of Bioengineering; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology; Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford CA 94305 USA
- ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
| | - Elizabeth S. Sattely
- Department of Chemical Engineering; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Stanford University; Stanford, CA 94305 USA and New York University School of Medicine; New York, NY USA
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3
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Weingarten-Gabbay S, Chen DY, Sarkizova S, Taylor HB, Gentili M, Hernandez GM, Pearlman LR, Bauer MR, Rice CM, Clauser KR, Hacohen N, Carr SA, Abelin JG, Saeed M, Sabeti PC. The HLA-II immunopeptidome of SARS-CoV-2. Cell Rep 2024; 43:113596. [PMID: 38117652 PMCID: PMC10860710 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.113596] [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: 05/15/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Targeted synthetic vaccines have the potential to transform our response to viral outbreaks, yet the design of these vaccines requires a comprehensive knowledge of viral immunogens. Here, we report severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) peptides that are naturally processed and loaded onto human leukocyte antigen-II (HLA-II) complexes in infected cells. We identify over 500 unique viral peptides from canonical proteins as well as from overlapping internal open reading frames. Most HLA-II peptides colocalize with known CD4+ T cell epitopes in coronavirus disease 2019 patients, including 2 reported immunodominant regions in the SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein. Overall, our analyses show that HLA-I and HLA-II pathways target distinct viral proteins, with the structural proteins accounting for most of the HLA-II peptidome and nonstructural and noncanonical proteins accounting for the majority of the HLA-I peptidome. These findings highlight the need for a vaccine design that incorporates multiple viral elements harboring CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes to maximize vaccine effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira Weingarten-Gabbay
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Da-Yuan Chen
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Hannah B Taylor
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Matteo Gentili
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Leah R Pearlman
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Matthew R Bauer
- Harvard Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Division of Medical Sciences, Harvard University Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Charles M Rice
- Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Karl R Clauser
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nir Hacohen
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Steven A Carr
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | - Mohsan Saeed
- Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Pardis C Sabeti
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
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4
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Landry SJ, Mettu RR, Kolls JK, Aberle JH, Norton E, Zwezdaryk K, Robinson J. Structural Framework for Analysis of CD4+ T-Cell Epitope Dominance in Viral Fusion Proteins. Biochemistry 2023; 62:2517-2529. [PMID: 37554055 PMCID: PMC10483696 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Abstract
Antigen conformation shapes CD4+ T-cell specificity through mechanisms of antigen processing, and the consequences for immunity may rival those from conformational effects on antibody specificity. CD4+ T cells initiate and control immunity to pathogens and cancer and are at least partly responsible for immunopathology associated with infection, autoimmunity, and allergy. The primary trigger for CD4+ T-cell maturation is the presentation of an epitope peptide in the MHC class II antigen-presenting protein (MHCII), most commonly on an activated dendritic cell, and then the T-cell responses are recalled by subsequent presentations of the epitope peptide by the same or other antigen-presenting cells. Peptide presentation depends on the proteolytic fragmentation of the antigen in an endosomal/lysosomal compartment and concomitant loading of the fragments into the MHCII, a multistep mechanism called antigen processing and presentation. Although the role of peptide affinity for MHCII has been well studied, the role of proteolytic fragmentation has received less attention. In this Perspective, we will briefly summarize evidence that antigen resistance to unfolding and proteolytic fragmentation shapes the specificity of the CD4+ T-cell response to selected viral envelope proteins, identify several remarkable examples in which the immunodominant CD4+ epitopes most likely depend on the interaction of processing machinery with antigen conformation, and outline how knowledge of antigen conformation can inform future efforts to design vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samuel J. Landry
- Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Tulane
University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, United States
| | - Ramgopal R. Mettu
- Department
of Computer Science, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118, United States
| | - Jay K. Kolls
- John
W. Deming Department of Internal Medicine, Center for Translational
Research in Infection and Inflammation, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, United States
| | - Judith H. Aberle
- Center
for Virology, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Elizabeth Norton
- Department
of Microbiology & Immunology, Tulane
University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, United States
| | - Kevin Zwezdaryk
- Department
of Microbiology & Immunology, Tulane
University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, United States
| | - James Robinson
- Department
of Pediatrics, Tulane University School
of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana 70112, United States
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5
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Weingarten-Gabbay S, Chen DY, Sarkizova S, Taylor HB, Gentili M, Pearlman LR, Bauer MR, Rice CM, Clauser KR, Hacohen N, Carr SA, Abelin JG, Saeed M, Sabeti PC. The HLA-II immunopeptidome of SARS-CoV-2. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.05.26.542482. [PMID: 37398281 PMCID: PMC10312465 DOI: 10.1101/2023.05.26.542482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
Targeted synthetic vaccines have the potential to transform our response to viral outbreaks; yet the design of these vaccines requires a comprehensive knowledge of viral immunogens, including T-cell epitopes. Having previously mapped the SARS-CoV-2 HLA-I landscape, here we report viral peptides that are naturally processed and loaded onto HLA-II complexes in infected cells. We identified over 500 unique viral peptides from canonical proteins, as well as from overlapping internal open reading frames (ORFs), revealing, for the first time, the contribution of internal ORFs to the HLA-II peptide repertoire. Most HLA-II peptides co-localized with the known CD4+ T cell epitopes in COVID-19 patients. We also observed that two reported immunodominant regions in the SARS-CoV-2 membrane protein are formed at the level of HLA-II presentation. Overall, our analyses show that HLA-I and HLA-II pathways target distinct viral proteins, with the structural proteins accounting for most of the HLA-II peptidome and non-structural and non-canonical proteins accounting for the majority of the HLA-I peptidome. These findings highlight the need for a vaccine design that incorporates multiple viral elements harboring CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes to maximize the vaccine effectiveness.
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6
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Racle J, Guillaume P, Schmidt J, Michaux J, Larabi A, Lau K, Perez MAS, Croce G, Genolet R, Coukos G, Zoete V, Pojer F, Bassani-Sternberg M, Harari A, Gfeller D. Machine learning predictions of MHC-II specificities reveal alternative binding mode of class II epitopes. Immunity 2023:S1074-7613(23)00129-2. [PMID: 37023751 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2023.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
Abstract
CD4+ T cells orchestrate the adaptive immune response against pathogens and cancer by recognizing epitopes presented on class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC-II) molecules. The high polymorphism of MHC-II genes represents an important hurdle toward accurate prediction and identification of CD4+ T cell epitopes. Here we collected and curated a dataset of 627,013 unique MHC-II ligands identified by mass spectrometry. This enabled us to precisely determine the binding motifs of 88 MHC-II alleles across humans, mice, cattle, and chickens. Analysis of these binding specificities combined with X-ray crystallography refined our understanding of the molecular determinants of MHC-II motifs and revealed a widespread reverse-binding mode in HLA-DP ligands. We then developed a machine-learning framework to accurately predict binding specificities and ligands of any MHC-II allele. This tool improves and expands predictions of CD4+ T cell epitopes and enables us to discover viral and bacterial epitopes following the aforementioned reverse-binding mode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Racle
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Philippe Guillaume
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Julien Schmidt
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Justine Michaux
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Amédé Larabi
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Kelvin Lau
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marta A S Perez
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Giancarlo Croce
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Raphaël Genolet
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - George Coukos
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vincent Zoete
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Florence Pojer
- School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Michal Bassani-Sternberg
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Center of Experimental Therapeutics, Department of Oncology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexandre Harari
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - David Gfeller
- Department of Oncology UNIL CHUV, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland; Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Cancer Center Leman (SCCL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
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7
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Hu M, Notarbartolo S, Foglierini M, Jovic S, Mele F, Jarrossay D, Lanzavecchia A, Cassotta A, Sallusto F. Clonal composition and persistence of antigen-specific circulating T follicular helper cells. Eur J Immunol 2023; 53:e2250190. [PMID: 36480793 PMCID: PMC10107804 DOI: 10.1002/eji.202250190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
T follicular helper (TFH ) cells play an essential role in promoting B cell responses and antibody affinity maturation in germinal centers (GC). A subset of memory CD4+ T cells expressing the chemokine receptor CXCR5 has been described in human blood as phenotypically and clonally related to GC TFH cells. However, the antigen specificity and relationship of these circulating TFH (cTFH ) cells with other memory CD4+ T cells remain poorly defined. Combining antigenic stimulation and T cell receptor (TCR) Vβ sequencing, we found T cells specific to tetanus toxoid (TT), influenza vaccine (Flu), or Candida albicans (C.alb) in both cTFH and non-cTFH subsets, although with different frequencies and effector functions. Interestingly, cTFH and non-cTFH cells specific for C.alb or TT had a largely overlapping TCR Vβ repertoire while the repertoire of Flu-specific cTFH and non-cTFH cells was distinct. Furthermore, Flu-specific but not C.alb-specific PD-1+ cTFH cells had a "GC TFH -like" phenotype, with overexpression of IL21, CXCL13, and BCL6. Longitudinal analysis of serial blood donations showed that Flu-specific cTFH and non-cTFH cells persisted as stable repertoires for years. Collectively, our study provides insights on the relationship of cTFH with non-cTFH cells and on the heterogeneity and persistence of antigen-specific human cTFH cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mengyun Hu
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland.,Present address: Institute for Immunity, Transplantation and Infection, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Samuele Notarbartolo
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland.,Present address: National Institute of Molecular Genetics, Milano, Italy
| | - Mathilde Foglierini
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland.,Present address: Service d'immunologie et d'allergie, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Jovic
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Federico Mele
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - David Jarrossay
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | | | - Antonino Cassotta
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Federica Sallusto
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, Bellinzona, Switzerland.,Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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8
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Measures of epitope binding degeneracy from T cell receptor repertoires. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2213264120. [PMID: 36649423 PMCID: PMC9942805 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213264120] [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: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Adaptive immunity is driven by specific binding of hypervariable receptors to diverse molecular targets. The sequence diversity of receptors and targets are both individually known but because multiple receptors can recognize the same target, a measure of the effective "functional" diversity of the human immune system has remained elusive. Here, we show that sequence near-coincidences within T cell receptors that bind specific epitopes provide a new window into this problem and allow the quantification of how binding probability covaries with sequence. We find that near-coincidence statistics within epitope-specific repertoires imply a measure of binding degeneracy to amino acid changes in receptor sequence that is consistent across disparate experiments. Paired data on both chains of the heterodimeric receptor are particularly revealing since simultaneous near-coincidences are rare and we show how they can be exploited to estimate the number of epitope responses that created the memory compartment. In addition, we find that paired-chain coincidences are strongly suppressed across donors with different human leukocyte antigens, evidence for a central role of antigen-driven selection in making paired chain receptors public. These results demonstrate the power of coincidence analysis to reveal the sequence determinants of epitope binding in receptor repertoires.
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9
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Tye EXC, Jinks E, Haigh TA, Kaul B, Patel P, Parry HM, Newby ML, Crispin M, Kaur N, Moss P, Drennan SJ, Taylor GS, Long HM. Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein impair epitope-specific CD4 + T cell recognition. Nat Immunol 2022; 23:1726-1734. [PMID: 36456735 DOI: 10.1038/s41590-022-01351-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
CD4+ T cells are essential for protection against viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The sensitivity of CD4+ T cells to mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) is poorly understood. Here, we isolated 159 SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell clones from healthcare workers previously infected with wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (D614G) and defined 21 epitopes in spike, membrane and nucleoprotein. Lack of CD4+ T cell cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV-2 and endemic beta-coronaviruses suggested these responses arose from naïve rather than pre-existing cross-reactive coronavirus-specific T cells. Of the 17 epitopes located in the spike protein, 10 were mutated in VOCs and CD4+ T cell clone recognition of 7 of them was impaired, including 3 of the 4 epitopes mutated in omicron. Our results indicated that broad targeting of epitopes by CD4+ T cells likely limits evasion by current VOCs. However, continued genomic surveillance is vital to identify new mutations able to evade CD4+ T cell immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily X C Tye
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Elizabeth Jinks
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Tracey A Haigh
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Baksho Kaul
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Prashant Patel
- Institute of Cancer and Genomics, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Helen M Parry
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Maddy L Newby
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Max Crispin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Nayandeep Kaur
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Paul Moss
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Samantha J Drennan
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Graham S Taylor
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
| | - Heather M Long
- Institute of Immunology and Immunotherapy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
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10
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Nelson SA, Richards KA, Glover MA, Chaves FA, Crank MC, Graham BS, Kanekiyo M, Sant AJ. CD4 T cell epitope abundance in ferritin core potentiates responses to hemagglutinin nanoparticle vaccines. NPJ Vaccines 2022; 7:124. [PMID: 36289232 PMCID: PMC9605951 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-022-00547-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Nanoparticle vaccines based on H. pylori ferritin are increasingly used as a vaccine platform for many pathogens, including RSV, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2. They have been found to elicit enhanced, long-lived B cell responses. The basis for improved efficacy of ferritin nanoparticle vaccines remains unresolved, including whether recruitment of CD4 T cells specific for the ferritin component of these vaccines contributes to cognate help in the B cell response. Using influenza HA-ferritin nanoparticles as a prototype, we have performed an unbiased assessment of the CD4 T cell epitope composition of the ferritin particles relative to that contributed by influenza HA using mouse models that express distinct constellations of MHC class II molecules. The role that these CD4 T cells play in the B cell responses was assessed by quantifying follicular helper cells (TFH), germinal center (GC) B cells, and antibody secreting cells. When mice were immunized with equimolar quantities of soluble HA-trimers and HA-Fe nanoparticles, HA-nanoparticle immunized mice had an increased overall abundance of TFH that were found to be largely ferritin-specific. HA-nanoparticle immunized mice had an increased abundance of HA-specific isotype-switched GC B cells and HA-specific antibody secreting cells (ASCs) relative to mice immunized with soluble HA-trimers. Further, there was a strong, positive correlation between CD4 TFH abundance and GC B cell abundance. Thus, availability of helper CD4 T cell epitopes may be a key additional mechanism that underlies the enhanced immunogenicity of ferritin-based HA-Fe-nanoparticle vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean A Nelson
- David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Katherine A Richards
- David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Maryah A Glover
- David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Francisco A Chaves
- David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Michelle C Crank
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
- Institute for Asthma & Allergy, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Barney S Graham
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Masaru Kanekiyo
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Andrea J Sant
- David H. Smith Center for Vaccine Biology and Immunology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA.
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11
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Biavasco R, De Giovanni M. The Relative Positioning of B and T Cell Epitopes Drives Immunodominance. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10081227. [PMID: 36016115 PMCID: PMC9413633 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10081227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Humoral immunity is crucial for protection against invading pathogens. Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) provide sterilizing immunity by targeting conserved regions of viral variants and represent the goal of most vaccination approaches. While antibodies can be selected to bind virtually any region of a given antigen, the consistent induction of bnAbs in the context of influenza and HIV has represented a major roadblock. Many possible explanations have been considered; however, none of the arguments proposed to date seem to fully recapitulate the observed counter-selection for broadly protective antibodies. Antibodies can influence antigen presentation by enhancing the processing of CD4 epitopes adjacent to the binding region while suppressing the overlapping ones. We analyze the relative positioning of dominant B and T cell epitopes in published antigens that elicit strong and poor humoral responses. In strong immunogenic antigens, regions bound by immunodominant antibodies are frequently adjacent to CD4 epitopes, potentially boosting their presentation. Conversely, poorly immunogenic regions targeted by bnAbs in HIV and influenza overlap with clusters of dominant CD4 epitopes, potentially conferring an intrinsic disadvantage for bnAb-bearing B cells in germinal centers. Here, we propose the theory of immunodominance relativity, according to which the relative positioning of immunodominant B and CD4 epitopes within a given antigen drives immunodominance. Thus, we suggest that the relative positioning of B-T epitopes may be one additional mechanism that cooperates with other previously described processes to influence immunodominance. If demonstrated, this theory can improve the current understanding of immunodominance, provide a novel explanation for HIV and influenza escape from humoral responses, and pave the way for a new rational design of universal vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Riccardo Biavasco
- Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy;
| | - Marco De Giovanni
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
- Correspondence:
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12
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Wahl I, Obraztsova AS, Puchan J, Hundsdorfer R, Chakravarty S, Sim BKL, Hoffman SL, Kremsner PG, Mordmüller B, Wardemann H. Clonal evolution and TCR specificity of the human T FH cell response to Plasmodium falciparum CSP. Sci Immunol 2022; 7:eabm9644. [PMID: 35687696 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abm9644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
T follicular helper (TFH) cells play a crucial role in the development of long-lived, high-quality B cell responses after infection and vaccination. However, little is known about how antigen-specific TFH cells clonally evolve in response to complex pathogens and what guides the targeting of different epitopes. Here, we assessed the cell phenotype, clonal dynamics, and T cell receptor (TCR) specificity of human circulating TFH (cTFH) cells during successive malaria immunizations with radiation-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) sporozoites. Repeated parasite exposures induced a dynamic, polyclonal cTFH response with high frequency of cells specific to a small number of epitopes in Pf circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP), the primary sporozoite surface protein and well-defined vaccine target. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) restrictions and differences in TCR generation probability were associated with differences in the epitope targeting frequency and indicated the potential of amino acids 311 to 333 in the Th2R/T* region as a T cell supertope. But most of vaccine-induced anti-amino acid 311 to 333 TCRs, including convergent TCRs with high sequence similarity, failed to tolerate natural polymorphisms in their target peptide sequence, thus demonstrating that the TFH cell response was limited to the vaccine strain. These data suggest that the high parasite diversity in endemic areas will limit boosting of the vaccine-induced TFH cell response by natural infections. Our findings may guide the further design of PfCSP-based malaria vaccines able to induce potent T helper cell responses for broad, long-lasting antibody responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilka Wahl
- Division of B Cell Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.,Biosciences Faculty, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Anna S Obraztsova
- Division of B Cell Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.,Biosciences Faculty, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Julia Puchan
- Division of B Cell Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Rebecca Hundsdorfer
- Division of B Cell Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Peter G Kremsner
- Institute of Tropical Medicine and German Center for Infection Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Centre de Recherches Médicales de Lambaréné, Lambaréné, Gabon
| | - Benjamin Mordmüller
- Institute of Tropical Medicine and German Center for Infection Research, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Department of Medical Microbiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Hedda Wardemann
- Division of B Cell Immunology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
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13
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Immunopeptidomic analysis of influenza A virus infected human tissues identifies internal proteins as a rich source of HLA ligands. PLoS Pathog 2022; 18:e1009894. [PMID: 35051231 PMCID: PMC8806059 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2021] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
CD8+ and CD4+ T cells provide cell-mediated cross-protection against multiple influenza strains by recognising epitopes bound as peptides to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and -II molecules respectively. Two challenges in identifying the immunodominant epitopes needed to generate a universal T cell influenza vaccine are: A lack of cell models susceptible to influenza infection which present population-prevalent HLA allotypes, and an absence of a reliable in-vitro method of identifying class II HLA peptides. Here we present a mass spectrometry-based proteomics strategy for identifying viral peptides derived from the A/H3N2/X31 and A/H3N2/Wisconsin/67/2005 strains of influenza. We compared the HLA-I and -II immunopeptidomes presented by ex-vivo influenza challenged human lung tissues. We then compared these with directly infected immortalised macrophage-like cell line (THP1) and primary dendritic cells fed apoptotic influenza-infected respiratory epithelial cells. In each of the three experimental conditions we identified novel influenza class I and II HLA peptides with motifs specific for the host allotype. Ex-vivo infected lung tissues yielded few class-II HLA peptides despite significant numbers of alveolar macrophages, including directly infected ones, present within the tissues. THP1 cells presented HLA-I viral peptides derived predominantly from internal proteins. Primary dendritic cells presented predominantly viral envelope-derived HLA class II peptides following phagocytosis of apoptotic infected cells. The most frequent viral source protein for HLA-I and -II was matrix 1 protein (M1). This work confirms that internal influenza proteins, particularly M1, are a rich source of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes. Moreover, we demonstrate the utility of two ex-vivo fully human infection models which enable direct HLA-I and -II immunopeptide identification without significant viral tropism limitations. Application of this epitope discovery strategy in a clinical setting will provide more certainty in rational vaccine design against influenza and other emergent viruses.
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14
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Joshi LR, Knudsen D, Piñeyro P, Dhakal S, Renukaradhya GJ, Diel DG. Protective Efficacy of an Orf Virus-Vector Encoding the Hemagglutinin and the Nucleoprotein of Influenza A Virus in Swine. Front Immunol 2021; 12:747574. [PMID: 34804030 PMCID: PMC8602839 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.747574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Swine influenza is a highly contagious respiratory disease of pigs caused by influenza A viruses (IAV-S). IAV-S causes significant economic losses to the swine industry and poses challenges to public health given its zoonotic potential. Thus effective IAV-S vaccines are needed and highly desirable and would benefit both animal and human health. Here, we developed two recombinant orf viruses, expressing the hemagglutinin (HA) gene (OV-HA) or the HA and the nucleoprotein (NP) genes of IAV-S (OV-HA-NP). The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of these two recombinant viruses were evaluated in pigs. Both OV-HA and OV-HA-NP recombinants elicited robust virus neutralizing antibody response in pigs, with higher levels of neutralizing antibodies (NA) being detected in OV-HA-NP-immunized animals pre-challenge infection. Although both recombinant viruses elicited IAV-S-specific T-cell responses, the frequency of IAV-S-specific proliferating CD8+ T cells upon re-stimulation was higher in OV-HA-NP-immunized animals than in the OV-HA group. Importantly, IgG1/IgG2 isotype ELISAs revealed that immunization with OV-HA induced Th2-biased immune responses, whereas immunization with OV-HA-NP virus resulted in a Th1-biased immune response. While pigs immunized with either OV-HA or OV-HA-NP were protected when compared to non-immunized controls, immunization with OV-HA-NP resulted in incremental protection against challenge infection as evidenced by a reduced secondary antibody response (NA and HI antibodies) following IAV-S challenge and reduced virus shedding in nasal secretions (lower viral RNA loads and frequency of animals shedding viral RNA and infectious virus), when compared to animals in the OV-HA group. Interestingly, broader cross neutralization activity was also observed in serum of OV-HA-NP-immunized animals against a panel of contemporary IAV-S isolates representing the major genetic clades circulating in swine. This study demonstrates the potential of ORFV-based vector for control of swine influenza virus in swine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lok R Joshi
- Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Animal Health Diagnostic Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States.,Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Animal Disease Research And Diagnostic Laboratory, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, United States
| | - David Knudsen
- Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Animal Disease Research And Diagnostic Laboratory, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, United States
| | - Pablo Piñeyro
- Department of Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States
| | - Santosh Dhakal
- Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Center for Food Animal Health, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United States
| | - Gourapura J Renukaradhya
- Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, Center for Food Animal Health, Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, United States
| | - Diego G Diel
- Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, Animal Health Diagnostic Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States.,Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Animal Disease Research And Diagnostic Laboratory, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, United States
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15
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Medina-Quero K, Barreto-Rodriguez O, Mendez-Rodriguez V, Sanchez-Moncivais A, Buendia-Roldan I, Chavez-Galan L. SARS-CoV-2 infection: Understanding the immune system abnormalities to get an adequate diagnosis. Bosn J Basic Med Sci 2021; 21:503-514. [PMID: 33596401 PMCID: PMC8381208 DOI: 10.17305/bjbms.2020.5400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 is the current pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that emerged from China at the end of December 2019. The scientific community is making extraordinary efforts to understand the virus structure and the pathophysiology and immunological processes activated in the host, in order to identify biomarkers, diagnostic tools, treatments, and vaccines to decrease COVID-19 incidence and mortality. Various abnormalities have been noted during SARS-CoV-2 infection both in lymphoid and myeloid cells. Such abnormalities may disturb the immune system function and cause a massive inflammatory response that impairs tissue function. This review discusses the close relationship between the immune system abnormalities and the broad spectrum of clinical manifestations, including fibrosis, in the context of COVID-19 disease. Moreover, we described the current strategies for COVID-19 diagnosis, and we provide a summary of the most useful clinical laboratory parameters to identify severe COVID-19 patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Medina-Quero
- Laboratory of Immunology, Escuela Militar de Graduados de Sanidad, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Omar Barreto-Rodriguez
- Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosio Villegas”, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | | | - Ivette Buendia-Roldan
- Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosio Villegas”, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Leslie Chavez-Galan
- Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias “Ismael Cosio Villegas”, Mexico City, Mexico
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16
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Low JS, Vaqueirinho D, Mele F, Foglierini M, Jerak J, Perotti M, Jarrossay D, Jovic S, Perez L, Cacciatore R, Terrot T, Pellanda AF, Biggiogero M, Garzoni C, Ferrari P, Ceschi A, Lanzavecchia A, Sallusto F, Cassotta A. Clonal analysis of immunodominance and cross-reactivity of the CD4 T cell response to SARS-CoV-2. Science 2021; 372:1336-1341. [PMID: 34006597 PMCID: PMC8168615 DOI: 10.1126/science.abg8985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The identification of CD4+ T cell epitopes is instrumental for the design of subunit vaccines for broad protection against coronaviruses. Here we demonstrate in COVID-19-recovered individuals a robust CD4+ T cell response to naturally processed SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleoprotein (N), including effector, helper, and memory T cells. By characterizing 2943 S-reactive T cell clones from 34 individuals, we found that 34% of clones and 93% of individuals recognized a conserved immunodominant S346-365 region within the RBD comprising nested HLA-DR- and HLA-DP-restricted epitopes. Using pre- and post-COVID-19 samples and S proteins from endemic coronaviruses, we identify cross-reactive T cells targeting multiple S protein sites. The immunodominant and cross-reactive epitopes identified can inform vaccination strategies to counteract emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Siong Low
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Daniela Vaqueirinho
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Federico Mele
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Mathilde Foglierini
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Josipa Jerak
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Michela Perotti
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - David Jarrossay
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Sandra Jovic
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Laurent Perez
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | - Rosalia Cacciatore
- Laboratory of Immunogenetics, Department of Transfusion Medicine and Immuno-Hematology, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Policlinico S. Matteo, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Tatiana Terrot
- Clinical Trial Unit, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland
| | | | - Maira Biggiogero
- Clinic of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Clinica Luganese Moncucco, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Christian Garzoni
- Clinic of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Clinica Luganese Moncucco, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Paolo Ferrari
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland.,Department of Internal Medicine, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland.,Prince of Wales Hospital Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - Alessandro Ceschi
- Clinical Trial Unit, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland.,Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland.,Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Pharmacological Sciences of Southern Switzerland, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland.,Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, University Hospital Zurich, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | - Federica Sallusto
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland. .,Institute of Microbiology, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Antonino Cassotta
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine, Università della Svizzera italiana, 6500 Bellinzona, Switzerland.
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17
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Datta SK. Harnessing Tolerogenic Histone Peptide Epitopes From Nucleosomes for Selective Down-Regulation of Pathogenic Autoimmune Response in Lupus (Past, Present, and Future). Front Immunol 2021; 12:629807. [PMID: 33936042 PMCID: PMC8080879 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.629807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Autoantigen-directed tolerance can be induced by certain nucleosomal histone peptide epitope/s in nanomolar dosage leading to sustained remission of disease in mice with spontaneous SLE. By contrast, lupus is accelerated by administration of intact (whole) histones, or whole nucleosomes in microparticles from apoptotic cells, or by post-translationally acetylated histone-peptides. Low-dose therapy with the histone-peptide epitopes simultaneously induces TGFβ and inhibits IL-6 production by DC in vivo, especially pDC, which then induce CD4+CD25+ Treg and CD8+ Treg cells that suppress pathogenic autoimmune response. Both types of induced Treg cells are FoxP3+ and act by producing TGFβ at close cell-to-cell range. No anaphylactic adverse reactions, or generalized immunosuppression have been detected in mice injected with the peptides, because the epitopes are derived from evolutionarily conserved histones in the chromatin; and the peptides are expressed in the thymus during ontogeny, and their native sequences have not been altered. The peptide-induced Treg cells can block severe lupus on adoptive transfer reducing inflammatory cell reaction and infiltration in the kidney. In Humans, similar potent Treg cells are generated by the histone peptide epitopes in vitro in lupus patients’ PBMC, inhibiting anti-dsDNA autoantibody and interferon production. Furthermore, the same types of Treg cells are generated in lupus patients who are in very long-term remission (2-8 years) after undergoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These Treg cells are not found in lupus patients treated conventionally into clinical remission (SLEDAI of 0); and consequently they still harbor pathogenic autoimmune cells, causing subclinical damage. Although antigen-specific therapy with pinpoint accuracy is suitable for straight-forward organ-specific autoimmune diseases, Systemic Lupus is much more complex. The histone peptide epitopes have unique tolerogenic properties for inhibiting Innate immune cells (DC), T cells and B cell populations that are both antigen-specifically and cross-reactively involved in the pathogenic autoimmune response in lupus. The histone peptide tolerance is a natural and non-toxic therapy suitable for treating early lupus, and also maintaining lupus patients after toxic drug therapy. The experimental steps, challenges and possible solutions for successful therapy with these peptide epitopes are discussed in this highly focused review on Systemic Lupus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syamal K Datta
- Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
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18
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Comprehensive analysis of T cell immunodominance and immunoprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in COVID-19 cases. CELL REPORTS MEDICINE 2021; 2:100204. [PMID: 33521695 PMCID: PMC7837622 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 322] [Impact Index Per Article: 107.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
T cells are involved in control of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To establish the patterns of immunodominance of different SARS-CoV-2 antigens and precisely measure virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, we study epitope-specific T cell responses of 99 convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. The SARS-CoV-2 proteome is probed using 1,925 peptides spanning the entire genome, ensuring an unbiased coverage of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles for class II responses. For HLA class I, we study an additional 5,600 predicted binding epitopes for 28 prominent HLA class I alleles, accounting for wide global coverage. We identify several hundred HLA-restricted SARS-CoV-2-derived epitopes. Distinct patterns of immunodominance are observed, which differ for CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, and antibodies. The class I and class II epitopes are combined into epitope megapools to facilitate identification and quantification of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.
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19
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Perico L, Benigni A, Casiraghi F, Ng LFP, Renia L, Remuzzi G. Immunity, endothelial injury and complement-induced coagulopathy in COVID-19. Nat Rev Nephrol 2021; 17:46-64. [PMID: 33077917 PMCID: PMC7570423 DOI: 10.1038/s41581-020-00357-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 341] [Impact Index Per Article: 113.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus was isolated from the respiratory epithelium of patients with unexplained pneumonia in Wuhan, China. This pathogen, named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causes a pathogenic condition that has been termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has reached pandemic proportions. As of 17 September 2020, more than 30 million confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in 204 different countries, claiming more than 1 million lives worldwide. Accumulating evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 infection can lead to a variety of clinical conditions, ranging from asymptomatic to life-threatening cases. In the early stages of the disease, most patients experience mild clinical symptoms, including a high fever and dry cough. However, 20% of patients rapidly progress to severe illness characterized by atypical interstitial bilateral pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and multiorgan dysfunction. Almost 10% of these critically ill patients subsequently die. Insights into the pathogenic mechanisms underlying SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 progression are emerging and highlight the critical role of the immunological hyper-response - characterized by widespread endothelial damage, complement-induced blood clotting and systemic microangiopathy - in disease exacerbation. These insights may aid the identification of new or existing therapeutic interventions to limit the progression of early disease and treat severe cases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Perico
- Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Bergamo, Italy
| | - Ariela Benigni
- Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Bergamo, Italy
| | | | - Lisa F P Ng
- Infectious Diseases Horizontal Technology Centre (ID HTC), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Institute of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Laurent Renia
- Infectious Diseases Horizontal Technology Centre (ID HTC), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
- Immunology Network (SIgN), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, Singapore
| | - Giuseppe Remuzzi
- Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Bergamo, Italy.
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
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20
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The Many Faces of CD4 + T Cells: Immunological and Structural Characteristics. Int J Mol Sci 2020; 22:ijms22010073. [PMID: 33374787 PMCID: PMC7796221 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Revised: 12/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
As a major arm of the cellular immune response, CD4+ T cells are important in the control and clearance of infections. Primarily described as helpers, CD4+ T cells play an integral role in the development and activation of B cells and CD8+ T cells. CD4+ T cells are incredibly heterogeneous, and can be divided into six main lineages based on distinct profiles, namely T helper 1, 2, 17 and 22 (Th1, Th2, Th17, Th22), regulatory T cells (Treg) and T follicular helper cells (Tfh). Recent advances in structural biology have allowed for a detailed characterisation of the molecular mechanisms that drive CD4+ T cell recognition. In this review, we discuss the defining features of the main human CD4+ T cell lineages and their role in immunity, as well as their structural characteristics underlying their detection of pathogens.
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21
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Tarke A, Sidney J, Kidd CK, Dan JM, Ramirez SI, Yu ED, Mateus J, da Silva Antunes R, Moore E, Rubiro P, Methot N, Phillips E, Mallal S, Frazier A, Rawlings SA, Greenbaum JA, Peters B, Smith DM, Crotty S, Weiskopf D, Grifoni A, Sette A. Comprehensive analysis of T cell immunodominance and immunoprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in COVID-19 cases. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2020. [PMID: 33330869 DOI: 10.1101/2020.12.08.416750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
T cells are involved in control of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To establish the patterns of immunodominance of different SARS-CoV-2 antigens, and precisely measure virus-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cells, we studied epitope-specific T cell responses of approximately 100 convalescent COVID-19 cases. The SARS-CoV-2 proteome was probed using 1,925 peptides spanning the entire genome, ensuring an unbiased coverage of HLA alleles for class II responses. For HLA class I, we studied an additional 5,600 predicted binding epitopes for 28 prominent HLA class I alleles, accounting for wide global coverage. We identified several hundred HLA-restricted SARS-CoV-2-derived epitopes. Distinct patterns of immunodominance were observed, which differed for CD4 + T cells, CD8 + T cells, and antibodies. The class I and class II epitopes were combined into new epitope megapools to facilitate identification and quantification of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cells.
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Amitai A, Sangesland M, Barnes RM, Rohrer D, Lonberg N, Lingwood D, Chakraborty AK. Defining and Manipulating B Cell Immunodominance Hierarchies to Elicit Broadly Neutralizing Antibody Responses against Influenza Virus. Cell Syst 2020; 11:573-588.e9. [PMID: 33031741 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2020.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The antibody repertoire possesses near-limitless diversity, enabling the adaptive immune system to accommodate essentially any antigen. However, this diversity explores the antigenic space unequally, allowing some pathogens like influenza virus to impose complex immunodominance hierarchies that distract antibody responses away from key sites of virus vulnerability. We developed a computational model of affinity maturation to map the patterns of immunodominance that evolve upon immunization with natural and engineered displays of hemagglutinin (HA), the influenza vaccine antigen. Based on this knowledge, we designed immunization protocols that subvert immune distraction and focus serum antibody responses upon a functionally conserved, but immunologically recessive, target of human broadly neutralizing antibodies. We tested in silico predictions by vaccinating transgenic mice in which antibody diversity was humanized to mirror clinically relevant humoral output. Collectively, our results demonstrate that complex patterns in antibody immunogenicity can be rationally defined and then manipulated to elicit engineered immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Assaf Amitai
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Maya Sangesland
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Ralston M Barnes
- Bristol-Myers Squibb, 700 Bay Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063-2478, USA
| | - Daniel Rohrer
- Bristol-Myers Squibb, 700 Bay Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063-2478, USA
| | - Nils Lonberg
- Bristol-Myers Squibb, 700 Bay Rd, Redwood City, CA 94063-2478, USA
| | - Daniel Lingwood
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
| | - Arup K Chakraborty
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
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