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Nkone P, Loubser S, Quinn TC, Redd AD, Ismail A, Tiemessen CT, Mayaphi SH. Deep sequencing of the HIV-1 polymerase gene for characterisation of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes during early and chronic disease stages. Virol J 2022; 19:56. [PMID: 35346259 PMCID: PMC8959563 DOI: 10.1186/s12985-022-01772-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite multiple attempts, there is still no effective HIV-1 vaccine available. The HIV-1 polymerase (pol) gene is highly conserved and encodes cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes. The aim of the study was to characterise HIV-1 Pol CTL epitopes in mostly sample pairs obtained during early and chronic stages of infection. METHODS Illumina deep sequencing was performed for all samples while Sanger sequencing was only performed on baseline samples. Codons under immune selection pressure were assessed by computing nonsynonymous to synonymous mutation ratios using MEGA. Minority CTL epitope variants occurring at [Formula: see text] 5% were detected using low-frequency variant tool in CLC Genomics. Los Alamos HIV database was used for mapping mutations to known HIV-1 CTL epitopes. RESULTS Fifty-two participants were enrolled in the study. Their median age was 28 years (interquartile range: 24-32 years) and majority of participants (92.3%) were female. Illumina minority variant analysis identified a significantly higher number of CTL epitopes (n = 65) compared to epitopes (n = 8) identified through Sanger sequencing. Most of the identified epitopes mapped to reverse transcriptase (RT) and integrase (IN) regardless of sequencing method. There was a significantly higher proportion of minority variant epitopes in RT (n = 39, 60.0%) compared to IN (n = 17, 26.2%) and PR (n = 9, 13.8%), p = 0.002 and < 0.0001, respectively. However, no significant difference was observed between the proportion of minority variant epitopes in IN versus PR, p = 0.06. Some epitopes were detected in either early or chronic HIV-1 infection whereas others were detected in both stages. Different distribution patterns of minority variant epitopes were observed in sample pairs; with some increasing or decreasing over time, while others remained constant. Some of the identified epitopes have not been previously reported for HIV-1 subtype C. There were also variants that could not be mapped to reported CTL epitopes in the Los Alamos HIV database. CONCLUSION Deep sequencing revealed many Pol CTL epitopes, including some not previously reported for HIV-1 subtype C. The findings of this study support the inclusion of RT and IN epitopes in HIV-1 vaccine candidates as these proteins harbour many CTL epitopes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paballo Nkone
- Department of Medical Virology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X323, Gezina, 0031, South Africa
| | - Shayne Loubser
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Thomas C Quinn
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Andrew D Redd
- Division of Intramural Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Arshad Ismail
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Caroline T Tiemessen
- National Institute for Communicable Diseases and Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Simnikiwe H Mayaphi
- Department of Medical Virology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X323, Gezina, 0031, South Africa. .,National Health Laboratory Service-Tshwane Academic Division (NHLS-TAD), Tshwane, South Africa.
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Reduction of CD8 T cell functionality but not inhibitory capacity by integrase inhibitors. J Virol 2022; 96:e0173021. [PMID: 35019724 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01730-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Although HIV-specific CD8 T cells are effective in controlling HIV-infection, they fail to clear infection even in the presence of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and cure strategies such as "shock-and-kill". Little is known how ART is contributing to HIV-specific CD8 T cell function and the ability to clear HIV infection. Therefore, we first assessed the cytokine polyfunctionality and proliferation of CD8 T cells from ART-treated HIV+ individuals directly ex vivo and observed a decline in the multifunctional response as well as proliferation indices of these cells in individuals treated with integrase inhibitor (INSTI) based ART regimens compared to both protease inhibitor (PI) and non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) based regimens. We next co-cultured CD8 T cells with different drugs individually and were able to observe reduced functional properties with significantly decreased ability of CD8 T cells to express IFNγ, MIP1β and TNFα only after treatment with INSTI-based regimens. Furthermore, previously activated and INSTI-treated CD8 T cells demonstrated reduced capacity to express perforin and granzyme B compared to PI and NNRTI treated cells. Unexpectedly, CD8 T cells treated with dolutegravir showed a similar killing ability 7 dpi compared to emtricitabine or rilpivirine treated cells. We next used a live cell imaging assay to determine the migratory capacity of CD8 T cells. Only INSTI-treated cells showed less migratory activity after SDF-1α stimulation compared to NRTI regimens. Our data show that the choice of ART can have a significant impact on CD8 T cell effector functions, but the importance for potential eradication attempts is unknown. Importance Integrase Strand Transfer Inhibitors (INSTI) are recommended by national and international guidelines as a key component of ART in the treatment of HIV-infected patients. In particular, their efficacy, tolerability and low drug-drug interaction profile have made them to the preferred choice as part of the first-line regimen in treatment-naïve individuals. Here, we demonstrate that the choice of ART can have a significant impact on function and metabolism of CD8 T cells. In summary, our study provides first evidence on a significant, negative impact on CD8 T cell effector functions in the presence of two INSTIs, dolutegravir and elvitegravir, which may contribute to the limited success of eradicating HIV-infected cells through "shock-and-kill" strategies. Although our findings are coherent with recent studies highlighting a possible role of dolutegravir in weight gain, further investigations are necessary to fully understand the impact of INSTI-based regimens on the health of the individual during antiretroviral therapy.
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Liu S, Sun J, Li Z, Qin L, Liu G, Li K, Wu H, Dong T, Zhang Y. T Cell Therapy Targeted on HLA-A02 Restricted HIV Antigen Epitopes: An Open Label Cellular Therapy Trial Using CD8+ T Cell. Front Immunol 2019; 10:437. [PMID: 30941124 PMCID: PMC6435000 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.00437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective: To test the safety and efficacy of a T cell therapy de novo targeting HLA-A02 restricted HIV antigen epitopes. Design: This was a prospective open label clinical trial, which enrolled 28 HIV+ participants and 24 of them finished the trial. The study was publicly registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, www.chictr.org.cn(ChiCTR-ICR-15005775). Method: Autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells were co-cultured with HLA-A02 restricted HIV antigen epitopes peptides to produce cell product for this therapy. The trial was divided into five time-points with the same interval period for infusion of the cell products or monitoring parameters. Symptoms, vital signs, and blood samples were collected to analyze the safety and efficacy of this therapy. Results: Two cases of adverse effects happened during this trial in test group, which recovered without medical intervention. There was no severe adverse effect that occurred. Both symptoms and laboratory tests have no statistical significant difference between test and control group. Flowcytometry analysis showed the expression of the PD-1 and CD95 molecule on the cell surface were downregulated post-treatment in the test group. Conclusions: This autologous HIV-antigen specific effector CD8+ T cellular therapy was safe. It might have an impact on immune suppression that can provide useful reference to future cell therapy trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sai Liu
- Biomarkers of Infection Related Diseases Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jianping Sun
- Biomarkers of Infection Related Diseases Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhen Li
- Center of Infectious Disease, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Ling Qin
- Biomarkers of Infection Related Diseases Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Guihai Liu
- Biomarkers of Infection Related Diseases Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Kang Li
- Biomarkers of Infection Related Diseases Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Hao Wu
- Center of Infectious Disease, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Tao Dong
- Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Yonghong Zhang
- Biomarkers of Infection Related Diseases Beijing Key Laboratory, Beijing You'An Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
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High polymorphism rates in well-known T cell epitopes restricted by protective HLA alleles during HIV infection are associated with rapid disease progression in early-infected MSM in China. Med Microbiol Immunol 2019; 208:239-251. [PMID: 30848362 DOI: 10.1007/s00430-019-00585-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2018] [Accepted: 02/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
T cell epitopes restricted by several protective HLA alleles, such as B*57, B*5801, B*27, B*51 and B*13, have been very well defined over the past two decades. We investigated 32 well-known T cell epitopes restricted by protective HLA molecules among 54 Chinese men who have sex with men (MSM) at the early stage of HIV-1 infection. Subjects in our cohort carrying protective HLA types did not exhibit slow CD4 T cell count decline (P = 0.489) or low viral load set points (P = 0.500). Variations occurred in 96.88% (31/32) of the known wild-type epitopes (rate 1.85-100%), and the variation rates of the strains of two CRF01_AE lineages were significantly higher than those of non-CRF01_AE strains (76.82% vs. 48.96%, P = 0.004; 71.27% vs. 8.96%, P = 0.025). Subjects infected with CRF01_AE exhibited relatively rapid disease progression (P = 0.035). Therefore, the lack of wild-type protective T cell epitopes restricted by classic protective HLA alleles in CRF01_AE HIV-1 strains may be one of the reasons why rapid disease progression is observed in Chinese MSM with HIV-1 infection.
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Caetano DG, Côrtes FH, Bello G, Teixeira SLM, Hoagland B, Grinsztejn B, Veloso VG, Guimarães ML, Morgado MG. Next-generation sequencing analyses of the emergence and maintenance of mutations in CTL epitopes in HIV controllers with differential viremia control. Retrovirology 2018; 15:62. [PMID: 30201008 PMCID: PMC6131818 DOI: 10.1186/s12977-018-0444-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Accepted: 09/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Despite the low level of viral replication in HIV controllers (HICs), studies have reported viral mutations related to escape from cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response in HIV-1 plasma sequences. Thus, evaluating the dynamics of the emergence of CTL-escape mutants in HICs reservoirs is important for understanding viremia control. To analyze the HIV-1 mutational profile and dynamics of CTL-escape mutants in HICs, we selected 11 long-term non-progressor individuals and divided them into the following groups: (1) viremic controllers (VCs; n = 5) and (2) elite controllers (ECs; n = 6). For each individual, we used HIV-1 proviral DNA from PBMCs related to earliest (VE) and latest (VL) visits to obtain gag and nef sequences using the Illumina HiSeq system. The consensus of each mapped gene was used to assess viral divergence, and next-generation sequencing data were employed to identify SNPs and variations within and flanking CTL epitopes. Results Divergence analysis showed higher values for nef compared to gag among the HICs. EC and VC groups showed similar divergence rates for both genes. Analysis of the number of SNPs showed that VCs present more variability in both genes. Synonymous/non-synonymous mutation ratios were < 1 for gag among ECs and for nef among ECs and VCs, exhibiting a predominance of non-synonymous mutations. Such mutations were observed in regions encoding CTL-restricted epitopes in all individuals. All ECs presented non-synonymous mutations in CTL epitopes but generally at low frequency (< 1%); all VCs showed a high number of mutations, with significant frequency changes between VE and VL visits. A higher frequency of internal mutations was observed for gag epitopes, with significant changes across visits compared to Nef epitopes, indicating a pattern associated with differential genetic pressure. Conclusions The high genetic conservation of HIV-1 gag and nef among ECs indicates that the higher level of viremia control restricts the evolution of both genes. Although viral replication levels in HICs are low or undetectable, all individuals exhibited CTL epitope mutations in proviral gag and nef variants, indicating that potential CTL escape mutants are present in HIC reservoirs and that situations leading to a disequilibrium of the host-virus relationship can result in the spread of CTL-escape variants. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12977-018-0444-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diogo Gama Caetano
- Laboratório de Aids e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil
| | - Fernanda Heloise Côrtes
- Laboratório de Aids e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil
| | - Gonzalo Bello
- Laboratório de Aids e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil
| | - Sylvia Lopes Maia Teixeira
- Laboratório de Aids e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil
| | - Brenda Hoagland
- Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em DST e Aids, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas (INI)-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Beatriz Grinsztejn
- Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em DST e Aids, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas (INI)-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Valdilea Gonçalves Veloso
- Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em DST e Aids, Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas (INI)-FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Monick Lindenmeyer Guimarães
- Laboratório de Aids e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil
| | - Mariza Gonçalves Morgado
- Laboratório de Aids e Imunologia Molecular, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz -FIOCRUZ, Av. Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21045-900, Brazil.
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