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Ishii H, Terahara K, Nomura T, Okazaki M, Yamamoto H, Shu T, Sakawaki H, Miura T, Watkins DI, Matano T. Env-independent protection of intrarectal SIV challenge by vaccine induction of Gag/Vif-specific CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells. Mol Ther 2022; 30:2048-2057. [PMID: 35231604 PMCID: PMC9092394 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Effective T cell induction is an important strategy in HIV-vaccine development. However, it has been indicated that vaccine-induced HIV-specific CD4+ T cells, the preferential targets of HIV infection, might increase viral acquisition after HIV exposure. We have recently developed an immunogen (CaV11), tandemly connected overlapping 11-mer peptides spanning the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Gag capsid and Vif proteins, to selectively induce Gag- and Vif-specific CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells. Here, we show protective efficacy of a CaV11-expressing vaccine against repeated intrarectal low-dose SIVmac239 challenge in rhesus macaques. Eight of the twelve vaccinated macaques were protected after eight challenges. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated significant protection in the vaccinees compared to the unvaccinated macaques. Vaccine-induced Gag-specific CD8+ T cell responses were significantly higher in the protected than the unprotected vaccinees. These results suggest that classical CD8+ T cell induction by viral Env-independent vaccination can confer protection from intrarectal SIV acquisition, highlighting the rationale for this immunogen design to induce virus-specific CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells in HIV-vaccine development.
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Castro IM, Ricciardi MJ, Gonzalez-Nieto L, Rakasz EG, Lifson JD, Desrosiers RC, Watkins DI, Martins MA. Recombinant Herpesvirus Vectors: Durable Immune Responses and Durable Protection against Simian Immunodeficiency Virus SIVmac239 Acquisition. J Virol 2021; 95:e0033021. [PMID: 33910957 PMCID: PMC8223948 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00330-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/23/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A prophylactic vaccine that confers durable protection against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) would provide a valuable tool to prevent new HIV/AIDS cases. As herpesviruses establish lifelong infections that remain largely subclinical, the use of persistent herpesvirus vectors to deliver HIV antigens may facilitate the induction of long-term anti-HIV immunity. We previously developed recombinant (r) forms of the gamma-herpesvirus rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (rRRV) expressing a replication-incompetent, near-full-length simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVnfl) genome. We recently showed that 8/16 rhesus macaques (RMs) vaccinated with a rDNA/rRRV-SIVnfl regimen were significantly protected against intrarectal (i.r.) challenge with SIVmac239. Here we investigated the longevity of this vaccine-mediated protection. Despite receiving no additional booster immunizations, the protected rDNA/rRRV-SIVnfl vaccinees maintained detectable cellular and humoral anti-SIV immune responses for more than 1.5 years after the rRRV boost. To assess if these responses were still protective, the rDNA/rRRV-SIVnfl vaccinees were subjected to a second round of marginal-dose i.r. SIVmac239 challenges, with eight SIV-naive RMs serving as concurrent controls. After three SIV exposures, 8/8 control animals became infected, compared to 3/8 vaccinees. This difference in SIV acquisition was statistically significant (P = 0.0035). The three vaccinated monkeys that became infected exhibited significantly lower viral loads than those in unvaccinated controls. Collectively, these data illustrate the ability of rDNA/rRRV-SIVnfl vaccination to provide long-term immunity against stringent mucosal challenges with SIVmac239. Future work is needed to identify the critical components of this vaccine-mediated protection and the extent to which it can tolerate sequence mismatches in the challenge virus. IMPORTANCE We report on the long-term follow-up of a group of rhesus macaques (RMs) that received an AIDS vaccine regimen and were subsequently protected against rectal acquisition of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. The vaccination regimen employed included a live recombinant herpesvirus vector that establishes persistent infection in RMs. Consistent with the recurrent SIV antigen expression afforded by this herpesvirus vector, vaccinees maintained detectable SIV-specific immune responses for more than 1.5 years after the last vaccination. Importantly, these vaccinated RMs were significantly protected against a second round of rectal SIV exposures performed 1 year after the first SIV challenge phase. These results are relevant for HIV vaccine development because they show the potential of herpesvirus-based vectors to maintain functional antiretroviral immunity without the need for repeated boosting.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Eva G. Rakasz
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Jeffrey D. Lifson
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | | | - David I. Watkins
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
| | - Mauricio A. Martins
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Scripps Research, Jupiter, Florida, USA
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Rosen BC, Pedreño-Lopez N, Ricciardi MJ, Reed JS, Sacha JB, Rakasz EG, Watkins DI. Rhesus Cytomegalovirus-Specific CD8 + Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes Do Not Become Functionally Exhausted in Chronic SIVmac239 Infection. Front Immunol 2020; 11:1960. [PMID: 32922404 PMCID: PMC7457070 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01960] [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: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) exert potent antiviral activity after HIV/SIV infection. However, efforts to harness the antiviral efficacy of CTLs for HIV/SIV prophylaxis and therapy have been severely hindered by two major problems: viral escape and exhaustion. By contrast, CTLs directed against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), a ubiquitous chronic herpesvirus, seldom select for escape mutations and remain functional and refractory to exhaustion during chronic HCMV and HIV infection. Recently, attempts have been made to retarget HCMV-specific CTLs for cancer immunotherapy. We speculate that such a strategy may also be beneficial in the context of HIV/SIV infection, facilitating CTL-mediated control of HIV/SIV replication. As a preliminary assessment of the validity of this approach, we investigated the phenotypes and functionality of rhesus CMV (RhCMV)-specific CTLs in SIVmac239-infected Indian rhesus macaques (RMs), a crucial HIV animal model system. We recently identified two immunodominant, Mamu-A∗02-restricted CTL epitopes derived from RhCMV proteins and sought to evaluate the phenotypic and functional characteristics of these CTL populations in chronic SIVmac239 infection. We analyzed and directly compared RhCMV- and SIVmac239-specific CTLs during SIVmac239 infection in a cohort of Mamu-A∗01 + and Mamu-A∗02 + RMs. CTL populations specific for at least one of the RhCMV-derived CTL epitopes were detected in ten of eleven Mamu-A∗02 + animals tested, and both populations were detected in five of these animals. Neither RhCMV-specific CTL population exhibited significant changes in frequency, memory phenotype, granzyme B expression, exhaustion marker (PD-1 and CTLA-4) expression, or polyfunctionality between pre- and chronic SIVmac239 infection timepoints. In chronic SIVmac239 infection, RhCMV-specific CTLs exhibited higher levels of granzyme B expression and polyfunctionality, and lower levels of exhaustion marker expression, than SIVmac239-specific CTLs. Additionally, compared to SIVmac239-specific CTLs, greater proportions of RhCMV-specific CTLs were of the terminally differentiated effector memory phenotype (CD28- CCR7-) during chronic SIVmac239 infection. These results suggest that, in contrast to SIVmac239-specific CTLs, RhCMV-specific CTLs maintain their phenotypes and cytolytic effector functions during chronic SIVmac239 infection, and that retargeting RhCMV-specific CTLs might be a promising SIV immunotherapeutic strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandon C Rosen
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States.,Department of Pathology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Nuria Pedreño-Lopez
- Department of Pathology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Michael J Ricciardi
- Department of Pathology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, United States
| | - Jason S Reed
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, United States.,Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, United States
| | - Jonah B Sacha
- Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, United States.,Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Beaverton, OR, United States
| | - Eva G Rakasz
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - David I Watkins
- Department of Pathology, George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, DC, United States
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4
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Pedreño-Lopez N, Dang CM, Rosen BC, Ricciardi MJ, Bailey VK, Gutman MJ, Gonzalez-Nieto L, Pauthner MG, Le K, Song G, Andrabi R, Weisgrau KL, Pomplun N, Martinez-Navio JM, Fuchs SP, Wrammert J, Rakasz EG, Lifson JD, Martins MA, Burton DR, Watkins DI, Magnani DM. Induction of Transient Virus Replication Facilitates Antigen-Independent Isolation of SIV-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2020; 16:225-237. [PMID: 32083148 PMCID: PMC7021589 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2020.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2019] [Accepted: 01/26/2020] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Structural characterization of the HIV-1 Envelope (Env) glycoprotein has facilitated the development of Env probes to isolate HIV-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). However, preclinical studies have largely evaluated these virus-specific mAbs against chimeric viruses, which do not naturally infect non-human primates, in contrast to the unconstrained simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)mac239 clone. Given the paucity of native-like reagents for the isolation of SIV-specific B cells, we examined a method to isolate SIVmac239-specific mAbs without using Env probes. We first activated virus-specific B cells by inducing viral replication after the infusion of a CD8β-depleting mAb or withdrawal of antiretroviral therapy in SIVmac239-infected rhesus macaques. Following the rise in viremia, we observed 2- to 4-fold increases in the number of SIVmac239 Env-reactive plasmablasts in circulation. We then sorted these activated B cells and obtained 206 paired Ab sequences. After expressing 122 mAbs, we identified 14 Env-specific mAbs. While these Env-specific mAbs bound to both the SIVmac239 SOSIP.664 trimer and to infected primary rhesus CD4+ T cells, five also neutralized SIVmac316. Unfortunately, none of these mAbs neutralized SIVmac239. Our data show that this method can be used to isolate virus-specific mAbs without antigenic probes by inducing bursts of contemporary replicating viruses in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nuria Pedreño-Lopez
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Christine M. Dang
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Brandon C. Rosen
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
- Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Michael J. Ricciardi
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Varian K. Bailey
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Martin J. Gutman
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Lucas Gonzalez-Nieto
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Matthias G. Pauthner
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (Scripps CHAVI-ID), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Khoa Le
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (Scripps CHAVI-ID), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Ge Song
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Raiees Andrabi
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Kim L. Weisgrau
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, USA
| | - Nicholas Pomplun
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, USA
| | - José M. Martinez-Navio
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Sebastian P. Fuchs
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Jens Wrammert
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30317, USA
| | - Eva G. Rakasz
- Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53715, USA
| | - Jeffrey D. Lifson
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21701, USA
| | - Mauricio A. Martins
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Dennis R. Burton
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development (Scripps CHAVI-ID), The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - David I. Watkins
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
| | - Diogo M. Magnani
- Department of Pathology, University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA
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