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Zhang Y, Jiang N, Qi W, Li T, Zhang Y, Wu J, Zhang H, Zhou M, Cui P, Yu T, Fu Z, Zhou Y, Lin K, Wang H, Wei T, Zhu Z, Ai J, Qiu C, Zhang W. SARS-CoV-2 intra-host single-nucleotide variants associated with disease severity. Virus Evol 2022; 8:veac106. [PMID: 36505092 PMCID: PMC9728387 DOI: 10.1093/ve/veac106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2022] [Revised: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Variants of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 frequently arise within infected individuals. Here, we explored the level and pattern of intra-host viral diversity in association with disease severity. Then, we analyzed information underlying these nucleotide changes to infer the impetus including mutational signatures and immune selection from neutralizing antibody or T-cell recognition. From 23 January to 31 March 2020, a set of cross-sectional samples were collected from individuals with homogeneous founder virus regardless of disease severity. Intra-host single-nucleotide variants (iSNVs) were enumerated using deep sequencing. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles were genotyped by Sanger sequencing. Medical records were collected and reviewed by attending physicians. A total of 836 iSNVs (3-106 per sample) were identified and distributed in a highly individualized pattern. The number of iSNVs paced with infection duration peaked within days and declined thereafter. These iSNVs did not stochastically arise due to a strong bias toward C > U/G > A and U > C/A > G substitutions in reciprocal proportion with escalating disease severity. Eight nonsynonymous iSNVs in the receptor-binding domain could escape from neutralization, and eighteen iSNVs were significantly associated with specific HLA alleles. The level and pattern of iSNVs reflect the in vivo viral-host interaction and the disease pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Yumeng Zhang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Jing Wu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Haocheng Zhang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Mingzhe Zhou
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Peng Cui
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Tong Yu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Zhangfan Fu
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Yang Zhou
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Ke Lin
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Hongyu Wang
- Department of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Aging and Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China
| | - Tongqing Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Institute of Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | | | | | - Chao Qiu
- *Corresponding authors: E-mail: ; ; ;
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Zhang H, He C, Jiang F, Cao S, Zhao B, Ding H, Dong T, Han X, Shang H. A longitudinal analysis of immune escapes from HLA-B*13-restricted T-cell responses at early stage of CRF01_AE subtype HIV-1 infection and implications for vaccine design. BMC Immunol 2022; 23:15. [PMID: 35366796 PMCID: PMC8976269 DOI: 10.1186/s12865-022-00491-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Identifying immunogens which can elicit effective T cell responses against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is important for developing a T-cell based vaccine. It has been reported that human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B*13-restricted T-cell responses contributed to HIV control in subtype B' and C infected individuals. However, the kinetics of B*13-restricted T-cell responses, viral evolution within epitopes, and the impact on disease progression in CRF01_AE subtype HIV-1-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) are not known. RESULTS Interferon-γ ELISPOT assays and deep sequencing of viral RNAs were done in 14 early HLA-B*13-positive CRF01_AE subtype HIV-1-infected MSM. We found that responses to RQEILDLWV (Nef106-114, RV9), GQMREPRGSDI (Gag226-236, GI11), GQDQWTYQI (Pol487-498, GI9), and VQNAQGQMV (Gag135-143, VV9) were dominant. A higher relative magnitude of Gag-specific T-cell responses, contributed to viral control, whereas Nef-specific T-cell responses were associated with rapid disease progression. GI11 (Gag) was conserved and strong GI11 (Gag)-specific T-cell responses showed cross-reactivity with a dominant variant, M228I, found in 3/12 patients; GI11 (Gag)-specific T-cell responses were positively associated with CD4 T-cell counts (R = 0.716, P = 0.046). Interestingly, the GI9 (Pol) epitope was also conserved, but GI9 (Pol)-specific T-cell responses did not influence disease progression (P > 0.05), while a D490G variant identified in one patient did not affect CD4 T-cell counts. All the other epitopes studied [VV9 (Gag), RQYDQILIEI (Pol113-122, RI10), HQSLSPRTL (Gag144-152, HL9), and RQANFLGRL (Gag429-437, RL9)] developed escape mutations within 1 year of infection, which may have contributed to overall disease progression. Intriguingly, we found early RV9 (Nef)-specific T-cell responses were associated with rapid disease progression, likely due to escape mutations. CONCLUSIONS Our study strongly suggested the inclusion of GI11 (Gag) and exclusion of RV9 (Nef) for T-cell-based vaccine design for B*13-positive CRF01_AE subtype HIV-1-infected MSM and high-risk individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Zhang
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China
| | - Chuan He
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China ,grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001 China
| | - Fanming Jiang
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China ,grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110001 China
| | - Shuang Cao
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China ,grid.412449.e0000 0000 9678 1884Department of Laboratory Medicine, China Medical University Shengjing Hospital Nanhu Branch, Shenyang, 110001 China
| | - Bin Zhao
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China
| | - Haibo Ding
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China
| | - Tao Dong
- grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Nuffield Department of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute, Oxford University, Oxford, UK ,grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
| | - Xiaoxu Han
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China
| | - Hong Shang
- grid.412636.40000 0004 1757 9485NHC Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology (China Medical University), National Clinical Research Center for Laboratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang, 110001 Liaoning Province China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shenyang, 110001 China ,Key Laboratory of AIDS Immunology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang, 110001 China ,grid.13402.340000 0004 1759 700XCollaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, 79 Qingchun Street, Hangzhou, 310003 China
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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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Evaluation of potential MHC-I allele-specific epitopes in Zika virus proteins and the effects of mutations on peptide-MHC-I interaction studied using in silico approaches. Comput Biol Chem 2021; 92:107459. [PMID: 33636637 DOI: 10.1016/j.compbiolchem.2021.107459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2020] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a global health concern due to its association with microcephaly and neurological complications. The development of a T-cell vaccine is important to combat this disease. In this study, we propose ZIKV major histocompatibility complex I (MHC-I) epitopes based on in silico screening consensus followed by molecular docking, PRODIGY, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation analyses. The effects of the reported mutations on peptide-MHC-I (pMHC-I) complexes were also evaluated. In general, our data indicate an allele-specific peptide-binding human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and potential epitopes. For HLA-B44, we showed that the absence of acidic residue Glu at P2, due to the loss of the electrostatic interaction with Lys45, has a negative impact on the pMHC-I complex stability and explains the low free energy estimated for the immunodominant peptide E-4 (IGVSNRDFV). Our MD data also suggest the deleterious effects of acidic residue Asp at P1 on the pMHC-I stability of HLA-B8 due to destabilization of the α-helix and β-strand. Free energy estimation further indicated that the mutation from Val to Ala at P9 of peptide E-247 (DAHAKRQTV), which was found exclusively in microcephaly samples, did not reduce HLA-B8 affinity. In contrast, the mutation from Thr to Pro at P2 of the peptide NS5-832 (VTKWTDIPY) decreased the interaction energy, number of intermolecular interactions, and adversely affected its binding mode with HLA-A1. Overall, our findings are important with regard to the design of T-cell peptide vaccines and for understanding how ZIKV escapes recognition by CD8 + T-cells.
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Boucau J, Le Gall S. Antigen processing and presentation in HIV infection. Mol Immunol 2019; 113:67-74. [PMID: 29636181 PMCID: PMC6174111 DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2018.03.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Revised: 01/09/2018] [Accepted: 03/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The presentation of virus-derived peptides by MHC molecules constitutes the earliest signals for immune recognition by T cells. In HIV infection, immune responses elicited during infection do not enable to clear infection and correlates of immune protection are not well defined. Here we review features of antigen processing and presentation specific to HIV, analyze how HIV has adapted to the antigen processing machinery and discuss how advances in biochemical and computational protein degradation analyses and in immunopeptidome definition may help identify targets for efficient immune clearance and vaccine immunogen design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julie Boucau
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States
| | - Sylvie Le Gall
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02139, United States.
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Karimzadeh H, Kiraithe MM, Oberhardt V, Salimi Alizei E, Bockmann J, Schulze Zur Wiesch J, Budeus B, Hoffmann D, Wedemeyer H, Cornberg M, Krawczyk A, Rashidi-Alavijeh J, Rodríguez-Frías F, Casillas R, Buti M, Smedile A, Alavian SM, Heinold A, Emmerich F, Panning M, Gostick E, Price DA, Timm J, Hofmann M, Raziorrouh B, Thimme R, Protzer U, Roggendorf M, Neumann-Haefelin C. Mutations in Hepatitis D Virus Allow It to Escape Detection by CD8 + T Cells and Evolve at the Population Level. Gastroenterology 2019; 156:1820-1833. [PMID: 30768983 PMCID: PMC6486497 DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2019.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2018] [Revised: 01/16/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS Hepatitis D virus (HDV) superinfection in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is associated with rapid progression to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Treatment options are limited, and no vaccine is available. Although HDV-specific CD8+ T cells are thought to control the virus, little is known about which HDV epitopes are targeted by virus-specific CD8+ T cells or why these cells ultimately fail to control the infection. We aimed to define how HDV escapes the CD8+ T-cell-mediated response. METHODS We collected plasma and DNA samples from 104 patients with chronic HDV and HBV infection at medical centers in Europe and the Middle East, sequenced HDV, typed human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I alleles from patients, and searched for polymorphisms in HDV RNA associated with specific HLA class I alleles. We predicted epitopes in HDV that would be recognized by CD8+ T cells and corresponded with the identified virus polymorphisms in patients with resolved (n = 12) or chronic (n = 13) HDV infection. RESULTS We identified 21 polymorphisms in HDV that were significantly associated with specific HLA class I alleles (P < .005). Five of these polymorphisms were found to correspond to epitopes in HDV that are recognized by CD8+ T cells; we confirmed that CD8+ T cells in culture targeted these HDV epitopes. HDV variant peptides were only partially cross-recognized by CD8+ T cells isolated from patients, indicating that the virus had escaped detection by these cells. These newly identified HDV epitopes were restricted by relatively infrequent HLA class I alleles, and they bound most frequently to HLA-B. In contrast, frequent HLA class I alleles were not associated with HDV sequence polymorphisms. CONCLUSIONS We analyzed sequences of HDV RNA and HLA class I alleles that present epitope peptides to CD8+ T cells in patients with persistent HDV infection. We identified polymorphisms in the HDV proteome that associate with HLA class I alleles. Some variant peptides in epitopes from HDV were only partially recognized by CD8+ T cells isolated from patients; these could be mutations that allow HDV to escape the immune response, resulting in persistent infection. HDV escape from the immune response was associated with uncommon HLA class I alleles, indicating that HDV evolves, at the population level, to evade recognition by common HLA class I alleles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hadi Karimzadeh
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany; Institute of Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Munich-Grosshadern, Munich, Germany
| | - Muthamia M Kiraithe
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Valerie Oberhardt
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Elahe Salimi Alizei
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jan Bockmann
- Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hannover-Braunschweig and Munich, Germany
| | - Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch
- Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hannover-Braunschweig and Munich, Germany
| | - Bettina Budeus
- Department of Bioinformatics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Daniel Hoffmann
- Department of Bioinformatics, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Heiner Wedemeyer
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hannover-Braunschweig and Munich, Germany; Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Markus Cornberg
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hannover-Braunschweig and Munich, Germany; Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Adalbert Krawczyk
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; Department of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Jassin Rashidi-Alavijeh
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Francisco Rodríguez-Frías
- CIBERehd and Departments of Biochemistry/Microbiology and Hepatology, Vall d'Hebron Hospital, University Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosario Casillas
- CIBERehd and Departments of Biochemistry/Microbiology and Hepatology, Vall d'Hebron Hospital, University Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Buti
- CIBERehd and Departments of Biochemistry/Microbiology and Hepatology, Vall d'Hebron Hospital, University Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonina Smedile
- Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
| | - Seyed Moayed Alavian
- Baqiyatallah Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Andreas Heinold
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Florian Emmerich
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Marcus Panning
- Institute of Virology, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Emma Gostick
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - David A Price
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Jörg Timm
- Institute of Virology, Heinrich-Heine-University, University Hospital, Duesseldorf, Germany
| | - Maike Hofmann
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Bijan Raziorrouh
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University Hospital Munich-Grosshadern, Munich, Germany
| | - Robert Thimme
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Ulrike Protzer
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hannover-Braunschweig and Munich, Germany
| | - Michael Roggendorf
- Institute of Virology, School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich/Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany; Institute of Virology, University Hospital of Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Sites Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hannover-Braunschweig and Munich, Germany.
| | - Christoph Neumann-Haefelin
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
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Abdel-Hakeem MS. Viruses Teaching Immunology: Role of LCMV Model and Human Viral Infections in Immunological Discoveries. Viruses 2019; 11:E106. [PMID: 30691215 PMCID: PMC6410308 DOI: 10.3390/v11020106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2019] [Revised: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Virology has played an essential role in deciphering many immunological phenomena, thus shaping our current understanding of the immune system. Animal models of viral infection and human viral infections were both important tools for immunological discoveries. This review discusses two immunological breakthroughs originally identified with the help of the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) model; immunological restriction by major histocompatibility complex and immunotherapy using checkpoint blockade. In addition, we discuss related discoveries such as development of tetramers, viral escape mutation, and the phenomenon of T-cell exhaustion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed S Abdel-Hakeem
- Penn Institute for Immunology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Kasr El-Aini, Cairo 11562, Egypt.
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Borzooee F, Joris KD, Grant MD, Larijani M. APOBEC3G Regulation of the Evolutionary Race Between Adaptive Immunity and Viral Immune Escape Is Deeply Imprinted in the HIV Genome. Front Immunol 2019; 9:3032. [PMID: 30687306 PMCID: PMC6338068 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.03032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2018] [Accepted: 12/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
APOBEC3G (A3G) is a host enzyme that mutates the genomes of retroviruses like HIV. Since A3G is expressed pre-infection, it has classically been considered an agent of innate immunity. We and others previously showed that the impact of A3G-induced mutations on the HIV genome extends to adaptive immunity also, by generating cytotoxic T cell (CTL) escape mutations. Accordingly, HIV genomic sequences encoding CTL epitopes often contain A3G-mutable “hotspot” sequence motifs, presumably to channel A3G action toward CTL escape. Here, we studied the depths and consequences of this apparent viral genome co-evolution with A3G. We identified all potential CTL epitopes in Gag, Pol, Env, and Nef restricted to several HLA class I alleles. We simulated A3G-induced mutations within CTL epitope-encoding sequences, and flanking regions. From the immune recognition perspective, we analyzed how A3G-driven mutations are predicted to impact CTL-epitope generation through modulating proteasomal processing and HLA class I binding. We found that A3G mutations were most often predicted to result in diminishing/abolishing HLA-binding affinity of peptide epitopes. From the viral genome evolution perspective, we evaluated enrichment of A3G hotspots at sequences encoding CTL epitopes and included control sequences in which the HIV genome was randomly shuffled. We found that sequences encoding immunogenic epitopes exhibited a selective enrichment of A3G hotspots, which were strongly biased to translate to non-synonymous amino acid substitutions. When superimposed on the known mutational gradient across the entire length of the HIV genome, we observed a gradient of A3G hotspot enrichment, and an HLA-specific pattern of the potential of A3G hotspots to lead to CTL escape mutations. These data illuminate the depths and extent of the co-evolution of the viral genome to subvert the host mutator A3G.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faezeh Borzooee
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases Program, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Krista D Joris
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases Program, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Michael D Grant
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases Program, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Mani Larijani
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases Program, Division of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
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9
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Kinloch NN, Lee GQ, Carlson JM, Jin SW, Brumme CJ, Byakwaga H, Muzoora C, Bwana MB, Cobarrubias KD, Hunt PW, Martin JN, Carrington M, Bangsberg DR, Harrigan PR, Brockman MA, Brumme ZL. Genotypic and Mechanistic Characterization of Subtype-Specific HIV Adaptation to Host Cellular Immunity. J Virol 2019; 93:e01502-18. [PMID: 30305354 PMCID: PMC6288327 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01502-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2018] [Accepted: 09/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The extent to which viral genetic context influences HIV adaptation to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted immune pressures remains incompletely understood. The Ugandan HIV epidemic, where major pandemic group M subtypes A1 and D cocirculate in a single host population, provides an opportunity to investigate this question. We characterized plasma HIV RNA gag, pol, and nef sequences, along with host HLA genotypes, in 464 antiretroviral-naive individuals chronically infected with HIV subtype A1 or D. Using phylogenetically informed statistical approaches, we identified HLA-associated polymorphisms and formally compared their strengths of selection between viral subtypes. A substantial number (32%) of HLA-associated polymorphisms identified in subtype A1 and/or D had previously been reported in subtype B, C, and/or circulating recombinant form 01_AE (CRF01_AE), confirming the shared nature of many HLA-driven escape pathways regardless of viral genetic context. Nevertheless, 34% of the identified HLA-associated polymorphisms were significantly differentially selected between subtypes A1 and D. Experimental investigation of select examples of subtype-specific escape revealed distinct underlying mechanisms with important implications for vaccine design: whereas some were attributable to subtype-specific sequence variation that influenced epitope-HLA binding, others were attributable to differential mutational barriers to immune escape. Overall, our results confirm that HIV genetic context is a key modulator of viral adaptation to host cellular immunity and highlight the power of combined bioinformatic and mechanistic studies, paired with knowledge of epitope immunogenicity, to identify appropriate viral regions for inclusion in subtype-specific and universal HIV vaccine strategies.IMPORTANCE The identification of HIV polymorphisms reproducibly selected under pressure by specific HLA alleles and the elucidation of their impact on viral function can help identify immunogenic viral regions where immune escape incurs a fitness cost. However, our knowledge of HLA-driven escape pathways and their functional costs is largely limited to HIV subtype B and, to a lesser extent, subtype C. Our study represents the first characterization of HLA-driven adaptation pathways in HIV subtypes A1 and D, which dominate in East Africa, and the first statistically rigorous characterization of differential HLA-driven escape across viral subtypes. The results support a considerable impact of viral genetic context on HIV adaptation to host HLA, where HIV subtype-specific sequence variation influences both epitope-HLA binding and the fitness costs of escape. Integrated bioinformatic and mechanistic characterization of these and other instances of differential escape could aid rational cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-based vaccine immunogen selection for both subtype-specific and universal HIV vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie N Kinloch
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Guinevere Q Lee
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Steven W Jin
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Chanson J Brumme
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Helen Byakwaga
- Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Conrad Muzoora
- Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
| | - Mwebesa B Bwana
- Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
| | - Kyle D Cobarrubias
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Peter W Hunt
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Jeff N Martin
- University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Mary Carrington
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - David R Bangsberg
- Oregon Health and Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, Oregon, USA
| | - P Richard Harrigan
- Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Mark A Brockman
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Zabrina L Brumme
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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10
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He W, Mazzuca P, Yuan W, Varney K, Bugatti A, Cagnotto A, Giagulli C, Rusnati M, Marsico S, Diomede L, Salmona M, Caruso A, Lu W, Caccuri F. Identification of amino acid residues critical for the B cell growth-promoting activity of HIV-1 matrix protein p17 variants. Biochim Biophys Acta Gen Subj 2018; 1863:13-24. [PMID: 30248376 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2018.09.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Revised: 09/18/2018] [Accepted: 09/19/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND HIV-1 matrix protein p17 variants (vp17s) detected in HIV-1-infected patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (HIV-NHL) display, differently from the wild-type protein (refp17), B cell growth-promoting activity. Biophysical analysis revealed that vp17s are destabilized as compared to refp17, motivating us to explore structure-function relationships. METHODS We used: biophysical techniques (circular dichroism (CD), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and thermal/GuHCL denaturation) to study protein conformation and stability; Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to study interactions; Western blot to investigate signaling pathways; and Colony Formation and Soft Agar assays to study B cell proliferation and clonogenicity. RESULTS By forcing the formation of a disulfide bridge between Cys residues at positions 57 and 87 we obtained a destabilized p17 capable of promoting B cell proliferation. This finding prompted us to dissect refp17 to identify the functional epitope. A synthetic peptide (F1) spanning from amino acid (aa) 2 to 21 was found to activate Akt and promote B cell proliferation and clonogenicity. Three positively charged aa (Arg15, Lys18 and Arg20) proved critical for sustaining the proliferative activity of both F1 and HIV-NHL-derived vp17s. Lack of any interaction of F1 with the known refp17 receptors suggests an alternate one involved in cell proliferation. CONCLUSIONS The molecular reasons for the proliferative activity of vp17s, compared to refp17, relies on the exposure of a functional epitope capable of activating Akt. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE Our findings pave the way for identifying the receptor(s) responsible for B cell proliferation and offer new opportunities to identify novel treatment strategies in combating HIV-related NHL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wangxiao He
- Center for Translational Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an, China.
| | - Pietro Mazzuca
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy.
| | - Weirong Yuan
- Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
| | - Kristen Varney
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
| | - Antonella Bugatti
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy.
| | - Alfredo Cagnotto
- IRCCS Istituto Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy.
| | - Cinzia Giagulli
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy.
| | - Marco Rusnati
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy.
| | - Stefania Marsico
- Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy.
| | - Luisa Diomede
- IRCCS Istituto Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy.
| | - Mario Salmona
- IRCCS Istituto Ricerche Farmacologiche "Mario Negri", Milan, Italy.
| | - Arnaldo Caruso
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy.
| | - Wuyuan Lu
- Center for Translational Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an, China; Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.
| | - Francesca Caccuri
- Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia Medical School, Brescia, Italy.
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11
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Lumley SF, McNaughton AL, Klenerman P, Lythgoe KA, Matthews PC. Hepatitis B Virus Adaptation to the CD8+ T Cell Response: Consequences for Host and Pathogen. Front Immunol 2018; 9:1561. [PMID: 30061882 PMCID: PMC6054973 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [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: 04/12/2018] [Accepted: 06/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic viral hepatitis infections are a major public health concern, with an estimated 290 million individuals infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) globally. This virus has been a passenger in human populations for >30,000 years, and remains highly prevalent in some settings. In order for this endemic pathogen to persist, viral adaptation to host immune responses is pre-requisite. Here, we focus on the interplay between HBV infection and the CD8+ T cell response. We present the evidence that CD8+ T cells play an important role in control of chronic HBV infection and that the selective pressure imposed on HBV through evasion of these immune responses can potentially influence viral diversity, chronicity, and the outcome of infection, and highlight where there are gaps in current knowledge. Understanding the nature and mechanisms of HBV evolution and persistence could shed light on differential disease outcomes, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and help reach the goal of global HBV elimination by guiding the design of new strategies, including vaccines and therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheila F. Lumley
- Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Anna L. McNaughton
- Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Paul Klenerman
- Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Oxford BRC, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Katrina A. Lythgoe
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Big Data Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Philippa C. Matthews
- Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Oxford BRC, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom
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12
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Tsoras AN, Champion JA. Cross-Linked Peptide Nanoclusters for Delivery of Oncofetal Antigen as a Cancer Vaccine. Bioconjug Chem 2018; 29:776-785. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.8b00079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra N. Tsoras
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
| | - Julie A. Champion
- School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, United States
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13
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this article is to review recent advances in immunotherapeutic approaches aiming at reducing the latent HIV reservoir. RECENT FINDINGS HIV-1 establishes early during infection a pool of latently infected cells that persist long term and are largely undetectable to the immune system. Highly active antiretroviral therapy has dramatically improved the life expectancy and life quality of HIV-1-infected individuals, but is incapable of eliminating the pool of latently HIV-1-infected cells. Recent studies have started to test immunotherapeutic interventions in combination with latency reversing agents to reduce the latent HIV-1 reservoir, including approaches aimed at enhancing antiviral T-cell immunity, innate immunity, and virus-specific antibodies. SUMMARY The better understanding of virus-specific immunity and the pathways used by HIV-1 to evade host immune responses have enabled the development of new strategies focusing on targeting latently HIV-1-infected cells, with the goal to reduce the HIV-1 reservoir. Here, we will review recent advances in harnessing effector cells of the immune system, including CD8 T cells and natural killer cells, antiviral antibodies and new immunomodulatory molecules, to target HIV-1 persistence.
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14
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Tarosso LF, Vieira VA, Sauer MM, Tomiyama HI, Kalil J, Kallas EG. Conserved HIV-1 Gag p24 Epitopes Elicit Cellular Immune Responses That Impact Disease Outcome. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2017; 33:832-842. [PMID: 28594230 DOI: 10.1089/aid.2016.0168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the breadth of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific cellular immune response and its impact on the control of viral replication have already been addressed, reported data have proven controversial. We hypothesize that the nature of targeted epitopes, rather than the simple breadth or magnitude of responses, correlates with disease outcome. In this study, we explore the occurrence of patterns of Gag p24 recognition among untreated HIV-1-infected patients by identifying the epitopes that compose such patterns and how they distinctly associate with disease progression. Utilizing enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) interferon gamma (IFN-γ), we screened cellular responses of 27 HIV-1-infected subjects against 15-mer peptides encompassing the whole Gag p24 protein. Obtained data were used to develop a clustering analysis that allowed definition of two groups of individuals with totally distinct patterns of recognition. Although targeted Gag p24 peptides were completely different between the two groups, the breadth and magnitude of the responses were not. Interestingly, viral control and preservation of CD4+ T cells were increased in one group. In addition, we compared genetic conservation of amino acid sequences of the recognized peptides, as well as of the human leucocyte antigen class I (HLA-I)-restricted epitopes within them. Subjects presenting higher control of HIV-1 replication targeted more conserved epitopes, and higher genetic variation was present mainly in anchor residues for HLA-I molecules. We strengthen the existing evidence from cases of HIV-1 infection in humans that, cellular immune responses targeting conserved epitopes, rather than the magnitude and breadth of responses, associate with a better control of viral replication and maintenance of peripheral CD4+ T cell counts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leandro F. Tarosso
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vinicius A. Vieira
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Mariana M. Sauer
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Helena I. Tomiyama
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jorge Kalil
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Esper G. Kallas
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
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15
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Du VY, Bansal A, Carlson J, Salazar-Gonzalez JF, Salazar MG, Ladell K, Gras S, Josephs TM, Heath SL, Price DA, Rossjohn J, Hunter E, Goepfert PA. HIV-1-Specific CD8 T Cells Exhibit Limited Cross-Reactivity during Acute Infection. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2016; 196:3276-86. [PMID: 26983786 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1502411] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2015] [Accepted: 02/11/2016] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Prior work has demonstrated that HIV-1-specific CD8 T cells can cross-recognize variant epitopes. However, most of these studies were performed in the context of chronic infection, where the presence of viral quasispecies makes it difficult to ascertain the true nature of the original antigenic stimulus. To overcome this limitation, we evaluated the extent of CD8 T cell cross-reactivity in patients with acute HIV-1 clade B infection. In each case, we determined the transmitted founder virus sequence to identify the autologous epitopes restricted by individual HLA class I molecules. Our data show that cross-reactive CD8 T cells are infrequent during the acute phase of HIV-1 infection. Moreover, in the uncommon instances where cross-reactive responses were detected, the variant epitopes were poorly recognized in cytotoxicity assays. Molecular analysis revealed that similar antigenic structures could be cross-recognized by identical CD8 T cell clonotypes mobilized in vivo, yet even subtle differences in a single TCR-accessible peptide residue were sufficient to disrupt variant-specific reactivity. These findings demonstrate that CD8 T cells are highly specific for autologous epitopes during acute HIV-1 infection. Polyvalent vaccines may therefore be required to provide optimal immune cover against this genetically labile pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Y Du
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - Anju Bansal
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | | | | | - Maria G Salazar
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - Kristin Ladell
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom
| | - Stephanie Gras
- Infection and Immunity Program and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Tracy M Josephs
- Infection and Immunity Program and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Sonya L Heath
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294
| | - David A Price
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom; Human Immunology Section, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; and
| | - Jamie Rossjohn
- Institute of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, Cardiff CF14 4XN, United Kingdom; Infection and Immunity Program and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia; Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Advanced Molecular Imaging, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Eric Hunter
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329
| | - Paul A Goepfert
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294;
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16
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Liberman G, Benichou JIC, Maman Y, Glanville J, Alter I, Louzoun Y. Estimate of within population incremental selection through branch imbalance in lineage trees. Nucleic Acids Res 2015; 44:e46. [PMID: 26586802 PMCID: PMC4797263 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkv1198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2014] [Accepted: 10/18/2015] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Incremental selection within a population, defined as limited fitness changes following mutation, is an important aspect of many evolutionary processes. Strongly advantageous or deleterious mutations are detected using the synonymous to non-synonymous mutations ratio. However, there are currently no precise methods to estimate incremental selection. We here provide for the first time such a detailed method and show its precision in multiple cases of micro-evolution. The proposed method is a novel mixed lineage tree/sequence based method to detect within population selection as defined by the effect of mutations on the average number of offspring. Specifically, we propose to measure the log of the ratio between the number of leaves in lineage trees branches following synonymous and non-synonymous mutations. The method requires a high enough number of sequences, and a large enough number of independent mutations. It assumes that all mutations are independent events. It does not require of a baseline model and is practically not affected by sampling biases. We show the method's wide applicability by testing it on multiple cases of micro-evolution. We show that it can detect genes and inter-genic regions using the selection rate and detect selection pressures in viral proteins and in the immune response to pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gilad Liberman
- Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
| | | | - Yaakov Maman
- Department of Immunobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520-8011, USA Howard Hughes Medical Institute, New Haven, CT 06519, USA
| | - Jacob Glanville
- Program in Computational and Systems Immunology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Department of Pathology, Transplantation and Infection, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Program in Immunology, Transplantation and Infection, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA Distributed Bio, San Francisco, CA 94080, USA
| | - Idan Alter
- Department of Mathematics, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
| | - Yoram Louzoun
- Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel Department of Mathematics, Bar Ilan University, Ramat-Gan 5290002, Israel
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17
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Hölzemer A, Thobakgale CF, Jimenez Cruz CA, Garcia-Beltran WF, Carlson JM, van Teijlingen NH, Mann JK, Jaggernath M, Kang SG, Körner C, Chung AW, Schafer JL, Evans DT, Alter G, Walker BD, Goulder PJ, Carrington M, Hartmann P, Pertel T, Zhou R, Ndung’u T, Altfeld M. Selection of an HLA-C*03:04-Restricted HIV-1 p24 Gag Sequence Variant Is Associated with Viral Escape from KIR2DL3+ Natural Killer Cells: Data from an Observational Cohort in South Africa. PLoS Med 2015; 12:e1001900; discussion e1001900. [PMID: 26575988 PMCID: PMC4648589 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2014] [Accepted: 10/07/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Viruses can evade immune surveillance, but the underlying mechanisms are insufficiently understood. Here, we sought to understand the mechanisms by which natural killer (NK) cells recognize HIV-1-infected cells and how this virus can evade NK-cell-mediated immune pressure. METHODS AND FINDINGS Two sequence mutations in p24 Gag associated with the presence of specific KIR/HLA combined genotypes were identified in HIV-1 clade C viruses from a large cohort of infected, untreated individuals in South Africa (n = 392), suggesting viral escape from KIR+ NK cells through sequence variations within HLA class I-presented epitopes. One sequence polymorphism at position 303 of p24 Gag (TGag303V), selected for in infected individuals with both KIR2DL3 and HLA-C*03:04, enabled significantly better binding of the inhibitory KIR2DL3 receptor to HLA-C*03:04-expressing cells presenting this variant epitope compared to the wild-type epitope (wild-type mean 18.01 ± 10.45 standard deviation [SD] and variant mean 44.67 ± 14.42 SD, p = 0.002). Furthermore, activation of primary KIR2DL3+ NK cells from healthy donors in response to HLA-C*03:04+ target cells presenting the variant epitope was significantly reduced in comparison to cells presenting the wild-type sequence (wild-type mean 0.78 ± 0.07 standard error of the mean [SEM] and variant mean 0.63 ± 0.07 SEM, p = 0.012). Structural modeling and surface plasmon resonance of KIR/peptide/HLA interactions in the context of the different viral sequence variants studied supported these results. Future studies will be needed to assess processing and antigen presentation of the investigated HIV-1 epitope in natural infection, and the consequences for viral control. CONCLUSIONS These data provide novel insights into how viruses can evade NK cell immunity through the selection of mutations in HLA-presented epitopes that enhance binding to inhibitory NK cell receptors. Better understanding of the mechanisms by which HIV-1 evades NK-cell-mediated immune pressure and the functional validation of a structural modeling approach will facilitate the development of novel targeted immune interventions to harness the antiviral activities of NK cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angelique Hölzemer
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Heinrich-Pette-Institut, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany
- First Department of Internal Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg—Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christina F. Thobakgale
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Camilo A. Jimenez Cruz
- Computational Biology Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York, United States of America
| | | | | | | | - Jaclyn K. Mann
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Manjeetha Jaggernath
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Seung-gu Kang
- Computational Biology Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York, United States of America
| | - Christian Körner
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Heinrich-Pette-Institut, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Amy W. Chung
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jamie L. Schafer
- Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Division of Microbiology, New England Primate Research Center, Southborough, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - David T. Evans
- Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Division of Microbiology, New England Primate Research Center, Southborough, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | - Galit Alter
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Bruce D. Walker
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Philip J. Goulder
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mary Carrington
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Leidos Biomedical Research, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Pia Hartmann
- First Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Thomas Pertel
- Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Ruhong Zhou
- Computational Biology Center, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York, United States of America
| | - Thumbi Ndung’u
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
- Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany
- KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Marcus Altfeld
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Heinrich-Pette-Institut, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology, Hamburg, Germany
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Distinct Escape Pathway by Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1a from a Dominant CD8+ T Cell Response by Selection of Altered Epitope Processing. J Virol 2015; 90:33-42. [PMID: 26446603 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01993-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2015] [Accepted: 10/01/2015] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Antiviral CD8(+) T cells are a key component of the adaptive immune response against HCV, but their impact on viral control is influenced by preexisting viral variants in important target epitopes and the development of viral escape mutations. Immunodominant epitopes highly conserved across genotypes therefore are attractive for T cell based prophylactic vaccines. Here, we characterized the CD8(+) T cell response against the highly conserved HLA-B*51-restricted epitope IPFYGKAI1373-1380 located in the helicase domain of NS3 in people who inject drugs (PWID) exposed predominantly to HCV genotypes 1a and 3a. Despite this epitope being conserved in both genotypes, the corresponding CD8(+) T cell response was detected only in PWID infected with genotype 3a and HCV-RNA negative PWID, but not in PWID infected with genotype 1a. In genotype 3a, the detection of strong CD8(+) T cell responses was associated with epitope variants in the autologous virus consistent with immune escape. Analysis of viral sequences from multiple cohorts confirmed HLA-B*51-associated escape mutations inside the epitope in genotype 3a, but not in genotype 1a. Here, a distinct substitution in the N-terminal flanking region located 5 residues upstream of the epitope (S1368P; P = 0.00002) was selected in HLA-B*51-positive individuals. Functional assays revealed that the S1368P substitution impaired recognition of target cells presenting the endogenously processed epitope. The results highlight that, despite an epitope being highly conserved between two genotypes, there are major differences in the selected viral escape pathways and the corresponding T cell responses. IMPORTANCE HCV is able to evolutionary adapt to CD8(+) T cell immune pressure in multiple ways. Beyond selection of mutations inside targeted epitopes, this study demonstrates that HCV inhibits epitope processing by modification of the epitope flanking region under T cell immune pressure. Selection of a substitution five amino acids upstream of the epitope underlines that efficient antigen presentation strongly depends on its larger sequence context and that blocking of the multistep process of antigen processing by mutation is exploited also by HCV. The pathways to mutational escape of HCV are to some extent predictable but are distinct in different genotypes. Importantly, the selected escape pathway of HCV may have consequences for the destiny of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells.
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Positive Selection in CD8+ T-Cell Epitopes of Influenza Virus Nucleoprotein Revealed by a Comparative Analysis of Human and Swine Viral Lineages. J Virol 2015; 89:11275-83. [PMID: 26311880 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01571-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2015] [Accepted: 08/23/2015] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Numerous experimental studies have demonstrated that CD8(+) T cells contribute to immunity against influenza by limiting viral replication. It is therefore surprising that rigorous statistical tests have failed to find evidence of positive selection in the epitopes targeted by CD8(+) T cells. Here we use a novel computational approach to test for selection in CD8(+) T-cell epitopes. We define all epitopes in the nucleoprotein (NP) and matrix protein (M1) with experimentally identified human CD8(+) T-cell responses and then compare the evolution of these epitopes in parallel lineages of human and swine influenza viruses that have been diverging since roughly 1918. We find a significant enrichment of substitutions that alter human CD8(+) T-cell epitopes in NP of human versus swine influenza virus, consistent with the idea that these epitopes are under positive selection. Furthermore, we show that epitope-altering substitutions in human influenza virus NP are enriched on the trunk versus the branches of the phylogenetic tree, indicating that viruses that acquire these mutations have a selective advantage. However, even in human influenza virus NP, sites in T-cell epitopes evolve more slowly than do nonepitope sites, presumably because these epitopes are under stronger inherent functional constraint. Overall, our work demonstrates that there is clear selection from CD8(+) T cells in human influenza virus NP and illustrates how comparative analyses of viral lineages from different hosts can identify positive selection that is otherwise obscured by strong functional constraint. IMPORTANCE There is a strong interest in correlates of anti-influenza immunity that are protective against diverse virus strains. CD8(+) T cells provide such broad immunity, since they target conserved viral proteins. An important question is whether T-cell immunity is sufficiently strong to drive influenza virus evolution. Although many studies have shown that T cells limit viral replication in animal models and are associated with decreased symptoms in humans, no studies have proven with statistical significance that influenza virus evolves under positive selection to escape T cells. Here we use comparisons of human and swine influenza viruses to rigorously demonstrate that human influenza virus evolves under pressure to fix mutations in the nucleoprotein that promote escape from T cells. We further show that viruses with these mutations have a selective advantage since they are preferentially located on the "trunk" of the phylogenetic tree. Overall, our results show that CD8(+) T cells targeting nucleoprotein play an important role in shaping influenza virus evolution.
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20
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Abstract
HIV-1 infection typically results from the transmission of a single viral variant, the transmitted/founder (T/F) virus. Studies of these HIV-1 variants provide critical information about the transmission bottlenecks and the selective pressures acting on the virus in the transmission fluid and in the recipient tissues. These studies reveal that T/F virus phenotypes are shaped by stochastic and selective forces that restrict transmission and may be targets for prevention strategies. In this Review, we highlight how studies of T/F viruses contribute to a better understanding of the biology of HIV-1 transmission and discuss how these findings affect HIV-1 prevention strategies.
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21
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Multilayered HIV-1 gag-specific T-cell responses contribute to slow progression in HLA-A*30-B*13-C*06-positive patients. AIDS 2015; 29:993-1002. [PMID: 25756195 PMCID: PMC4444423 DOI: 10.1097/qad.0000000000000652] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Objective: The HLA-A∗30-B∗13-C∗06 haplotype is reported to be associated with slow disease progression in the HIV-1-infected Northern Han Chinese population, but the mechanism remains unknown. Design: Gag-specific T-cell responses and gag sequencing were performed in nine B′ clade HIV-1-infected HLA-A∗30-B∗13-C∗06-positive slow progressors to understand HLA-associated viral control. Methods: Interferon-γ ELISPOT assays were performed to determine the Gag-specific T-cell responses and cross-reactivity to variant peptides. Longitudinal HIV-1 gag sequencing was performed at the clonal level. Results: The overlapping peptides (OLP)-48: RQANFLGKIWPSHKGRPGNF (RL42 Gag434-453); OLP-2: GQLDRWEKIRLRPGGKKKYR (RL42 Gag11-30); OLP-15: VQNLQGQMVHQPISPRTLNA (RL42 Gag135-154) and OLP-16: HQPISPRTLNAWVKVVEEKA (RL42 Gag144-163) were dominant in HLA-A∗30-B∗13-C∗06-positive patients. A new epitope [HQPISPRTL (Gag144-152, HL9)] within OLP-15 and OLP-16 was identified. Results showed that strong cross-reactive responses to multiple immunodominant peptides were associated with better clinical outcomes. In addition, efficient cross-recognition of HL9 autologous variants developed in patients was associated with high CD4+ T-cell counts. However, two patients who had developed mutations to their dominant responses during the follow-up experienced decrease in CD4+ T-cell counts. It appears that Gag-specific T-cell responses against one or more unmutated epitopes or cross-recognition of autologous epitope variants contribute to slow disease progression in HLA-A∗30-B∗13-C∗06-positive patients. Conclusion: We conclude that a single ‘appropriate’ Gag-specific T-cell response appears to be sufficient to protect patients from disease progression. HLA-A∗30-B∗13-C∗06-positive individuals benefited from having a choice of numerous immunodominant gag epitopes for T cells to react. The study offers new insight for future design of T-cell-based HIV-1 vaccine.
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22
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Newly Exerted T Cell Pressures on Mutated Epitopes following Transmission Help Maintain Consensus HIV-1 Sequences. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0120787. [PMID: 25919393 PMCID: PMC4412704 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0120787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2014] [Accepted: 01/27/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
CD8+ T cells are important for HIV-1 virus control, but are also a major contributing factor that drives HIV-1 virus sequence evolution. Although HIV-1 cytotoxic T cell (CTL) escape mutations are a common aspect during HIV-1 infection, less is known about the importance of T cell pressure in reversing HIV-1 virus back to a consensus sequences. In this study we aimed to assess the frequency with which reversion of transmitted mutations in T cell epitopes were associated with T cell responses to the mutation. This study included 14 HIV-1 transmission pairs consisting of a 'source' (virus-donor) and a 'recipient' (newly infected individual). Non-consensus B sequence amino acids (mutations) in T cell epitopes in HIV-1 gag regions p17, p24, p2 and p7 were identified in each pair and transmission of mutations to the recipient was verified with population viral sequencing. Longitudinal analyses of the recipient's viral sequence were used to identify whether reversion of mutations back to the consensus B sequence occurred. Autologous 12-mer peptides overlapping by 11 were synthesized, representing the sequence region surrounding each reversion and longitudinal analysis of T cell responses to source-derived mutated and reverted epitopes were assessed. We demonstrated that mutations in the source were frequently transmitted to the new host and on an average 17 percent of mutated epitopes reverted to consensus sequence in the recipient. T cell responses to these mutated epitopes were detected in 7 of the 14 recipients in whom reversion occurred. Overall, these findings indicate that transmitted non-consensus B epitopes are frequently immunogenic in HLA-mismatched recipients and new T cell pressures to T cell escape mutations following transmission play a significant role in maintaining consensus HIV-1 sequences.
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23
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Chin'ombe N, Ruhanya V. HIV/AIDS vaccines for Africa: scientific opportunities, challenges and strategies. Pan Afr Med J 2015; 20:386. [PMID: 26185576 PMCID: PMC4499268 DOI: 10.11604/pamj.2015.20.386.4660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2014] [Accepted: 04/13/2015] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
More than decades have already elapsed since human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was identified as the causative agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The HIV has since spread to all parts of the world with devastating effects. In sub-saharan Africa, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has reached unprecedented proportions. Safe, effective and affordable HIV/AIDS vaccines for Africans are therefore urgently needed to contain this public health problem. Although, there are challenges, there are also scientific opportunities and strategies that can be exploited in the development of HIV/AIDS vaccines for Africa. The recent RV144 Phase III trial in Thailand has demonstrated that it is possible to develop a vaccine that can potentially elicit modest protective immunity against HIV infection. The main objective of this review is to outline the key scientific opportunities, challenges and strategies in HIV/AIDS vaccine development in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nyasha Chin'ombe
- Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, P O Box A178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe
| | - Vurayai Ruhanya
- Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, P O Box A178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe
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24
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Mondal RK, Khatun M, Ghosh S, Banerjee P, Datta S, Sarkar S, Saha B, Santra A, Banerjee S, Chowdhury A, Datta S. Immune-driven adaptation of hepatitis B virus genotype D involves preferential alteration in B-cell epitopes and replicative attenuation--an insight from human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis B virus coinfection. Clin Microbiol Infect 2015; 21:710.e11-20. [PMID: 25882358 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2015.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2014] [Revised: 02/25/2015] [Accepted: 03/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
An important driving force behind the sequence diversity of hepatitis B virus (HBV) is viral adaptation to host immune responses. To gain an insight into the impact of host immunity on genetic diversification and properties of HBV, we characterized HBV of genotype D from treatment-naive hepatitis B e antigen-positive (EP) and hepatitis B e antigen-negative (EN) patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), where HBV is under stronger immune pressure, with that of HBV derived from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/HBV-coinfected individuals, where HIV infection has significantly weakened the immune system. Full-length sequence analysis showed that HBV heterogeneity was most extensive in EN-CHB followed by EP-CHB and HIV/HBV coinfection. The relative magnitude of non-synonymous changes within B-cell epitopes was greater than that in T-cell epitopes of HBV open reading frames (ORFs) in both EP-CHB and EN-CHB. Nine amino acid substitutions were identified in B-cell epitopes and one in a T-cell epitope of HBV in EN-CHB, most of which resulted in altered hydrophobicities, as determined using the Kyte and Doolittle method, relative to wild-type residues found in HBV from the HIV-positive group. Additionally, 19 substitutions occurred at significantly higher frequencies in non-epitope regions of HBV ORF-P in EN-CHB than HIV/HBV-coinfected patients. In vitro replication assay demonstrated that the substitutions, particularly in reverse transcriptase and RNaseH domains of ORF-P, resulted in a decline in replication capacity of HBV. Hence, our results indicate that HBV adapts to increasing immune pressure through preferential mutations in B-cell epitopes and by replicative attenuation. The viral epitopes linked to immune response identified in this study bear important implications for future HBV vaccine studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- R K Mondal
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - M Khatun
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - S Ghosh
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - P Banerjee
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - S Datta
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - S Sarkar
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - B Saha
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, India
| | - A Santra
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - S Banerjee
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - A Chowdhury
- Department of Hepatology, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India
| | - S Datta
- Centre for Liver Research, School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India.
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Dinter J, Duong E, Lai NY, Berberich MJ, Kourjian G, Bracho-Sanchez E, Chu D, Su H, Zhang SC, Le Gall S. Variable processing and cross-presentation of HIV by dendritic cells and macrophages shapes CTL immunodominance and immune escape. PLoS Pathog 2015; 11:e1004725. [PMID: 25781895 PMCID: PMC4364612 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1004725] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2014] [Accepted: 02/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages (Møs) internalize and process exogenous HIV-derived antigens for cross-presentation by MHC-I to cytotoxic CD8+ T cells (CTL). However, how degradation patterns of HIV antigens in the cross-presentation pathways affect immunodominance and immune escape is poorly defined. Here, we studied the processing and cross-presentation of dominant and subdominant HIV-1 Gag-derived epitopes and HLA-restricted mutants by monocyte-derived DCs and Møs. The cross-presentation of HIV proteins by both DCs and Møs led to higher CTL responses specific for immunodominant epitopes. The low CTL responses to subdominant epitopes were increased by pretreatment of target cells with peptidase inhibitors, suggestive of higher intracellular degradation of the corresponding peptides. Using DC and Mø cell extracts as a source of cytosolic, endosomal or lysosomal proteases to degrade long HIV peptides, we identified by mass spectrometry cell-specific and compartment-specific degradation patterns, which favored the production of peptides containing immunodominant epitopes in all compartments. The intracellular stability of optimal HIV-1 epitopes prior to loading onto MHC was highly variable and sequence-dependent in all compartments, and followed CTL hierarchy with immunodominant epitopes presenting higher stability rates. Common HLA-associated mutations in a dominant epitope appearing during acute HIV infection modified the degradation patterns of long HIV peptides, reduced intracellular stability and epitope production in cross-presentation-competent cell compartments, showing that impaired epitope production in the cross-presentation pathway contributes to immune escape. These findings highlight the contribution of degradation patterns in the cross-presentation pathway to HIV immunodominance and provide the first demonstration of immune escape affecting epitope cross-presentation. Pathogens such as HIV can enter cells by fusion at the plasma membrane for delivery in the cytosol, or by internalization in endolysosomal vesicles. Pathogens can be degraded in these various compartments into peptides (epitopes) displayed at the cell surface by MHC-I. The presentation of pathogen-derived peptides triggers the activation of T cell immune responses and the clearance of infected cells. How the diversity of compartments in which HIV traffics combined with the diversity of HIV sequences affects the degradation of HIV and the recognition of infected cells by immune cells is not understood. We compared the degradation of HIV proteins in subcellular compartments of dendritic cells and macrophages, two cell types targeted by HIV and the subsequent presentation of epitopes to T cells. We show variable degradation patterns of HIV according to compartments, and the preferential production and superior intracellular stability of immunodominant epitopes corresponding to stronger T cell responses. Frequent mutations in immunodominant epitopes during acute infection resulted in decreased production and intracellular stability of these epitopes. Together these results demonstrate the importance of protein degradation patterns in shaping immunodominant epitopes and the contribution of impaired epitope production in all cellular compartments to immune escape during HIV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jens Dinter
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Ellen Duong
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Nicole Y. Lai
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Matthew J. Berberich
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Georgio Kourjian
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Edith Bracho-Sanchez
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Duong Chu
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Hang Su
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Shao Chong Zhang
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Sylvie Le Gall
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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26
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Serwanga J, Nakiboneka R, Mugaba S, Magambo B, Ndembi N, Gotch F, Kaleebu P. Frequencies of Gag-restricted T-cell escape "footprints" differ across HIV-1 clades A1 and D chronically infected Ugandans irrespective of host HLA B alleles. Vaccine 2015; 33:1664-72. [PMID: 25728323 PMCID: PMC4374673 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.02.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2014] [Revised: 01/29/2015] [Accepted: 02/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
A and D infected subjects even though they bear the same presenting HLA alleles, and live in the same environment. Escape mutations that are known to confer survival advantage were more frequent in clade A-infected subjects irrespective of host HLA alleles. There was no evidence to link this difference in outcome to the evaluated adaptive T-Cell responses (IFN-γ responses and polyfunctional responses) to those key structurally constrained Gag epitopes. However, we have demonstrated that there was significantly greater selective pressure on the Gag protein of clade A than that of clade D. The data are in line with the known faster disease progression in clade D than clade A infected individuals. The data also highlight that the current difficulties in formulating a global HIV vaccine design will be further challenged by clade associated differences in outcome.
Objective(s) We evaluated relationships between critical Gag T-cell escape mutations and concomitant T-cell responses to determine whether HLA-restricted Gag mutations that confer protection, occur at similar rates in a population infected with mixed HIV-1 clades A1 and D viruses. Methods Assessment of Gag selective pressure, and adaptive T-cell functions to KAFSPEVIPMF (KF11), ISPRTLNAW (ISW9) and TSTLQEQIGW (TW10) Gag epitopes were combined with host HLA to assess correlations with rates of critical epitope escape mutations in clades A1- (n = 23) and D- (n = 21) infected, untreated subjects. Infecting clades and selection pressure were determined from the gag sequences. Results Overall, Gag escape mutations A163X in KF11 were detected in 61% (14/23) A1- infected compared to 5% (1/21) in D-infected subjects (p = 0.00015). Gag mutations I147X in the ISW9 epitope were seen in 43%: (10/23) clade A compared to 5%: (1/21) clade D infected subjects, p = 0.007, Fisher's Exact test. Both mutations were more frequent in clade A1 infection. Frequencies of the measured epitope-specific T-cell responses were comparable across clades. Peptide binding affinities for the restricting HLA alleles did not differ across clades. Overall, selection pressure on the Gag protein was significantly greater in clade A than in clade D sequences. Conclusions These findings imply that HIV-1 vaccine strategies designed to target structurally constrained T-cell epitopes may be further challenged by clade-driven outcomes in specific HLA-restricted Gag epitopes. Equally, the data are line with slower HIV-1 disease progression in clade A infection; and raise hope that increased selective pressure on Gag may be protective irrespective of host HLA alleles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Susan Mugaba
- MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | - Brian Magambo
- MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda
| | | | - Frances Gotch
- Department of Immunology, Imperial College, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London, United Kingdom
| | - Pontiano Kaleebu
- MRC/UVRI Uganda Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
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van Dorp CH, van Boven M, de Boer RJ. Immuno-epidemiological modeling of HIV-1 predicts high heritability of the set-point virus load, while selection for CTL escape dominates virulence evolution. PLoS Comput Biol 2014; 10:e1003899. [PMID: 25522184 PMCID: PMC4270429 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003899] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2013] [Accepted: 09/07/2014] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been suggested that HIV-1 has evolved its set-point virus load to be optimized for transmission. Previous epidemiological models and studies into the heritability of set-point virus load confirm that this mode of adaptation within the human population is feasible. However, during the many cycles of replication between infection of a host and transmission to the next host, HIV-1 is under selection for escape from immune responses, and not transmission. Here we investigate with computational and mathematical models how these two levels of selection, within-host and between-host, are intertwined. We find that when the rate of immune escape is comparable to what has been observed in patients, immune selection within hosts is dominant over selection for transmission. Surprisingly, we do find high values for set-point virus load heritability, and argue that high heritability estimates can be caused by the 'footprints' left by differing hosts' immune systems on the virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christiaan H. van Dorp
- Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Michiel van Boven
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
| | - Rob J. de Boer
- Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Universiteit Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
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28
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Streeck H, Lu R, Beckwith N, Milazzo M, Liu M, Routy JP, Little S, Jessen H, Kelleher AD, Hecht F, Sekaly RP, Alter G, Heckerman D, Carrington M, Rosenberg ES, Altfeld M. Emergence of individual HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses during primary HIV-1 infection can determine long-term disease outcome. J Virol 2014; 88:12793-801. [PMID: 25165102 PMCID: PMC4248916 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02016-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2014] [Accepted: 08/19/2014] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Events during primary HIV-1 infection have been shown to be critical for the subsequent rate of disease progression. Early control of viral replication, resolution of clinical symptoms and development of a viral set point have been associated with the emergence of HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses. Here we assessed which particular HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses contribute to long-term control of HIV-1. A total of 620 individuals with primary HIV-1 infection were screened by gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay for HLA class I-restricted, epitope-specific CD8 T cell responses using optimally defined epitopes approximately 2 months after initial presentation. The cohort was predominantly male (97%) and Caucasian (83%) (Fiebig stages II/III [n = 157], IV [n = 64], V [n = 286], and VI [n = 88] and Fiebig stage not determined [n = 25]). Longitudinal viral loads, CD4 count, and time to ART were collected for all patients. We observed strong associations between viral load at baseline (initial viremia) and the established early viral set points (P < 0.0001). Both were significantly associated with HLA class I genotypes (P = 0.0009). While neither the breadth nor the magnitude of HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses showed an influence on the early viral set point, a broader HIV-specific CD8 T cell response targeting epitopes within HIV-1 Gag during primary HIV-1 infection was associated with slower disease progression. Moreover, the induction of certain HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses--but not others--significantly influenced the time to ART initiation. Individual epitope-specific CD8 T cell responses contribute significantly to HIV-1 disease control, demonstrating that the specificity of the initial HIV-specific CD8 T cell response rather than the restricting HLA class I molecule alone is a critical determinant of antiviral function. IMPORTANCE Understanding which factors are involved in the control of HIV-1 infection is critical for the design of therapeutic strategies for patients living with HIV/AIDS. Here, using a cohort of over 600 individuals with acute and early HIV-1 infection, we assessed in unprecedented detail the individual contribution of epitope-specific CD8 T cell responses directed against HIV-1 to control of viremia and their impact on the overall course of disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Streeck
- U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Richard Lu
- U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Noor Beckwith
- Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Mark Milazzo
- U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Michelle Liu
- U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Jean-Pierre Routy
- McGill University, Division of Hematology and Immunodeficiency Service, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Susan Little
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, USA
| | | | | | - Frederick Hecht
- Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
| | - Rafick-Pierre Sekaly
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute-Florida, Port Saint Lucie, Florida, USA
| | - Galit Alter
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - David Heckerman
- eScience Group, Microsoft Research, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Mary Carrington
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Cancer and Inflammation Program, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | | | - Marcus Altfeld
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Heinrich-Pette-Institute, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
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The CD8⁺ memory stem T cell (T(SCM)) subset is associated with improved prognosis in chronic HIV-1 infection. J Virol 2014; 88:13836-44. [PMID: 25253339 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01948-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Memory stem T cells (T(SCM)) constitute a long-lived, self-renewing lymphocyte population essential for the maintenance of functional immunity. The hallmarks of HIV-1 pathogenesis are CD4(+) T cell depletion and abnormal cellular activation. We investigated the impact of HIV-1 infection on the T(SCM) compartment, as well as any protective role these cells may have in disease progression, by characterizing this subset in a cohort of 113 subjects with various degrees of viral control on and off highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). We observed that the frequency of CD8(+) T(SCM) was decreased in all individuals with chronic, untreated HIV-1 infection and that HAART had a restorative effect on this subset. In contrast, natural controllers of HIV-1 had the highest absolute number of CD4(+) T(SCM) cells among all of the infected groups. The frequency of CD4(+) T(SCM) predicted higher CD8(+) T(SCM) frequencies, consistent with a role for the CD4(+) subset in helping to maintain CD8(+) memory T cells. In addition, T(SCM) appeared to be progenitors for effector T cells (TEM), as these two compartments were inversely correlated. Increased frequencies of CD8(+) T(SCM) predicted lower viral loads, higher CD4(+) counts, and less CD8(+) T cell activation. Finally, we found that T(SCM) express the mucosal homing integrin α4β7 and can be identified in gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). The frequency of mucosal CD4(+) T(SCM) was inversely correlated with that in the blood, potentially reflecting the ability of these self-renewing cells to migrate to a crucial site of ongoing viral replication and CD4(+) T cell depletion. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 infection leads to profound impairment of the immune system. T(SCM) constitute a recently identified lymphocyte subset with stem cell-like qualities, including the ability to generate other memory T cell subtypes, and are therefore likely to play an important role in controlling viral infection. We investigated the relationship between the size of the CD8(+) T(SCM) compartment and HIV-1 disease progression in a cohort of chronically infected individuals. Our results suggest that HAART restores a normal frequency of CD8(+) T(SCM) and that the natural preservation of this subset in the setting of untreated HIV-1 infection is associated with improved viral control and immunity. Therefore, the CD8(+) T(SCM) population may represent a correlate of protection in chronic HIV-1 infection that is directly relevant to the design of T cell-based vaccines, adoptive immunotherapy approaches, or the pharmacologic induction of T(SCM).
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Mann JK, Chopera D, Omarjee S, Kuang XT, Le AQ, Anmole G, Danroth R, Mwimanzi P, Reddy T, Carlson J, Radebe M, Goulder PJR, Walker BD, Abdool Karim S, Novitsky V, Williamson C, Brockman MA, Brumme ZL, Ndung'u T. Nef-mediated down-regulation of CD4 and HLA class I in HIV-1 subtype C infection: association with disease progression and influence of immune pressure. Virology 2014; 468-470:214-225. [PMID: 25193656 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2014.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2014] [Revised: 06/08/2014] [Accepted: 08/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Nef plays a major role in HIV-1 pathogenicity. We studied HIV-1 subtype C infected individuals in acute/early (n = 120) or chronic (n = 207) infection to investigate the relationship between Nef-mediated CD4/HLA-I down-regulation activities and disease progression, and the influence of immune-driven sequence variation on these Nef functions. A single Nef sequence per individual was cloned into an expression plasmid, followed by transfection of a T cell line and measurement of CD4 and HLA-I expression. In early infection, a trend of higher CD4 down-regulation ability correlating with higher viral load set point was observed (r = 0.19, p = 0.05), and higher HLA-I down-regulation activity was significantly associated with faster rate of CD4 decline (p = 0.02). HLA-I down-regulation function correlated inversely with the number HLA-associated polymorphisms previously associated with reversion in the absence of the selecting HLA allele (r = -0.21, p = 0.0002). These data support consideration of certain Nef regions in HIV-1 vaccine strategies designed to attenuate the infection course.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaclyn K Mann
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Durban 4001, South Africa; KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Denis Chopera
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Durban 4001, South Africa; KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa; Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, and the Division of Medical Virology, University of Cape Town and National Health Laboratory Services, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
| | - Saleha Omarjee
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Durban 4001, South Africa; KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Xiaomei T Kuang
- Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Anh Q Le
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Gursev Anmole
- Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Ryan Danroth
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Philip Mwimanzi
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Tarylee Reddy
- Medical Research Council, Biostatistics Unit, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Jonathan Carlson
- Microsoft Research, Los Angeles, CA 90024, United States of America
| | - Mopo Radebe
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Durban 4001, South Africa; KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Philip J R Goulder
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, United Kingdom; Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Bruce D Walker
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard University, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA
| | - Salim Abdool Karim
- Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Vladimir Novitsky
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Botswana-Harvard School of Public Health AIDS Initiative Partnership for HIV Research and Education, P/Bag BO 320, Gaborone, Botswana
| | - Carolyn Williamson
- Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, and the Division of Medical Virology, University of Cape Town and National Health Laboratory Services, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
| | - Mark A Brockman
- Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6; Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6; British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
| | - Zabrina L Brumme
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6; British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 1Y6
| | - Thumbi Ndung'u
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 719 Umbilo Road, Durban 4001, South Africa; KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa; Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Chariteplatz, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
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Mechanisms of HIV protein degradation into epitopes: implications for vaccine design. Viruses 2014; 6:3271-92. [PMID: 25196483 PMCID: PMC4147695 DOI: 10.3390/v6083271] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2014] [Revised: 08/06/2014] [Accepted: 08/11/2014] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The degradation of HIV-derived proteins into epitopes displayed by MHC-I or MHC-II are the first events leading to the priming of HIV-specific immune responses and to the recognition of infected cells. Despite a wealth of information about peptidases involved in protein degradation, our knowledge of epitope presentation during HIV infection remains limited. Here we review current data on HIV protein degradation linking epitope production and immunodominance, viral evolution and impaired epitope presentation. We propose that an in-depth understanding of HIV antigen processing and presentation in relevant primary cells could be exploited to identify signatures leading to efficient or inefficient epitope presentation in HIV proteomes, and to improve the design of immunogens eliciting immune responses efficiently recognizing all infected cells.
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Schlesinger KJ, Stromberg SP, Carlson JM. Coevolutionary immune system dynamics driving pathogen speciation. PLoS One 2014; 9:e102821. [PMID: 25054623 PMCID: PMC4108359 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0102821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2013] [Accepted: 06/24/2014] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
We introduce and analyze a within-host dynamical model of the coevolution between rapidly mutating pathogens and the adaptive immune response. Pathogen mutation and a homeostatic constraint on lymphocytes both play a role in allowing the development of chronic infection, rather than quick pathogen clearance. The dynamics of these chronic infections display emergent structure, including branching patterns corresponding to asexual pathogen speciation, which is fundamentally driven by the coevolutionary interaction. Over time, continued branching creates an increasingly fragile immune system, and leads to the eventual catastrophic loss of immune control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly J. Schlesinger
- Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Sean P. Stromberg
- Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
| | - Jean M. Carlson
- Department of Physics, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States of America
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Carlson JM, Schaefer M, Monaco DC, Batorsky R, Claiborne DT, Prince J, Deymier MJ, Ende ZS, Klatt NR, DeZiel CE, Lin TH, Peng J, Seese AM, Shapiro R, Frater J, Ndung'u T, Tang J, Goepfert P, Gilmour J, Price MA, Kilembe W, Heckerman D, Goulder PJR, Allen TM, Allen S, Hunter E. HIV transmission. Selection bias at the heterosexual HIV-1 transmission bottleneck. Science 2014; 345:1254031. [PMID: 25013080 DOI: 10.1126/science.1254031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 195] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 typically results in one genetic variant establishing systemic infection. We compared, for 137 linked transmission pairs, the amino acid sequences encoded by non-envelope genes of viruses in both partners and demonstrate a selection bias for transmission of residues that are predicted to confer increased in vivo fitness on viruses in the newly infected, immunologically naïve recipient. Although tempered by transmission risk factors, such as donor viral load, genital inflammation, and recipient gender, this selection bias provides an overall transmission advantage for viral quasispecies that are dominated by viruses with high in vivo fitness. Thus, preventative or therapeutic approaches that even marginally reduce viral fitness may lower the overall transmission rates and offer long-term benefits even upon successful transmission.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Malinda Schaefer
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Daniela C Monaco
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Rebecca Batorsky
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02114, USA
| | - Daniel T Claiborne
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Jessica Prince
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Martin J Deymier
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Zachary S Ende
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | - Nichole R Klatt
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA
| | | | | | - Jian Peng
- Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA 98052, USA
| | - Aaron M Seese
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02114, USA
| | - Roger Shapiro
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - John Frater
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 7BN, UK. National Institute of Health Research, Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford OX3 7LE, UK. Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3BD, UK
| | - Thumbi Ndung'u
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02114, USA. HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4013, South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH), Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa. Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jianming Tang
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Paul Goepfert
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Jill Gilmour
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, London SW10 9NH, UK. Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine, London SW10 9NH, UK
| | - Matt A Price
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
| | - William Kilembe
- Rwanda-Zambia HIV Research Group: Zambia-Emory HIV Research Project, Lusaka, Zambia
| | | | - Philip J R Goulder
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4013, South Africa. Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK
| | - Todd M Allen
- Rwanda-Zambia HIV Research Group: Zambia-Emory HIV Research Project, Lusaka, Zambia. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Susan Allen
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA. Microsoft Research, Los Angeles, CA 98117, USA. Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK
| | - Eric Hunter
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30329, USA. Rwanda-Zambia HIV Research Group: Zambia-Emory HIV Research Project, Lusaka, Zambia. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
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Abstract
UNLABELLED Recall T cell responses to HIV-1 antigens are used as a surrogate for endogenous cellular immune responses generated during infection. Current methods of identifying antigen-specific T cell reactivity in HIV-1 infection use bulk peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) yet ignore professional antigen-presenting cells (APC) that could reveal otherwise hidden responses. In the present study, peptides representing autologous variants of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted epitopes from HIV-1 Gag and Env were used as antigens in gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) and polyfunctional cytokine assays. Here we show that dendritic cells (DC) enhanced T cell reactivity at all stages of disease progression but specifically restored T cell reactivity after combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) to early infection levels. Type 1 cytokine secretion was also enhanced by DC and was most apparent late post-cART. We additionally show that DC reveal polyfunctional T cell responses after many years of treatment, when potential immunotherapies would be implemented. These data underscore the potential efficacy of DC immunotherapy that aims to awaken a dormant, autologous, HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cell response. IMPORTANCE Assessment of endogenous HIV-1-specific T cell responses is critical for generating immunotherapies for subjects on cART. Current assays ignore the ability of dendritic cells to reveal these responses and may therefore underestimate the breadth and magnitude of T cell reactivity. As DC do not prime new responses in these assays, it can be assumed that the observed responses are not detected without appropriate stimulation. This is important because dogma states that HIV-1 mutates to evade host recognition and that CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) failure is due to the inability of T cells to recognize the autologous virus. The results presented here indicate that responses to autologous virus are generated during infection but may need additional stimulation to be effective. Detecting the breadth and magnitude of HIV-1-specific T cell reactivity generated in vivo is of the utmost importance for generating effective DC immunotherapies.
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Gijsbers EF, van Nuenen AC, de la Peňa AT, Bowles EJ, Stewart-Jones GB, Schuitemaker H, Kootstra NA. Low level of HIV-1 evolution after transmission from mother to child. Sci Rep 2014; 4:5079. [PMID: 24866155 PMCID: PMC5381489 DOI: 10.1038/srep05079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2013] [Accepted: 05/06/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission pairs represent a good opportunity to study the dynamics of CTL escape and reversion after transmission in the light of shared and non-shared HLA-alleles. Mothers share half of their HLA alleles with their children, while the other half is inherited from the father and is generally discordant between mother and child. This implies that HIV-1 transmitted from mother to child enters a host environment to which it has already partially adapted. Here, we studied viral evolution and the dynamics of CTL escape mutations and reversion of these mutations after transmission in the context of shared and non-shared HLA alleles in viral variants obtained from five mother-to-child transmission pairs. Only limited HIV-1 evolution was observed in the children after mother-to-child transmission. Viral evolution was mainly driven by forward mutations located inside CTL epitopes restricted by HLA alleles inherited from the father, which may be indicative of CTL pressure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther F Gijsbers
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Sanquin Research, Landsteiner Laboratory, and Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ad C van Nuenen
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Sanquin Research, Landsteiner Laboratory, and Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Alba Torrents de la Peňa
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Sanquin Research, Landsteiner Laboratory, and Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Emma J Bowles
- Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Guillaume B Stewart-Jones
- Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Hanneke Schuitemaker
- 1] Department of Experimental Immunology, Sanquin Research, Landsteiner Laboratory, and Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands [2]
| | - Neeltje A Kootstra
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Sanquin Research, Landsteiner Laboratory, and Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity Amsterdam (CINIMA), Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Buggert M, Norström MM, Salemi M, Hecht FM, Karlsson AC. Functional avidity and IL-2/perforin production is linked to the emergence of mutations within HLA-B*5701-restricted epitopes and HIV-1 disease progression. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2014; 192:4685-96. [PMID: 24740510 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1302253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Viral escape from HIV-1-specific CD8(+) T cells has been demonstrated in numerous studies previously. However, the qualitative features driving the emergence of mutations within epitopes are still unclear. In this study, we aimed to distinguish whether specific functional characteristics of HLA-B*5701-restricted CD8(+) T cells influence the emergence of mutations in high-risk progressors (HRPs) versus low-risk progressors (LRPs). Single-genome sequencing was performed to detect viral mutations (variants) within seven HLA-B*5701-restricted epitopes in Gag (n = 4) and Nef (n = 3) in six untreated HLA-B*5701 subjects followed from early infection up to 7 y. Several well-characterized effector markers (IFN-γ, IL-2, MIP-1β, TNF, CD107a, and perforin) were identified by flow cytometry following autologous (initial and emerging variant/s) epitope stimulations. This study demonstrates that specific functional attributes may facilitate the outgrowth of mutations within HLA-B*5701-restricted epitopes. A significantly lower fraction of IL-2-producing cells and a decrease in functional avidity and polyfunctional sensitivity were evident in emerging epitope variants compared with the initial autologous epitopes. Interestingly, the HRPs mainly drove these differences, whereas the LRPs maintained a directed and maintained functional response against emerging epitope variants. In addition, LRPs induced improved cell-cycle progression and perforin upregulation after autologous and emerging epitope variant stimulations in contrast to HRPs. The maintained quantitative and qualitative features of the CD8(+) T cell responses in LRPs toward emerging epitope variants provide insights into why HLA-B*5701 subjects have different risks of HIV-1 disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcus Buggert
- Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm S-141 86, Sweden
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37
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The link between CD8⁺ T-cell antigen-sensitivity and HIV-suppressive capacity depends on HLA restriction, target epitope and viral isolate. AIDS 2014; 28:477-86. [PMID: 24384691 DOI: 10.1097/qad.0000000000000175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although it is established that CD8 T-cell immunity is critical for the control of HIV replication in vivo, the key factors that determine antiviral efficacy are yet to be fully elucidated. Antigen-sensitivity and T-cell receptor (TCR) avidity have been identified as potential determinants of CD8⁺ T-cell efficacy. However, there is no general consensus in this regard because the relationship between these parameters and the control of HIV infection has been established primarily in the context of immunodominant CD8⁺ T-cell responses against the Gag₂₆₃₋₂₇₂ KK10 epitope restricted by human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27. METHODS To investigate the relationship between antigen-sensitivity, TCR avidity and HIV-suppressive capacity in vitro across epitope specificities and HLA class I restriction elements, we used a variety of techniques to study CD8⁺ T-cell clones specific for Nef₇₃₋₈₂ QK10 and Gag₂₀₋₂₉ RY10, both restricted by HLA-A3, alongside CD8⁺ T-cell clones specific for Gag₂₆₃₋₂₇₂ KK10. RESULTS For each targeted epitope, the linked parameters of antigen-sensitivity and TCR avidity correlated directly with antiviral efficacy. However, marked differences in HIV-suppressive capacity were observed between epitope specificities, HLA class I restriction elements and viral isolates. CONCLUSIONS Collectively, these data emphasize the central role of the TCR as a determinant of CD8⁺ T-cell efficacy and demonstrate that the complexities of antigen recognition across epitope and HLA class I boundaries can confound simple relationships between TCR engagement and HIV suppression.
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The impact of viral evolution and frequency of variant epitopes on primary and memory human immunodeficiency virus type 1-specific CD8⁺ T cell responses. Virology 2013; 450-451:34-48. [PMID: 24503065 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2013.10.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2013] [Revised: 09/11/2013] [Accepted: 10/08/2013] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
It is unclear if HIV-1 variants lose the ability to prime naïve CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) during progressive, untreated infection. We conducted a comprehensive longitudinal analysis of viral evolution and its impact on primary and memory CD8(+) T cell responses pre-seroconversion (SC), post-SC, and during combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Memory T cell responses targeting autologous virus variants reached a nadir by 8 years post-SC with development of AIDS, followed by a transient enhancement of anti-HIV-1 CTL responses upon initiation of cART. We show broad and high magnitude primary T cell responses to late variants in pre-SC T cells, comparable to primary anti-HIV-1 responses induced in T cells from uninfected persons. Despite evolutionary changes, CD8(+) T cells could still be primed to HIV-1 variants. Hence, vaccination against late, mutated epitopes could be successful in enhancing primary reactivity of T cells for control of the residual reservoir of HIV-1 during cART.
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Roider J, Kalteis AL, Vollbrecht T, Gloning L, Stirner R, Henrich N, Bogner JR, Draenert R. Adaptation of CD8 T cell responses to changing HIV-1 sequences in a cohort of HIV-1 infected individuals not selected for a certain HLA allele. PLoS One 2013; 8:e80045. [PMID: 24312453 PMCID: PMC3849264 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2013] [Accepted: 09/26/2013] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
HIV evades CD8 T cell mediated pressure by viral escape mutations in targeted CD8 T cell epitopes. A viral escape mutation can lead to a decline of the respective CD8 T cell response. Our question was what happened after the decline of a CD8 T cell response and - in the case of viral escape – if a new CD8 T cell response towards the mutated antigen could be generated in a population not selected for certain HLA alleles. We studied 19 antiretroviral-naïve HIV-1 infected individuals with different disease courses longitudinally. A median number of 12 (range 2-24) CD8 T cell responses towards Gag and Nef were detected per study subject. A total of 30 declining CD8 T cell responses were studied in detail and viral sequence analyses showed amino acid changes in 25 (83%) of these. Peptide titration assays and definition of optimal CD8 T cell epitopes revealed 12 viral escape mutations with one de-novo response (8%). The de-novo response, however, showed less effector functions than the original CD8 T cell response. In addition we identified 4 shifts in immunodominance. For one further shift in immunodominance, the mutations occurred outside the optimal epitope and might represent processing changes. Interestingly, four adaptations to the virus (the de-novo response and 3 shifts in immunodominance) occurred in the group of chronically infected progressors. None of the subjects with adaptation to the changing virus carried the HLA alleles B57, B*58:01 or B27. Our results show that CD8 T cell responses adapt to the mutations of HIV. However it was limited to only 20% (5 out of 25) of the epitopes with viral sequence changes in a cohort not expressing protective HLA alleles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Roider
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Anna-Lena Kalteis
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Thomas Vollbrecht
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Lisa Gloning
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Renate Stirner
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Nadja Henrich
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Johannes R. Bogner
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
| | - Rika Draenert
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik IV der Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
- * E-mail:
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40
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Liu TY, Hussein WM, Jia Z, Ziora ZM, McMillan NAJ, Monteiro MJ, Toth I, Skwarczynski M. Self-Adjuvanting Polymer–Peptide Conjugates As Therapeutic Vaccine Candidates against Cervical Cancer. Biomacromolecules 2013; 14:2798-806. [DOI: 10.1021/bm400626w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tzu-Yu Liu
- School of Chemistry and Molecular
Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Waleed M. Hussein
- School of Chemistry and Molecular
Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zhongfan Jia
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering
and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Zyta M. Ziora
- School of Chemistry and Molecular
Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Nigel A. J. McMillan
- Cancer Research Centre, Griffith
Health Institute and School of Medical Science, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD 4222, Australia
| | - Michael J. Monteiro
- Australian Institute for Bioengineering
and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Istvan Toth
- School of Chemistry and Molecular
Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- School of Pharmacy, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Mariusz Skwarczynski
- School of Chemistry and Molecular
Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
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Abstract
Host genetic factors are a major contributing factor to the inter-individual variation observed in response to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and are linked to resistance to HIV infection among exposed individuals, as well as rate of disease progression and the likelihood of viral transmission. Of the genetic variants that have been shown to affect the natural history of HIV infection, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I genes exhibit the strongest and most consistent association, underscoring a central role for CD8(+) T cells in resistance to the virus. HLA proteins play important roles in T-cell-mediated adaptive immunity by presenting immunodominant HIV epitopes to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and CD4(+) T cells. Genetic and functional data also indicate a function for HLA in natural killer cell-mediated innate immunity against HIV by interacting with killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). We review the HLA and KIR associations with HIV disease and discuss the mechanisms underlying these associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maureen P. Martin
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Mary Carrington
- Cancer and Inflammation Program, Laboratory of Experimental Immunology, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., NCI-Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, USA
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Palmer D, Frater J, Phillips R, McLean AR, McVean G. Integrating genealogical and dynamical modelling to infer escape and reversion rates in HIV epitopes. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20130696. [PMID: 23677344 PMCID: PMC3673055 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.0696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The rates of escape and reversion in response to selection pressure arising from the host immune system, notably the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response, are key factors determining the evolution of HIV. Existing methods for estimating these parameters from cross-sectional population data using ordinary differential equations (ODEs) ignore information about the genealogy of sampled HIV sequences, which has the potential to cause systematic bias and overestimate certainty. Here, we describe an integrated approach, validated through extensive simulations, which combines genealogical inference and epidemiological modelling, to estimate rates of CTL escape and reversion in HIV epitopes. We show that there is substantial uncertainty about rates of viral escape and reversion from cross-sectional data, which arises from the inherent stochasticity in the evolutionary process. By application to empirical data, we find that point estimates of rates from a previously published ODE model and the integrated approach presented here are often similar, but can also differ several-fold depending on the structure of the genealogy. The model-based approach we apply provides a framework for the statistical analysis and hypothesis testing of escape and reversion in population data and highlights the need for longitudinal and denser cross-sectional sampling to enable accurate estimate of these key parameters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duncan Palmer
- Department of Statistics, 1 South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE To define the relative frequencies of different mechanisms of viral escape. DESIGN A population-based approach to examine the distribution of HIV polymorphism associated with diverse population human leucocyte antigens (HLAs) at sites within and flanking CD8 T-cell epitopes as a correlate of likely mechanisms of viral escape. METHODS Sequence windows surrounding 874 HLA allele-specific polymorphisms across the full HIV-1 proteomic consensus sequence were scanned by an epitope-prediction programme. Either already known or probable CD8 T-cell epitopes with HLA restriction matching that of the proximal HLA association were identified and synthesized. These peptides were used as stimulating antigens in automated enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assays. Peptide arrays were customized to each individual based on their HLA genotype. RESULTS Among HLA-associated HIV polymorphisms detected in the viral sequences of a cohort of 800 individuals with chronic subtype B HIV infection, those which were likely to affect HLA peptide binding were significantly more common than polymorphisms at nonanchor HLA binding sites. HIV epitopes with such polymorphisms were associated with reduced IFNγ responses in ELISpot assays. HIV escape at sites affecting T-cell receptor (TCR) engagement and epitope processing were also evident. CONCLUSION HIV escape from HLA-peptide binding predominates as an effective viral evasion strategy and therefore has implications for inclusion of HLA-adapted epitopes in vaccine immunogens.
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Abidi SH, Shahid A, Lakhani LS, Khanani MR, Ojwang P, Okinda N, Shah R, Abbas F, Rowland-Jones S, Ali S. Population-specific evolution of HIV Gag epitopes in genetically diverged patients. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2013; 16:78-86. [PMID: 23403357 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2013.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2012] [Revised: 01/30/2013] [Accepted: 02/03/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Under the host selection pressure HIV evolves rapidly to override crucial steps in the antigen presentation pathway. This allows the virus to escape binding and recognition by cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Selection pressures on HIV can be unique depending on the immunogenetics of host populations. It is therefore logical to hypothesize that the virus evolving in a given population will carry signature mutations that will allow it to survive in that particular host milieu. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to perform a comparative analysis of HIV-1 Gag subtype A sequences from two genetically diverged populations, namely, Kenyan and Pakistani. We analyzed unique mutations that could intercept the antigen processing pathway and potentially change the repertoire of Gag epitopes in each study group. METHODS Twenty-nine Kenyan and 56 Pakistani samples from HIV-1 subtype A-infected patients were used in this study. The HIV-1 gag region p24 and p2p7p1p6 was sequenced and mutations affecting proteasomal degradation, TAP binding, HLA binding and CTL epitope generation, were analyzed using the in silico softwares NetChop and MAPPP, TAPPred, nHLAPred and CTLPred, respectively. RESULTS Certain mutations unique to either Pakistani or Kenyan patients were observed to affect sites for proteasomal degradation, TAP binding, and HLA binding. As a consequence of these mutations, epitope pattern in these populations was altered. CONCLUSION Unique selection pressures can steer the direction of viral epitope evolution in the host populations. Population-specific HIV epitopes have to be taken into account while designing treatment as well as vaccine for HIV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Syed H Abidi
- Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
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45
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Frequent and variable cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte escape-associated fitness costs in the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype B Gag proteins. J Virol 2013; 87:3952-65. [PMID: 23365420 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.03233-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte (CTL) escape mutations undermine the durability of effective human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific CD8(+) T cell responses. The rate of CTL escape from a given response is largely governed by the net of all escape-associated viral fitness costs and benefits. The observation that CTL escape mutations can carry an associated fitness cost in terms of reduced virus replication capacity (RC) suggests a fitness cost-benefit trade-off that could delay CTL escape and thereby prolong CD8 response effectiveness. However, our understanding of this potential fitness trade-off is limited by the small number of CTL escape mutations for which a fitness cost has been quantified. Here, we quantified the fitness cost of the 29 most common HIV-1B Gag CTL escape mutations using an in vitro RC assay. The majority (20/29) of mutations reduced RC by more than the benchmark M184V antiretroviral drug resistance mutation, with impacts ranging from 8% to 69%. Notably, the reduction in RC was significantly greater for CTL escape mutations associated with protective HLA class I alleles than for those associated with nonprotective alleles. To speed the future evaluation of CTL escape costs, we also developed an in silico approach for inferring the relative impact of a mutation on RC based on its computed impact on protein thermodynamic stability. These data illustrate that the magnitude of CTL escape-associated fitness costs, and thus the barrier to CTL escape, varies widely even in the conserved Gag proteins and suggest that differential escape costs may contribute to the relative efficacy of CD8 responses.
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46
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Ganusov VV, Neher RA, Perelson AS. Mathematical modeling of escape of HIV from cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses. JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS (ONLINE) 2013; 2013:P01010. [PMID: 24660019 PMCID: PMC3961578 DOI: 10.1088/1742-5468/2013/01/p01010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1 or simply HIV) induces a persistent infection, which in the absence of treatment leads to AIDS and death in almost all infected individuals. HIV infection elicits a vigorous immune response starting about 2-3 weeks post infection that can lower the amount of virus in the body, but which cannot eradicate the virus. How HIV establishes a chronic infection in the face of a strong immune response remains poorly understood. It has been shown that HIV is able to rapidly change its proteins via mutation to evade recognition by virus-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Typically, an HIV-infected patient will generate 4-12 CTL responses specific for parts of viral proteins called epitopes. Such CTL responses lead to strong selective pressure to change the viral sequences encoding these epitopes so as to avoid CTL recognition. Indeed, the viral population "escapes" from about half of the CTL responses by mutation in the first year. Here we review experimental data on HIV evolution in response to CTL pressure, mathematical models developed to explain this evolution, and highlight problems associated with the data and previous modeling efforts. We show that estimates of the strength of the epitope-specific CTL response depend on the method used to fit models to experimental data and on the assumptions made regarding how mutants are generated during infection. We illustrate that allowing CTL responses to decay over time may improve the fit to experimental data and provides higher estimates of the killing efficacy of HIV-specific CTLs. We also propose a novel method for simultaneously estimating the killing efficacy of multiple CTL populations specific for different epitopes of HIV using stochastic simulations. Lastly, we show that current estimates of the efficacy at which HIV-specific CTLs clear virus-infected cells can be improved by more frequent sampling of viral sequences and by combining data on sequence evolution with experimentally measured CTL dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vitaly V Ganusov
- Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA
| | - Richard A Neher
- Max-Planck-Institute for Developmental Biology, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Alan S Perelson
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS K710 Los Alamos, 87545 NM, USA
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47
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Prince JL, Claiborne DT, Carlson JM, Schaefer M, Yu T, Lahki S, Prentice HA, Yue L, Vishwanathan SA, Kilembe W, Goepfert P, Price MA, Gilmour J, Mulenga J, Farmer P, Derdeyn CA, Tang J, Heckerman D, Kaslow RA, Allen SA, Hunter E. Role of transmitted Gag CTL polymorphisms in defining replicative capacity and early HIV-1 pathogenesis. PLoS Pathog 2012; 8:e1003041. [PMID: 23209412 PMCID: PMC3510241 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2012] [Accepted: 10/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Initial studies of 88 transmission pairs in the Zambia Emory HIV Research Project cohort demonstrated that the number of transmitted HLA-B associated polymorphisms in Gag, but not Nef, was negatively correlated to set point viral load (VL) in the newly infected partners. These results suggested that accumulation of CTL escape mutations in Gag might attenuate viral replication and provide a clinical benefit during early stages of infection. Using a novel approach, we have cloned gag sequences isolated from the earliest seroconversion plasma sample from the acutely infected recipient of 149 epidemiologically linked Zambian transmission pairs into a primary isolate, subtype C proviral vector, MJ4. We determined the replicative capacity (RC) of these Gag-MJ4 chimeras by infecting the GXR25 cell line and quantifying virion production in supernatants via a radiolabeled reverse transcriptase assay. We observed a statistically significant positive correlation between RC conferred by the transmitted Gag sequence and set point VL in newly infected individuals (p = 0.02). Furthermore, the RC of Gag-MJ4 chimeras also correlated with the VL of chronically infected donors near the estimated date of infection (p = 0.01), demonstrating that virus replication contributes to VL in both acute and chronic infection. These studies also allowed for the elucidation of novel sites in Gag associated with changes in RC, where rare mutations had the greatest effect on fitness. Although we observed both advantageous and deleterious rare mutations, the latter could point to vulnerable targets in the HIV-1 genome. Importantly, RC correlated significantly (p = 0.029) with the rate of CD4+ T cell decline over the first 3 years of infection in a manner that is partially independent of VL, suggesting that the replication capacity of HIV-1 during the earliest stages of infection is a determinant of pathogenesis beyond what might be expected based on set point VL alone. In the majority of HIV-1 cases, a single virus establishes infection. However, mutations in the viral genome accumulate over time in order to avoid recognition by the host immune response. Certain mutations in the main structural protein, Gag, driven by cytotoxic T lymphocytes are detrimental to viral replication, and we showed previously that, upon transmission, viruses with higher numbers of escape mutations in Gag were associated with lower early set point viral loads. We hypothesized that this could be attributed to attenuation of the transmitted virus. Here, we have cloned the gag gene from 149 newly infected individuals from linked transmission pairs into a clade C proviral vector and determined the replicative capacity in vitro. We found that the replicative capacity conferred by the transmitted Gag correlated with set point viral loads in newly infected individuals, as well as with the viral load of the transmitting partner, and we identified previously unrecognized residues associated with increasing and decreasing replicative capacity. Importantly, we demonstrate that transmitted viruses with high replicative capacity cause more rapid CD4+ decline over the first three years, independent of viral load. This suggests that the trajectory of pathogenesis may be affected very early in infection, before adaptive immunity can respond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L. Prince
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Daniel T. Claiborne
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | | | - Malinda Schaefer
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Tianwei Yu
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Shabir Lahki
- Zambia-Emory HIV Research Project, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Heather A. Prentice
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Ling Yue
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Sundaram A. Vishwanathan
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | | | - Paul Goepfert
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Matthew A. Price
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, San Francisco, California, United States of America
| | - Jill Gilmour
- International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, London, England
| | | | - Paul Farmer
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Cynthia A. Derdeyn
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Jiaming Tang
- Department of Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
| | - David Heckerman
- Microsoft Research, Los Angeles, California, United States of America
| | - Richard A. Kaslow
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
| | - Susan A. Allen
- Zambia-Emory HIV Research Project, Lusaka, Zambia
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Eric Hunter
- Emory Vaccine Center at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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48
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Significant reductions in Gag-protease-mediated HIV-1 replication capacity during the course of the epidemic in Japan. J Virol 2012; 87:1465-76. [PMID: 23152532 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02122-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) evolves rapidly in response to host immune selection pressures. As a result, the functional properties of HIV-1 isolates from earlier in the epidemic may differ from those of isolates from later stages. However, few studies have investigated alterations in viral replication capacity (RC) over the epidemic. In the present study, we compare Gag-Protease-associated RC between early and late isolates in Japan (1994 to 2009). HIV-1 subtype B sequences from 156 antiretroviral-naïve Japanese with chronic asymptomatic infection were used to construct a chimeric NL4-3 strain encoding plasma-derived gag-protease. Viral replication capacity was examined by infecting a long terminal repeat-driven green fluorescent protein-reporter T cell line. We observed a reduction in the RC of chimeric NL4-3 over the epidemic, which remained significant after adjusting for the CD4(+) T cell count and plasma virus load. The same outcome was seen when limiting the analysis to a single large cluster of related sequences, indicating that our results are not due to shifts in the molecular epidemiology of the epidemic in Japan. Moreover, the change in RC was independent of genetic distance between patient-derived sequences and wild-type NL4-3, thus ruling out potential temporal bias due to genetic similarity between patient and historic viral backbone sequences. Collectively, these data indicate that Gag-Protease-associated HIV-1 replication capacity has decreased over the epidemic in Japan. Larger studies from multiple geographical regions will be required to confirm this phenomenon.
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49
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Abstract
HIV is a disease in which the original clinical observations of severe opportunistic infections gave the first clues regarding the underlying pathology, namely that HIV is essentially an infection of the immune system. HIV infects and deletes CD4(+) T cells that normally coordinate the adaptive T- and B-cell response to defend against intracellular pathogens. The immune defect is immediate and profound: At the time of acute infection with an AIDS virus, typically more than half of the gut-associated CD4(+) T cells are depleted, leaving a damaged immune system to contend with a life-long infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce Walker
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard Mass General Hospital-East, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA.
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50
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Stochastic effects are important in intrahost HIV evolution even when viral loads are high. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2012; 109:19727-32. [PMID: 23112156 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1206940109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Blood plasma viral loads and the time to progress to AIDS differ widely among untreated HIV-infected humans. Although people with certain HLA (HLA-I) alleles are more likely to control HIV infections without therapy, the majority of such untreated individuals exhibit high viral loads and progress to AIDS. Stochastic effects are considered unimportant for evolutionary dynamics in HIV-infected people when viral load is high or when selective forces strongly drive mutation. We describe a computational study of host-pathogen interaction demonstrating that stochastic effects can have a profound influence on disease dynamics, even in cases of high viral load and strong selective pressure. These stochastic effects are pronounced when the virus must traverse a fitness "barrier" in sequence space to escape the host's cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response, as often occurs when a fitness defect imposed by a CTL-driven mutation must be compensated for by other mutations. These "barrier-crossing" events are infrequent and stochastic, resulting in divergent disease outcomes in genetically identical individuals infected by the same viral strain. Our results reveal how genetic determinants of the CTL response control the probability with which an individual is able to control HIV infection indefinitely, and thus provide clues for vaccine design.
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