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Borgo GM, Rutishauser RL. Generating and measuring effective vaccine-elicited HIV-specific CD8 + T cell responses. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2023; 18:331-341. [PMID: 37751362 PMCID: PMC10552829 DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/28/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW There is growing consensus that eliciting CD8 + T cells in addition to antibodies may be required for an effective HIV vaccine for both prevention and cure. Here, we review key qualities of vaccine-elicited CD8 + T cells as well as major CD8 + T cell-based delivery platforms used in recent HIV vaccine clinical trials. RECENT FINDINGS Much progress has been made in improving HIV immunogen design and delivery platforms to optimize CD8 + T cell responses. With regards to viral vectors, recent trials have tested newer chimp and human adenovirus vectors as well as a CMV vector. DNA vaccine immunogenicity has been increased by delivering the vaccines by electroporation and together with adjuvants as well as administering them as part of a heterologous regimen. In preclinical models, self-amplifying RNA vaccines can generate durable tissue-based CD8 + T cells. While it may be beneficial for HIV vaccines to recapitulate the functional and phenotypic features of HIV-specific CD8 + T cells isolated from elite controllers, most of these features are not routinely measured in HIV vaccine clinical trials. SUMMARY Identifying a vaccine capable of generating durable T cell responses that target mutationally vulnerable epitopes and that can rapidly intercept infecting or rebounding virus remains a challenge for HIV. Comprehensive assessment of HIV vaccine-elicited CD8 + T cells, as well as comparisons between different vaccine platforms, will be critical to advance our understanding of how to design better CD8 + T cell-based vaccines for HIV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gina M Borgo
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
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2
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Elizalde-Torrent A, Borgognone A, Casadellà M, Romero-Martin L, Escribà T, Parera M, Rosales-Salgado Y, Díaz-Pedroza J, Català-Moll F, Noguera-Julian M, Brander C, Paredes R, Olvera A. Vaccination with an HIV T-Cell Immunogen (HTI) Using DNA Primes Followed by a ChAdOx1-MVA Boost Is Immunogenic in Gut Microbiota-Depleted Mice despite Low IL-22 Serum Levels. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1663. [PMID: 38005995 PMCID: PMC10675013 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11111663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/25/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the important role of gut microbiota in the maturation of the immune system, little is known about its impact on the development of T-cell responses to vaccination. Here, we immunized C57BL/6 mice with a prime-boost regimen using DNA plasmid, the Chimpanzee Adenovirus, and the modified Vaccinia Ankara virus expressing a candidate HIV T-cell immunogen and compared the T-cell responses between individuals with an intact or antibiotic-depleted microbiota. Overall, the depletion of the gut microbiota did not result in significant differences in the magnitude or breadth of the immunogen-specific IFNγ T-cell response after vaccination. However, we observed marked changes in the serum levels of four cytokines after vaccinating microbiota-depleted animals, particularly a significant reduction in IL-22 levels. Interestingly, the level of IL-22 in serum correlated with the abundance of Roseburia in the large intestine of mice in the mock and vaccinated groups with intact microbiota. This short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-producing bacterium was significantly reduced in the vaccinated, microbiota-depleted group. Therefore, our results indicate that, although microbiota depletion reduces serum levels of IL-22, the powerful vaccine regime used could have overcome the impact of microbiota depletion on IFNγ-producing T-cell responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleix Elizalde-Torrent
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
| | - Alessandra Borgognone
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
| | - Maria Casadellà
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
| | - Luis Romero-Martin
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
- Departament de Biologia Cellular, Fisiologia i Immunologia, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), 08193 Cerdanyola del Valles, Spain
| | - Tuixent Escribà
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
| | - Mariona Parera
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
| | - Yaiza Rosales-Salgado
- Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), 08916 Badalona, Spain; (Y.R.-S.); (J.D.-P.)
| | - Jorge Díaz-Pedroza
- Fundació Institut d’Investigació en Ciències de la Salut Germans Trias i Pujol (IGTP), 08916 Badalona, Spain; (Y.R.-S.); (J.D.-P.)
| | - Francesc Català-Moll
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
| | - Marc Noguera-Julian
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
- Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
- CIBERINFEC—ISCIII, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Christian Brander
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
- Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
- CIBERINFEC—ISCIII, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- Aelix Therapeutics, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Roger Paredes
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
- Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
- CIBERINFEC—ISCIII, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Center for Global Health and Diseases, Department of Pathology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
- Fight AIDS Foundation, Infectious Diseases Department, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, 08916 Badalona, Spain
- Department of Infectious Diseases Service, Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital, 08916 Badalona, Spain
| | - Alex Olvera
- Irsicaixa—AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Barcelona, Spain; (A.E.-T.); (A.B.); (M.C.); (L.R.-M.); (T.E.); (M.P.); (F.C.-M.); (M.N.-J.); (C.B.); (R.P.)
- CIBERINFEC—ISCIII, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Facultat de Ciències, Tecnologia i Enginyeries, Universitat de Vic—Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
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3
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Bhattacharyya S, Crain CR, Goldberg B, Gaiha GD. Features of functional and dysfunctional CD8+ T cells to guide HIV vaccine development. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2023; 18:257-263. [PMID: 37535040 PMCID: PMC10503300 DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000812] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/04/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW CD8+ T cell responses are a key component of the host immune response to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but vary significantly across individuals with distinct clinical outcomes. These differences help inform the qualitative features of HIV-specific CD8+ T cells that we should aim to induce by vaccination. RECENT FINDINGS We review previous and more recent findings on the features of dysfunctional and functional CD8+ T cell responses that develop in individuals with uncontrolled and controlled HIV infection, with particular emphasis on proliferation, cytotoxic effector function, epitope specificity, and responses in lymph nodes. We also discuss the implications of these findings for both prophylactic and therapeutic T cell vaccine development within the context of T cell vaccine trials. SUMMARY The induction of HIV specific CD8+ T cell responses is an important goal of ongoing vaccine efforts. Emerging data on the key features of CD8+ T cell responses that distinguish individuals who spontaneously control from those with progressive disease continues to provide key guidance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaown Bhattacharyya
- Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
| | - Charles R Crain
- Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
| | - Benjamin Goldberg
- Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
| | - Gaurav D Gaiha
- Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
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4
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Akbari E, Seyedinkhorasani M, Bolhassani A. Conserved multiepitope vaccine constructs: A potent HIV-1 therapeutic vaccine in clinical trials. Braz J Infect Dis 2023; 27:102774. [PMID: 37156468 DOI: 10.1016/j.bjid.2023.102774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the success of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in preventing HIV-1-associated clinical progression to AIDS, it is unable to eliminate the viral reservoirs and eradicate the HIV-1 infection. Therapeutic vaccination is an alternative approach to alter the HIV-1 infection course. It can induce effective HIV-1-specific immunity to control viremia and eliminate the need for lifelong ART. Immunological data from spontaneous HIV-1 controllers have shown that cross-reactive T-cell responses are the key immune mechanism in HIV-1 control. Directing these responses toward preferred HIV-1 epitopes is a promising strategy in therapeutic vaccine settings. Designing novel immunogens based on the HIV-1 conserved regions containing a wide range of critical T- and B-cell epitopes of the main viral antigens (conserved multiepitope approaches) supplies broad coverage of global diversity in HIV-1 strains and Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) alleles. It can also prevent immune induction to undesirable decoy epitopes theoretically. The efficacy of different novel HIV-1 immunogens based on the conserved and/or functional protective site of HIV-1 proteome has been evaluated in multiple clinical trials. Most of these immunogens were generally safe and able to induce potent HIV-1-specific immunity. However, despite these findings, several candidates have demonstrated limited efficacy in viral replication control. In this study, we used the PubMed and ClinicalTrial.gov databases to review the rationale of designing curative HIV-1 vaccine immunogens based on the conserved favorable site of the virus. Most of these studies evaluate the efficacy of vaccine candidates in combination with other therapeutics and/or with new formulations and immunization protocols. This review briefly describes the design of conserved multiepitope constructs and outlines the results of these vaccine candidates in the recent clinical pipeline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elahe Akbari
- Pasteur Institute of Iran, Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Azam Bolhassani
- Pasteur Institute of Iran, Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Tehran, Iran.
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5
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Alanine-based spacers promote an efficient antigen processing and presentation in neoantigen polypeptide vaccines. Cancer Immunol Immunother 2023:10.1007/s00262-023-03409-3. [PMID: 36820900 DOI: 10.1007/s00262-023-03409-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/12/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
Neoantigens are tumor-specific antigens that are mostly particular for each patient. Since the immune system is able to mount a specific immune response against these neoantigens, they are a promising tool for the development of therapeutic personalized cancer vaccines. Neoantigens must be presented to T cells by antigen presenting cells (APC) in the context of MHC-I or MHC-II molecules. Therefore, the strategy of vaccine delivery may have a major impact on the magnitude and quality of T cell responses. Neoantigen-based vaccines are frequently administered as a pool of individual synthetic peptides that induce mainly CD4+ T cell responses. MHC-I-mediated presentation and the elicitation of CD8+ T cell responses may be improved using DNA or RNA sequences that code for a unique long polypeptide that concatenates the different neoantigens spaced by linker sequences. When administered this way, the selection of the spacer between neoantigens is of special interest, as it might influence the processing and presentation of the right peptides by APCs. Here, we evaluate the impact of such linker regions on the MHC-I-dependent antigen presentation using an in vitro assay that assesses the MHC-I presentation of SIINFEKL, a H-2 Kb-restricted OVA peptide. Our results show that spacers used to generate epitope concatenates have a large impact on the efficiency of neoantigen processing and presentation by MHC-I molecules; in contrast, the peptide position and the flanking regions have a minimal impact. Moreover, linkers based on alanine residues promote a more efficient peptide presentation than the commonly used GGGS linker.
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6
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Vaccination with an HIV T-cell immunogen induces alterations in the mouse gut microbiota. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes 2022; 8:104. [PMID: 36585401 PMCID: PMC9801356 DOI: 10.1038/s41522-022-00368-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The gut microbiota is emerging as a crucial factor modulating vaccine responses; however, few studies have investigated if vaccines, in turn, can alter the microbiota and to what extent such changes may improve vaccine efficacy. To understand the effect of T-cell vaccination on the gut microbiome, we administered an HIV-1 T-cell immunogen (HTI arm) or PBS (control, Mock arm) to C57Bl/6 mice following a heterologous prime-boost scheme. The longitudinal dynamics of the mice gut microbiota was characterized by 16 S ribosomal RNA sequencing in fecal samples collected from cages, as well as from three gut sections (cecum, small and large intestine). Serum and spleen cells were obtained at the last time point of the study to assess immune correlates using IFNγ ELISPOT and cytokine Luminex® assays. Compared with Mock, HTI-vaccinated mice were enriched in Clostridiales genera (Eubacterium xylanophilum group, Roseburia and Ruminococcus) known as primary contributors of anti-inflammatory metabolites, such as short-chain fatty acids. Such shift was observed after the first HTI dose and remained throughout the study follow-up (18 weeks). However, the enriched Clostridiales genera were different between feces and gut sections. The abundance of bacteria enriched in vaccinated animals positively correlated with HTI-specific T-cell responses and a set of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6. This longitudinal analysis indicates that, in mice, T-cell vaccination may promote an increase in gut bacteria known to produce anti-inflammatory molecules, which in turn correlate with proinflammatory cytokines, suggesting an adaptation of the gut microbial milieu to T-cell-induced systemic inflammation.
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7
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Bailón L, Llano A, Cedeño S, Escribà T, Rosás-Umbert M, Parera M, Casadellà M, Lopez M, Pérez F, Oriol-Tordera B, Ruiz-Riol M, Coll J, Perez F, Rivero À, Leselbaum AR, McGowan I, Sengupta D, Wee EG, Hanke T, Paredes R, Alarcón-Soto Y, Clotet B, Noguera-Julian M, Brander C, Molto J, Mothe B, Benet S, Cobarsi P, Geleziunas R, Leselbaum AR, Loste C, Meulbroek M, Miranda C, Muñoz J, Naval J, Nieto A, Pujol F, Puig J. Safety, immunogenicity and effect on viral rebound of HTI vaccines in early treated HIV-1 infection: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 1 trial. Nat Med 2022; 28:2611-2621. [PMID: 36302893 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-022-02060-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
HIVACAT T-cell immunogen (HTI) is a novel human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine immunogen designed to elicit cellular immune responses to HIV targets associated with viral control in humans. The AELIX-002 trial was a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate as a primary objective the safety of a combination of DNA.HTI (D), MVA.HTI (M) and ChAdOx1.HTI (C) vaccines in 45 early-antiretroviral (ART)-treated individuals (44 men, 1 woman; NCT03204617). Secondary objectives included T-cell immunogenicity, the effect on viral rebound and the safety of an antiretroviral treatment interruption (ATI). Adverse events were mostly mild and transient. No related serious adverse events were observed. We show here that HTI vaccines were able to induce strong, polyfunctional and broad CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses. All participants experienced detectable viral rebound during ATI, and resumed ART when plasma HIV-1 viral load reached either >100,000 copies ml-1, >10,000 copies ml-1 for eight consecutive weeks, or after 24 weeks of ATI. In post-hoc analyses, HTI vaccines were associated with a prolonged time off ART in vaccinees without beneficial HLA (human leukocyte antigen) class I alleles. Plasma viral load at the end of ATI and time off ART positively correlated with vaccine-induced HTI-specific T-cell responses at ART cessation. Despite limited efficacy of the vaccines in preventing viral rebound, their ability to elicit robust T-cell responses towards HTI may be beneficial in combination cure strategies, which are currently being tested in clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Bailón
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Anuska Llano
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Samandhy Cedeño
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Tuixent Escribà
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Miriam Rosás-Umbert
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,Institute of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Mariona Parera
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Casadellà
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Miriam Lopez
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Francisco Pérez
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bruna Oriol-Tordera
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Ruiz-Riol
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
| | - Josep Coll
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Projecte Dels Noms-Hispanosida, Bcn Checkpoint, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felix Perez
- Projecte Dels Noms-Hispanosida, Bcn Checkpoint, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Àngel Rivero
- Projecte Dels Noms-Hispanosida, Bcn Checkpoint, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anne R Leselbaum
- Projecte Dels Noms-Hispanosida, Bcn Checkpoint, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ian McGowan
- AELIX Therapeutics S.L, Barcelona, Spain.,University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | | | - Edmund G Wee
- The Jenner Institute, The Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- The Jenner Institute, The Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Roger Paredes
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC), Vic, Barcelona, Spain.,Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institte, Badalona, Spain
| | - Yovaninna Alarcón-Soto
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,Departament d'Estadística I Investigació Operativa, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya/BARCELONATECH, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bonaventura Clotet
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC), Vic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marc Noguera-Julian
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC), Vic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christian Brander
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,AELIX Therapeutics S.L, Barcelona, Spain.,Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC), Vic, Barcelona, Spain.,ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose Molto
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain. .,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain. .,Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institte, Badalona, Spain.
| | - Beatriz Mothe
- Fundació Lluita Contra les Infeccions, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, Madrid, Spain.,Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC), Vic, Barcelona, Spain.,Germans Trias I Pujol Research Institte, Badalona, Spain
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8
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Challenges of HIV therapeutic vaccines clinical trials design. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2022; 17:345-351. [PMID: 36178769 DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW To discuss main challenges of therapeutic vaccine clinical trials design, implementation and analyses in the HIV cure field. RECENT FINDINGS Therapeutic vaccines are progressively being postulated as T-cell stimulating agents to use in combination HIV cure strategies, with the addition of immunomodulators, latency reversing agents and/or broadly neutralizing antibodies. Although promising strategies are rapidly evolving in preclinical studies using nonhuman primate models, translation into human testing in randomized controlled clinical trials is more challenging and expensive to conduct. Adaptive designs, access to cohorts of early-treated individuals, consensus on how to safely conduct analytical treatment interruptions, use of alternative statistical methods, development of point-of-care/home-based testing technologies and ensuring early engagement of communities where research is being developed are some of the critical aspects to consider to facilitate clinical trial development in the HIV cure field. SUMMARY Design and development of HIV therapeutic vaccine clinical trials poses many challenges, from Phase 0/pilot studies to Phase I/II trials in which efficacy of the intervention is being tested and antiretroviral therapy cessation is needed, complexity of cure trials progressively increases. Understanding fundamental issues and careful planning of therapeutic vaccine clinical trials is crucial to minimize design flaws, reduce loss of follow-ups and missing data while ensuring participant's safety and guarantee valid and accurate analyses and thus, better contribute towards an HIV cure.
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9
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Brander C, Hartigan-O'Connor D. HIV T-cell immunogen design and delivery. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2022; 17:333-337. [PMID: 36165078 PMCID: PMC9530002 DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW Not all T-cell responses against HIV are created equally and responses of certain epitope specificities have been associated with superior control of infection. These insights have spurred the development of a wide range of immunogen sequences, each with particular advantages and limitations. RECENT FINDINGS We review some of the most advanced designs that have reached or are close to reaching human clinical trials, with a special focus on T-cell immunogen developed for therapeutic use. We also touch upon the importance of how immunogens are delivered and point out the lamentable fact that there is essentially no alignment between different designs and vaccine regimens, which is a major hindrance to accelerated advances in the field. SUMMARY The design of an immunogen able to induce T-cell responses of adequate specificity and functionality is subject of a wide range of preclinical and clinical studies. Few designs have shown promise to date, but emerging data highlight the critical contribution of specificity to effective antiviral activity in vivo .
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Brander
- Irsicaixa - AIDS Research Institute, Badalona
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Dennis Hartigan-O'Connor
- California National Primate Research Center
- Department in Medical Microbiology and Immunology
- Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA
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10
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New vector and vaccine platforms: mRNA, DNA, viral vectors. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2022; 17:338-344. [DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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11
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Hu X, Wang HY, Otero CE, Jenks JA, Permar SR. Lessons from Acquired Natural Immunity and Clinical Trials to Inform Next-Generation Human Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Development. Annu Rev Virol 2022; 9:491-520. [PMID: 35704747 PMCID: PMC10154983 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-virology-100220-010653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection, the most common cause of congenital disease globally, affecting an estimated 1 million newborns annually, can result in lifelong sequelae in infants, such as sensorineural hearing loss and brain damage. HCMV infection also leads to a significant disease burden in immunocompromised individuals. Hence, an effective HCMV vaccine is urgently needed to prevent infection and HCMV-associated diseases. Unfortunately, despite more than five decades of vaccine development, no successful HCMV vaccine is available. This review summarizes what we have learned from acquired natural immunity, including innate and adaptive immunity; the successes and failures of HCMV vaccine human clinical trials; the progress in related animal models; and the analysis of protective immune responses during natural infection and vaccination settings. Finally, we propose novel vaccine strategies that will harness the knowledge of protective immunity and employ new technology and vaccine concepts to inform next-generation HCMV vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xintao Hu
- Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA;
| | - Hsuan-Yuan Wang
- Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA;
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Claire E Otero
- Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA;
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jennifer A Jenks
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Sallie R Permar
- Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, New York, USA;
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12
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Valentin A, Bergamaschi C, Rosati M, Angel M, Burns R, Agarwal M, Gergen J, Petsch B, Oostvogels L, Loeliger E, Chew KW, Deeks SG, Mullins JI, Pavlakis GN, Felber BK. Comparative immunogenicity of an mRNA/LNP and a DNA vaccine targeting HIV gag conserved elements in macaques. Front Immunol 2022; 13:945706. [PMID: 35935984 PMCID: PMC9355630 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.945706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunogenicity of HIV-1 mRNA vaccine regimens was analyzed in a non-human primate animal model. Rhesus macaques immunized with mRNA in lipid nanoparticle (mRNA/LNP) formulation expressing HIV-1 Gag and Gag conserved regions (CE) as immunogens developed robust, durable antibody responses but low adaptive T-cell responses. Augmentation of the dose resulted in modest increases in vaccine-induced cellular immunity, with no difference in humoral responses. The gag mRNA/lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine provided suboptimal priming of T cell responses for a heterologous DNA booster vaccination regimen. In contrast, a single immunization with gag mRNA/LNP efficiently boosted both humoral and cellular responses in macaques previously primed by a gag DNA-based vaccine. These anamnestic cellular responses were mediated by activated CD8+ T cells with a phenotype of differentiated T-bet+ cytotoxic memory T lymphocytes. The heterologous prime/boost regimens combining DNA and mRNA/LNP vaccine modalities maximized vaccine-induced cellular and humoral immune responses. Analysis of cytokine responses revealed a transient systemic signature characterized by the release of type I interferon, IL-15 and IFN-related chemokines. The pro-inflammatory status induced by the mRNA/LNP vaccine was also characterized by IL-23 and IL-6, concomitant with the release of IL-17 family of cytokines. Overall, the strong boost of cellular and humoral immunity induced by the mRNA/LNP vaccine suggests that it could be useful as a prophylactic vaccine in heterologous prime/boost modality and in immune therapeutic interventions against HIV infection or other chronic human diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Valentin
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Cristina Bergamaschi
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Margherita Rosati
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Matthew Angel
- Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cncer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States
- Center for Cancer Research Collaborative Bioinformatics Resource, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Robert Burns
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Mahesh Agarwal
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | | | | | | | | | - Kara W. Chew
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Steven G. Deeks
- Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, United States
| | - James I. Mullins
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - George N. Pavlakis
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Barbara K. Felber
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
- *Correspondence: Barbara K. Felber,
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13
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Akbari E, Ajdary S, Ardakani EM, Agi E, Milani A, Seyedinkhorasani M, Khalaj V, Bolhassani A. Immunopotentiation by linking Hsp70 T-cell epitopes to Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev multiepitope construct and increased IFN-gamma secretion in infected lymphocytes. Pathog Dis 2022; 80:6608937. [PMID: 35704612 DOI: 10.1093/femspd/ftac021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 06/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccines can boost the anti-HIV host immunity to control viral replication and eliminate viral reservoirs in the absence of anti-retroviral therapy. In this study, two computationally designed multiepitope Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev and Hsp70-Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev constructs harboring immunogenic and highly conserved HIV T cell epitopes were generated in E. coli as polypeptide vaccine candidates. Furthermore, the multiepitope gag-pol-env-nef-rev and hsp70-gag-pol-env-nef-rev DNA vaccine constructs were prepared and complexed with MPG cell-penetrating peptide. The immunogenicity of the multiepitope constructs were evaluated using the homologous and heterologous prime/boost strategies in mice. Moreover, the secretion of IFN-γ was assessed in infected lymphocytes in vitro. Our data showed that the homologous polypeptide regimens could significantly induce a mixture of IgG1 and IgG2a antibody responses, activate T cells to secret IFN-γ, IL-5, IL-10, and generate Granzyme B. Moreover, IFN-γ secretion was significantly enhanced in single-cycle replicable (SCR) HIV-1 virions-infected splenocytes in these groups compared to uninfected splenocytes. The linkage of heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) epitopes to Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev polypeptide in the homologous regimen increased significantly cytokines and Granzyme B levels, and IFN-γ secretion in virions-infected splenocytes. Briefly, both designed constructs in the homologous regimens can be used as a promising vaccine candidate against HIV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elahe Akbari
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.,Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Soheila Ajdary
- Department of Immunology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Elnaz Agi
- Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
| | - Alireza Milani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Vahid Khalaj
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Biotechnology Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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14
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Munson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
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15
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Aguado-Garcia D, Olvera A, Brander C, Sanchez-Merino V, Yuste E. Evaluation of the Thermal Stability of a Vaccine Prototype Based on Virus-like Particle Formulated HIV-1 Envelope. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10040484. [PMID: 35455233 PMCID: PMC9029469 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10040484] [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: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The long-term storage stability of vaccines has a major impact on the roll-out and success of global immunization programs. For the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine prototype evaluated here, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) results demonstrated a remarkable structural stability. VLPs maintained their integrity and the recognition of relevant B-cell epitopes for three months at 4 and −20 °C. Interestingly, most particles remained intact and preserved the recognition of relevant epitopes even after a week of storage at room temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Aguado-Garcia
- Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), National Microbiology Centre, 28220 Madrid, Spain; (D.A.-G.); (V.S.-M.)
| | - Alex Olvera
- IrsiCaixa, AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain; (A.O.); (C.B.)
- Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Christian Brander
- IrsiCaixa, AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain; (A.O.); (C.B.)
- Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Victor Sanchez-Merino
- Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), National Microbiology Centre, 28220 Madrid, Spain; (D.A.-G.); (V.S.-M.)
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Alfonso X el Sabio University, 28691 Madrid, Spain
| | - Eloisa Yuste
- Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), National Microbiology Centre, 28220 Madrid, Spain; (D.A.-G.); (V.S.-M.)
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-918223552
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16
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Enhanced Cross-Reactive and Polyfunctional Effector-Memory T Cell Responses by ICVAX-a Human PD1-Based Bivalent HIV-1 Gag-p41 Mosaic DNA Vaccine. J Virol 2022; 96:e0216121. [PMID: 35297660 PMCID: PMC9006887 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02161-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccine-induced protective T cell immunity is necessary for HIV-1 functional cure. We previously reported that rhesus PD1-Gag-based DNA vaccination sustained simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) suppression by inducing effector-memory CD8+ T cells. Here, we investigated a human PD1-Gag-based DNA vaccine, namely, ICVAX, for clinical translation. PD1-based dendritic cell targeting and mosaic antigenic designs were combined to generate the ICVAX by fusing the human soluble PD1 domain with a bivalent HIV-1 Gag-p41 mosaic antigen. The mosaic antigen was cross-reactive with patients infected with B, CRF07/08_BC, and CRF01_AE variants. In mice, ICVAX elicited stronger, broader, and more polyfunctional T cell responses than mosaic Gag-p41 alone, and suppressed EcoHIV infection more efficiently. In macaques, ICVAX elicited polyfunctional effector-memory T cell responses that targeted multiple nonoverlapping epitopes of the Gag-p41 antigen. Furthermore, ICVAX manufactured following good manufacturing practices proved potent immunogenicity in macaques after biannual homologous vaccination, warranting clinical evaluation of ICVAX as an immunotherapy against HIV-1. IMPORTANCE This study presents that ICVAX, a PD1-based DNA vaccine against HIV-1, could induce broad and polyfunctional T cell responses against different HIV-1 subtypes. ICVAX encodes a recombinant antigen consisting of the human soluble PD1 domain fused with two mosaic Gag-p41 antigens. The mosaic antigens cover more than 500 HIV-1 strains circulating in China including the subtypes B/B’, CRF01_AE, and CRF07/08_BC. In mice, ICVAX elicited stronger, broader, and more polyfunctional T cell responses, with better EcoHIV suppression than the nontargeting mosaic Gag-p41 DNA vaccine. Moreover, both lab-generated and GMP-grade ICVAX also elicited strong polyfunctional effector-memory T cell responses in rhesus macaques with good immunogenicity against multiple nonoverlapping epitopes of the Gag-p41 antigen. This study therefore highlights the great potential to translate the PD1-based DNA vaccine approach into clinical use, and opens up new avenues for alternative HIV-1 vaccine design for HIV-1 preventive and functional cure.
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Despite improvements in the effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy (ART), there are still unmet needs for people living with HIV which drive the search for a cure for HIV infection. The goal of this review is to discuss the challenges and recent immunotherapeutic advances towards developing a safe, effective and durable cure strategy for HIV. RECENT FINDINGS In recent years, advances have been made in uncovering the mechanisms of persistence of latent HIV and in developing more accurate assays to measure the intact proviral reservoir. Broadly neutralising antibodies and modern techniques to enhance antibody responses have shown promising results. Other strategies including therapeutic vaccination, latency reversal agents, and immunomodulatory agents have shown limited success, but newer interventions including engineered T cells and other immunotherapies may be a potent and flexible strategy for achieving HIV cure. SUMMARY Although progress with newer cure strategies may be encouraging, challenges remain and it is essential to achieve a high threshold of safety and effectiveness in the era of safe and effective ART. It is likely that to achieve sustained HIV remission or cure, a multipronged approach involving a combination of enhancing both adaptive and innate immunity is required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming J Lee
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London
| | - S Fidler
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London
- Imperial College NIHR BRC, London
| | - John Frater
- Peter Medawar School of Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford
- Oxford NIHR BRC, Oxford, UK
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18
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Ishii H, Terahara K, Nomura T, Okazaki M, Yamamoto H, Shu T, Sakawaki H, Miura T, Watkins DI, Matano T. Env-independent protection of intrarectal SIV challenge by vaccine induction of Gag/Vif-specific CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells. Mol Ther 2022; 30:2048-2057. [PMID: 35231604 PMCID: PMC9092394 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2021] [Revised: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 02/23/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Effective T cell induction is an important strategy in HIV-vaccine development. However, it has been indicated that vaccine-induced HIV-specific CD4+ T cells, the preferential targets of HIV infection, might increase viral acquisition after HIV exposure. We have recently developed an immunogen (CaV11), tandemly connected overlapping 11-mer peptides spanning the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Gag capsid and Vif proteins, to selectively induce Gag- and Vif-specific CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells. Here, we show protective efficacy of a CaV11-expressing vaccine against repeated intrarectal low-dose SIVmac239 challenge in rhesus macaques. Eight of the twelve vaccinated macaques were protected after eight challenges. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated significant protection in the vaccinees compared to the unvaccinated macaques. Vaccine-induced Gag-specific CD8+ T cell responses were significantly higher in the protected than the unprotected vaccinees. These results suggest that classical CD8+ T cell induction by viral Env-independent vaccination can confer protection from intrarectal SIV acquisition, highlighting the rationale for this immunogen design to induce virus-specific CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells in HIV-vaccine development.
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19
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW In this special issue on human immunodeficiency (HIV) cure, we review the role of therapeutic immunization in strategies aimed to eliminate HIV-infected cells and/or mediate sustained control of viral replication in the absence of antiretroviral treatment. RECENT FINDINGS Recent data emerging from studies in simian immunodeficiency virus macaque models using broadly neutralizing antibodies, given alone or in combination with other immunomodulatory agents, as well as data from human clinical studies with novel therapeutic vaccines are showing encouraging results indicating that achieving viral remission or at least partial viral control of HIV without antiretroviral therapy is feasible. SUMMARY Although it remains unclear whether current strategies will be able to awaken a sufficient large fraction of the viral reservoir and/or vaccine-boosted immunity will induce effective, long-lasting viral suppression in chronically infected HIV population, emerging results establish cure strategies that can be further improved upon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Mothe
- Fundació Lluita Contra La Sida, Infectious Diseases Department
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol
- Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC)
| | - Christian Brander
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol
- Centre for Health and Social Care Research (CESS), Faculty of Medicine. University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic - UCC)
- ICREA
- AELIX Therapeutics, Barcelona, Spain
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20
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In silico design and in vitro expression of novel multiepitope DNA constructs based on HIV-1 proteins and Hsp70 T-cell epitopes. Biotechnol Lett 2021; 43:1513-1550. [PMID: 33987776 PMCID: PMC8118377 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-021-03143-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Objectives Epitope-driven vaccines carrying highly conserved and immunodominant epitopes have emerged as promising approaches to overcome human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection. Methods Two multiepitope DNA constructs encoding T cell epitopes from HIV-1 Gag, Pol, Env, Nef and Rev proteins alone and/or linked to the immunogenic epitopes derived from heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) as an immunostimulatory agent were designed. In silico analyses were applied including MHC-I and MHC-II binding, MHC-I immunogenicity and antigen processing, population coverage, conservancy, allergenicity, toxicity and hemotoxicity. The peptide-MHC-I/MHC-II molecular docking and cytokine production analyses were carried out for predicted epitopes. The selected highly immunogenic T-cell epitopes were then used to design two multiepitope fusion constructs. Next, prediction of the physicochemical and structural properties, B cell epitopes, and constructs-toll-like receptors (TLRs) molecular docking were performed for each construct. Finally, the eukaryotic expression plasmids harboring totally 12 cytotoxic T Lymphocyte (CTL) and 10 helper T lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes from HIV-1 proteins (i.e., pEGFP-N1-gag-pol-env-nef-rev), and linked to 2 CTL and 2 HTL epitopes from Hsp70 (i.e., pEGFP-N1-hsp70-gag-pol-env-nef-rev) were generated and transfected into HEK-293 T cells for evaluating the percentage of multiepitope peptides expression using flow cytometry and western blotting. Results The designed DNA constructs could be successfully expressed in mammalian cells. The expression rates of Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev-GFP and Hsp70-Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev-GFP were about 56–60% as the bands of ~ 63 and ~ 72 kDa confirmed in western blotting, respectively. Conclusion The combined in silico/in vitro methods indicated two multiepitope constructs can be produced and used as probable effective immunogens for HIV-1 vaccine development. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10529-021-03143-9.
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21
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Ojwach DBA, Madlala P, Gordon M, Ndung'u T, Mann JK. Vulnerable targets in HIV-1 Pol for attenuation-based vaccine design. Virology 2021; 554:1-8. [PMID: 33316731 PMCID: PMC7931244 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2020.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Identification of viral immune escape mutations that compromise HIV's ability to replicate may aid rational attenuation-based vaccine design. Previously we reported amino acids associated with altered viral replication capacity (RC) from a sequence-function analysis of 487 patient-derived RT-integrase sequences. In this study, site-directed mutagenesis experiments were performed to validate the effect of these mutations on RC. Viral reverse transcripts were measured by quantitative PCR and structural modelling was performed to gain further insight into the effect of reverse transcriptase (RT) mutations on reverse transcription. RT-integrase variants in or flanking cytotoxic T cell epitopes in the RT palm (158S), RT thumb (241I and 257V) and integrase catalytic core domain (124N) were confirmed to significantly reduce RC. RT mutants showed a delayed initiation of viral DNA synthesis. Structural models provide insight into how these attenuating RT mutations may affect amino acid interactions in the helix clamp, primer grip and catalytic site regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Doty B A Ojwach
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Paradise Madlala
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Michelle Gordon
- KwaZulu-Natal Research Innovation and Sequencing Platform (KRISP), Department of Laboratory Medicine & Medical Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
| | - Thumbi Ndung'u
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa; Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Africa Health Research Institute, Durban, South Africa; Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin, Germany; Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jaclyn K Mann
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, Doris Duke Medical Research Institute, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
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22
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Olusola BA, Olaleye DO, Odaibo GN. Non-synonymous Substitutions in HIV-1 GAG Are Frequent in Epitopes Outside the Functionally Conserved Regions and Associated With Subtype Differences. Front Microbiol 2021; 11:615721. [PMID: 33505382 PMCID: PMC7829476 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.615721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In 2019, 38 million people lived with HIV-1 infection resulting in 690,000 deaths. Over 50% of this infection and its associated deaths occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa. The West African region is a known hotspot of the HIV-1 epidemic. There is a need to develop an HIV-1 vaccine if the HIV epidemic would be effectively controlled. Few protective cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes within the HIV-1 GAG (HIV_gagconsv) have been previously identified to be functionally conserved among the HIV-1 M group. These epitopes are currently the focus of universal HIV-1 T cell-based vaccine studies. However, these epitopes' phenotypic and genetic properties have not been observed in natural settings for HIV-1 strains circulating in the West African region. This information is critical as the usefulness of universal HIV-1 vaccines in the West African region depends on these epitopes' occurrence in strains circulating in the area. This study describes non-synonymous substitutions within and without HIV_gagconsv genes isolated from 10 infected Nigerians at the early stages of HIV-1 infection. Furthermore, we analyzed these substitutions longitudinally in five infected individuals from the early stages of infection till after seroconversion. We identified three non-synonymous substitutions within HIV_gagconsv genes isolated from early HIV infected individuals. Fourteen and nineteen mutations outside the HIV_gagconsv were observed before and after seroconversion, respectively, while we found four mutations within the HIV_gagconsv. These substitutions include previously mapped CTL epitope immune escape mutants. CTL immune pressure likely leaves different footprints on HIV-1 GAG epitopes within and outside the HIV_gagconsv. This information is crucial for universal HIV-1 vaccine designs for use in the West African region.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Georgina N. Odaibo
- Department of Virology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
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23
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Abstract
HIV is a virus that remains a major health concern and results in an infection that has no cure even after over 30 years since its discovery. As such, HIV vaccine discovery continues to be an area of intensive research. In this review, we summarize the most recent HIV vaccine efficacy trials, clinical trials initiated within the last 3 years, and discuss prominent improvements that have been made in prophylactic HIV vaccine designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeong Hyun Lee
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA; Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Shane Crotty
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA; Consortium for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Development, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA, USA.
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24
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Saubi N, Kilpeläinen A, Eto Y, Chen CW, Olvera À, Hanke T, Brander C, Joseph-Munné J. Priming with Recombinant BCG Expressing HTI Enhances the Magnitude and Breadth of the T-Cell Immune Responses Elicited by MVA.HTI in BALB/c Mice. Vaccines (Basel) 2020; 8:vaccines8040678. [PMID: 33202884 PMCID: PMC7712201 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines8040678] [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: 10/16/2020] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
The use of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) as a live vaccine vehicle is a promising approach for HIV-1-specific T-cell induction. In this study, we used recombinant BCG expressing HIVACAT T-cell immunogen (HTI), BCG.HTI2auxo.int. BALB/c mice immunization with BCG.HTI2auxo.int prime and MVA.HTI boost was safe and induced HIV-1-specific T-cell responses. Two weeks after boost, T-cell responses were assessed by IFN-γ ELISpot. The highest total magnitude of IFN-γ spot-forming cells (SFC)/106 splenocytes was observed in BCG.HTI2auxo.int primed mice compared to mice receiving MVA.HTI alone or mice primed with BCGwt, although the differences between the vaccination regimens only reached trends. In order to evaluate the differences in the breadth of the T-cell immune responses, we examined the number of reactive peptide pools per mouse. Interestingly, both BCG.HTI2auxo.int and BCGwt primed mice recognized an average of four peptide pools per mouse. However, the variation was higher in BCG.HTI2auxo.int primed mice with one mouse recognizing 11 peptide pools and three mice recognizing few or no peptide pools. The recognition profile appeared to be more spread out for BCG.HTI2auxo.int primed mice and mice only receiving MVA.HTI. Here, we describe a useful vaccine platform for priming protective responses against HIV-1/TB and other prevalent infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narcís Saubi
- Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.S.); (A.K.); (Y.E.); (C.-W.C.)
- EAVI2020 European AIDS Vaccine Initiative H2020 Research Programme, London SW7 2BU, UK
| | - Athina Kilpeläinen
- Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.S.); (A.K.); (Y.E.); (C.-W.C.)
- EAVI2020 European AIDS Vaccine Initiative H2020 Research Programme, London SW7 2BU, UK
| | - Yoshiki Eto
- Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.S.); (A.K.); (Y.E.); (C.-W.C.)
| | - Chun-Wei Chen
- Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.S.); (A.K.); (Y.E.); (C.-W.C.)
| | - Àlex Olvera
- Irsicaixa AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Badalona, Spain; (À.O.); (C.B.)
- Biosciences Department, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, UK;
- International Research Center of Medical Sciences (IRCMS), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan
| | - Christian Brander
- Irsicaixa AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Badalona, Spain; (À.O.); (C.B.)
- Biosciences Department, Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- AELIX Therapeutics, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Joseph-Munné
- Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, 08035 Barcelona, Spain; (N.S.); (A.K.); (Y.E.); (C.-W.C.)
- EAVI2020 European AIDS Vaccine Initiative H2020 Research Programme, London SW7 2BU, UK
- Microbiology Department, Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, 08035 Barcelona, Spain
- Correspondence:
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25
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D'haese S, Lacroix C, Garcia F, Plana M, Ruta S, Vanham G, Verrier B, Aerts JL. Off the beaten path: Novel mRNA-nanoformulations for therapeutic vaccination against HIV. J Control Release 2020; 330:1016-1033. [PMID: 33181204 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 11/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Over the last few years, immunotherapy for HIV in general and therapeutic vaccination in particular, has received a tremendous boost, both in preclinical research and in clinical applications. This interest is based on the evidence that the immune system plays a crucial role in controlling HIV infection, as shown for long-term non-progressors and elite controllers, and that immune responses can be manipulated towards targeting conserved epitopes. So far, the most successful approach has been vaccination with autologous dendritic cells (DCs) loaded ex vivo with antigens and activation signals. Although this approach offers much promise, it also comes with significant drawbacks such as the requirement of a specialized infrastructure and expertise, as well as major challenges for logistics and storage, making it extremely time consuming and costly. Therefore, methods are being developed to avoid the use of ex vivo generated, autologous DCs. One of these methods is based on mRNA for therapeutic vaccination. mRNA has proven to be a very promising vaccine platform, as the coding information for any desired protein, including antigens and activation signals, can be generated in a very short period of time, showing promise both as an off-the-shelf therapy and as a personalized approach. However, an important drawback of this approach is the short half-life of native mRNA, due to the presence of ambient RNases. In addition, proper immunization requires that the antigens are expressed, processed and presented at the right immunological site (e.g. the lymphoid tissues). An ambivalent aspect of mRNA as a vaccine is its capacity to induce type I interferons, which can have beneficial adjuvant effects, but also deleterious effects on mRNA stability and translation. Thus, proper formulation of the mRNA is crucially important. Many approaches for RNA formulation have already been tested, with mixed success. In this review we discuss the state-of-the-art and future trends for mRNA-nanoparticle formulations for HIV vaccination, both in the prophylactic and in the therapeutic setting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sigrid D'haese
- Neuro-Aging & Viro-Immunotherapy (NAVI), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
| | - Céline Lacroix
- Institute for the Biology and Chemistry of Proteins (IBCP), Lyon, France
| | | | | | - Simona Ruta
- Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Stefan S. Nicolau Institute of Virology, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Guido Vanham
- Institute of Tropical Medicine and University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Bernard Verrier
- Institute for the Biology and Chemistry of Proteins (IBCP), Lyon, France
| | - Joeri L Aerts
- Neuro-Aging & Viro-Immunotherapy (NAVI), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium.
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26
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Warren JA, Zhou S, Xu Y, Moeser MJ, MacMillan DR, Council O, Kirchherr J, Sung JM, Roan NR, Adimora AA, Joseph S, Kuruc JD, Gay CL, Margolis DM, Archin N, Brumme ZL, Swanstrom R, Goonetilleke N. The HIV-1 latent reservoir is largely sensitive to circulating T cells. eLife 2020; 9:57246. [PMID: 33021198 PMCID: PMC7593086 DOI: 10.7554/elife.57246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells are an important component of HIV-1 curative strategies. Viral variants in the HIV-1 reservoir may limit the capacity of T cells to detect and clear virus-infected cells. We investigated the patterns of T cell escape variants in the replication-competent reservoir of 25 persons living with HIV-1 (PLWH) durably suppressed on antiretroviral therapy (ART). We identified all reactive T cell epitopes in the HIV-1 proteome for each participant and sequenced HIV-1 outgrowth viruses from resting CD4+ T cells. All non-synonymous mutations in reactive T cell epitopes were tested for their effect on the size of the T cell response, with a≥50% loss defined as an escape mutation. The majority (68%) of T cell epitopes harbored no detectable escape mutations. These findings suggest that circulating T cells in PLWH on ART could contribute to control of rebound and could be targeted for boosting in curative strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna A Warren
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Shuntai Zhou
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC Center For AIDS Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Yinyan Xu
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Matthew J Moeser
- Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC Center For AIDS Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | | | - Olivia Council
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Jennifer Kirchherr
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Julia M Sung
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Nadia R Roan
- Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, United States.,Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, San Francisco, United States
| | - Adaora A Adimora
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Sarah Joseph
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - JoAnn D Kuruc
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Cynthia L Gay
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - David M Margolis
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC Center For AIDS Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Nancie Archin
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Zabrina L Brumme
- British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Vancouver, Canada.,Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Ronald Swanstrom
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC Center For AIDS Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
| | - Nilu Goonetilleke
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States.,UNC HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, United States
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27
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Therapeutic Vaccines for the Treatment of HIV. Transl Res 2020; 223:61-75. [PMID: 32438074 PMCID: PMC8188575 DOI: 10.1016/j.trsl.2020.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Despite the success of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) in transforming HIV into a manageable disease, it has become evident that long-term ART will not eliminate the HIV reservoir and cure the infection. Alternative strategies to eradicate HIV infection, or at least induce a state of viral control and drug-free remission are therefore needed. Therapeutic vaccination aims to induce or enhance immunity to alter the course of a disease. In this review we provide an overview of the current state of therapeutic HIV vaccine research and summarize the obstacles that the field faces while highlighting potential ways forward for a strategy to cure HIV infection.
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28
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Gallinaro A, Borghi M, Pirillo MF, Cecchetti S, Bona R, Canitano A, Michelini Z, Di Virgilio A, Olvera A, Brander C, Negri D, Cara A. Development and Preclinical Evaluation of an Integrase Defective Lentiviral Vector Vaccine Expressing the HIVACAT T Cell Immunogen in Mice. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2020; 17:418-428. [PMID: 32154327 PMCID: PMC7056611 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2020.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Cellular immune responses play a fundamental role in controlling viral replication and AIDS progression in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects and in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected macaques. Integrase defective lentiviral vector (IDLV) represents a promising vaccine candidate, inducing functional and durable immune responses in mice and non-human primates. Here, we designed HIV- and SIV-based IDLVs to express the HIVACAT T cell immunogen (HTI), a mosaic antigen designed to cover vulnerable sites in HIV-1 Gag, Pol, Vif, and Nef. We observed that HTI expression during lentiviral vector production interfered profoundly with IDLV particles release because of sequestration of both HIV- and SIV-Gag proteins in the cytoplasm of the vector-producing cells. However, modifications in IDLV design and vector production procedures greatly improved recovery of both HIV- and SIV-based IDLV-HTI. Immunization experiments in BALB/c mice showed that both IDLVs elicited HTI-specific T cell responses. However, immunization with HIV-based IDLV elicited also a T cell response toward exogenous HIV proteins in IDLV particles, suggesting that SIV-based IDLV may be a preferable platform to assess the induction of transgene-specific immune responses against rationally designed HIV structural antigens. These data support the further evaluation of IDLV as an effective platform of T cell immunogens for the development of an effective HIV vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Martina Borghi
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | | | - Serena Cecchetti
- Confocal Microscopy Unit NMR, Confocal Microscopy Area Core Facilities, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Roberta Bona
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Canitano
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Zuleika Michelini
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonio Di Virgilio
- Center for Animal Research and Welfare, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Alex Olvera
- Irsicaixa AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christian Brander
- Irsicaixa AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- AELIX Therapeutics, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Donatella Negri
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Cara
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy
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29
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Mothe B, Rosás-Umbert M, Coll P, Manzardo C, Puertas MC, Morón-López S, Llano A, Miranda C, Cedeño S, López M, Alarcón-Soto Y, Melis GG, Langohr K, Barriocanal AM, Toro J, Ruiz I, Rovira C, Carrillo A, Meulbroek M, Crook A, Wee EG, Miró JM, Clotet B, Valle M, Martinez-Picado J, Hanke T, Brander C, Moltó J. HIVconsv Vaccines and Romidepsin in Early-Treated HIV-1-Infected Individuals: Safety, Immunogenicity and Effect on the Viral Reservoir (Study BCN02). Front Immunol 2020; 11:823. [PMID: 32435247 PMCID: PMC7218169 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.00823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Kick&kill strategies combining drugs aiming to reactivate the viral reservoir with therapeutic vaccines to induce effective cytotoxic immune responses hold potential to achieve a functional cure for HIV-1 infection. Here, we report on an open-label, single-arm, phase I clinical trial, enrolling 15 early-treated HIV-1-infected individuals, testing the combination of the histone deacetylase inhibitor romidepsin as a latency-reversing agent and the MVA.HIVconsv vaccine. Romidepsin treatment resulted in increased histone acetylation, cell-associated HIV-1 RNA, and T-cell activation, which were associated with a marginally significant reduction of the viral reservoir. Vaccinations boosted robust and broad HIVconsv-specific T cells, which were strongly refocused toward conserved regions of the HIV-1 proteome. During a monitored ART interruption phase using plasma viral load over 2,000 copies/ml as a criterium for ART resumption, 23% of individuals showed sustained suppression of viremia up to 32 weeks without evidence for reseeding the viral reservoir. Results from this pilot study show that the combined kick&kill intervention was safe and suggest a role for this strategy in achieving an immune-driven durable viremic control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Mothe
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain.,Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.,Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain
| | - Miriam Rosás-Umbert
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain.,Department of Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pep Coll
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Anuska Llano
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
| | - Cristina Miranda
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | | | - Miriam López
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Yovaninna Alarcón-Soto
- Departament d'Estadística i Investigació Operativa, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya/BARCELONATECH, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Guadalupe Gómez Melis
- Departament d'Estadística i Investigació Operativa, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya/BARCELONATECH, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Klaus Langohr
- Departament d'Estadística i Investigació Operativa, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya/BARCELONATECH, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ana M Barriocanal
- Department of Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
| | - Jessica Toro
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Irene Ruiz
- Hospital Clinic- IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Rovira
- Hospital Clinic- IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio Carrillo
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
| | | | - Alison Crook
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Edmund G Wee
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jose M Miró
- Hospital Clinic- IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Bonaventura Clotet
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain.,Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.,Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain.,Department of Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marta Valle
- Department of Cellular Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain.,Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Modeling and Simultation, Institut de Recerca de l'Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau-IIB Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Javier Martinez-Picado
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain.,Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain.,ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.,Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Christian Brander
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain.,Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Vic-Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain.,ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José Moltó
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.,Department of Infectious Diseases, Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Badalona, Spain
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30
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Abstract
Development of improved approaches for HIV-1 prevention will likely be required for a durable end to the global AIDS pandemic. Recent advances in preclinical studies and early phase clinical trials offer renewed promise for immunologic strategies for blocking acquisition of HIV-1 infection. Clinical trials are currently underway to evaluate the efficacy of two vaccine candidates and a broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) to prevent HIV-1 infection in humans. However, the vast diversity of HIV-1 is a major challenge for both active and passive immunization. Here we review current immunologic strategies for HIV-1 prevention, with a focus on current and next-generation vaccines and bNAbs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Stephenson
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA;
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
| | - Kshitij Wagh
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
- New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Bette Korber
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
- New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
| | - Dan H Barouch
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA;
- Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT, and Harvard, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA
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31
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Clinical and evolutionary consequences of HIV adaptation to HLA: implications for vaccine and cure. Curr Opin HIV AIDS 2020; 14:194-204. [PMID: 30925534 DOI: 10.1097/coh.0000000000000541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The purpose of this review is to summarize recent advances in our understanding of HIV adaptation to human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-associated immune pressures and its relevance to HIV prevention and cure research. RECENT FINDINGS Recent research has confirmed that HLA is a major driver of individual and population-level HIV evolution, that HIV strains are adapting to the immunogenetic profiles of the different human ethnic groups in which they circulate, and that HIV adaptation has substantial clinical and immunologic consequences. As such, adaptation represents a major challenge to HIV prevention and cure. At the same time, there are opportunities: Studies of HIV adaptation are revealing why certain HLA alleles are protective in some populations and not others; they are identifying immunogenic viral epitopes that harbor high mutational barriers to escape, and they may help illuminate novel, vaccine-relevant HIV epitopes in regions where circulating adaptation is extensive. Elucidation of HLA-driven adapted and nonadapted viral forms in different human populations and HIV subtypes also renders 'personalized' immunogen selection, as a component of HIV cure strategies, conceptually feasible. SUMMARY Though adaptation represents a major challenge to HIV prevention and cure, achieving an in-depth understanding of this phenomenon can help move the design of such strategies forward.
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32
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A Novel Immunogen Selectively Eliciting CD8 + T Cells but Not CD4 + T Cells Targeting Immunodeficiency Virus Antigens. J Virol 2020; 94:JVI.01876-19. [PMID: 32024773 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01876-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Optimization of immunogen is crucial for induction of effective T-cell responses in the development of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine. Conventional T-cell-based vaccines have been designed to induce virus-specific CD4+ T as well as CD8+ T cells. However, it has been indicated that induction of HIV-specific CD4+ T cells, preferential targets for HIV infection, by vaccination may be detrimental and accelerate viral replication after HIV exposure. In the present study, we present a novel immunogen to selectively induce CD8+ T cells but not CD4+ T cells targeting viral antigens. The immunogen, CaV11, was constructed by tandem connection of overlapping 11-mer peptides spanning simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) Gag capsid (CA) and Vif. Prime-boost immunization with DNA and Sendai virus (SeV) vectors expressing CaV11 efficiently induced Gag/Vif-specific CD8+ T-cell responses with inefficient Gag/Vif-specific CD4+ T-cell induction in rhesus macaques (n = 6). None of the macaques exhibited the enhancement of acute viral replication after an intravenous high-dose SIV challenge, which was observed in those immunized with DNA and SeV expressing the whole Gag protein in our previous study. Set point viral control postinfection was associated with SeV-specific CD4+ T-cell responses postimmunization, suggesting contribution of SeV-specific helper responses to effective Gag/Vif-specific CD8+ T-cell induction by vaccination. This immunogen design could be a promising method for selective induction of effective anti-HIV CD8+ T-cell responses.IMPORTANCE Induction of effective CD8+ T-cell responses is an important HIV vaccine strategy. Several promising vaccine delivery tools have been developed, and immunogen optimization is now crucial for effective T-cell induction. Conventional immunogens have been designed to induce virus-specific CD4+ T cells as well as CD8+ T cells, but induction of virus-specific CD4+ T cells that are preferential targets for HIV infection could enhance acute HIV proliferation. Here, we designed a novel immunogen to induce HIV-specific CD8+ T cells without HIV-specific CD4+ T-cell induction but with non-HIV antigen-specific CD4+ T-cell help. Our analysis in a macaque AIDS model showed that our immunogen can efficiently elicit effective CD8+ T but not CD4+ T cells targeting viral antigens, resulting in no enhancement of acute viral replication after virus exposure. This immunogen design, also applicable for other currently developed immunogens, could be a promising method for selective induction of effective anti-HIV CD8+ T-cell responses.
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33
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Colby DJ, Sarnecki M, Barouch DH, Tipsuk S, Stieh DJ, Kroon E, Schuetz A, Intasan J, Sacdalan C, Pinyakorn S, Grandin P, Song H, Tovanabutra S, Shubin Z, Kim D, Paquin-Proulx D, Eller MA, Thomas R, de Souza M, Wieczorek L, Polonis VR, Pagliuzza A, Chomont N, Peter L, Nkolola JP, Vingerhoets J, Truyers C, Pau MG, Schuitemaker H, Phanuphak N, Michael N, Robb ML, Tomaka FL, Ananworanich J. Safety and immunogenicity of Ad26 and MVA vaccines in acutely treated HIV and effect on viral rebound after antiretroviral therapy interruption. Nat Med 2020; 26:498-501. [DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0774-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2019] [Accepted: 01/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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34
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Role of Dendritic Cells in Exposing Latent HIV-1 for the Kill. Viruses 2019; 12:v12010037. [PMID: 31905690 PMCID: PMC7019604 DOI: 10.3390/v12010037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Revised: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 12/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of effective yet nontoxic strategies to target the latent human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) reservoir in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-suppressed individuals poses a critical barrier to a functional cure. The ‘kick and kill’ approach to HIV eradication entails proviral reactivation during ART, coupled with generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) or other immune effectors equipped to eliminate exposed infected cells. Pharmacological latency reversal agents (LRAs) that have produced modest reductions in the latent reservoir ex vivo have not impacted levels of proviral DNA in HIV-infected individuals. An optimal cure strategy incorporates methods that facilitate sufficient antigen exposure on reactivated cells following the induction of proviral gene expression, as well as the elimination of infected targets by either polyfunctional HIV-specific CTLs or other immune-based strategies. Although conventional dendritic cells (DCs) have been used extensively for the purpose of inducing antigen-specific CTL responses in HIV-1 clinical trials, their immunotherapeutic potential as cellular LRAs has been largely ignored. In this review, we discuss the challenges associated with current HIV-1 eradication strategies, as well as the unharnessed potential of ex vivo-programmed DCs for both the ‘kick and kill’ of latent HIV-1.
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Jong WD, Leal L, Buyze J, Pannus P, Guardo A, Salgado M, Mothe B, Molto J, Moron-Lopez S, Gálvez C, Florence E, Vanham G, Gorp EV, Brander C, Allard S, Thielemans K, Martinez-Picado J, Plana M, García F, Gruters RA. Therapeutic Vaccine in Chronically HIV-1-Infected Patients: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase IIa Trial with HTI-TriMix. Vaccines (Basel) 2019; 7:E209. [PMID: 31817794 PMCID: PMC6963294 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines7040209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Therapeutic vaccinations aim to re-educate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-specific immune responses to achieve durable control of HIV-1 replication in virally suppressed infected individuals after antiretroviral therapy (ART) is interrupted. In a double blinded, placebo-controlled phase IIa multicenter study, we investigated the safety and immunogenicity of intranodal administration of the HIVACAT T cell Immunogen (HTI)-TriMix vaccine. It consists of naked mRNA based on cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) targets of subdominant and conserved HIV-1 regions (HTI), in combination with mRNAs encoding constitutively active TLR4, the ligand for CD40 and CD70 as adjuvants (TriMix). We recruited HIV-1-infected individuals under stable ART. Study-arms HTI-TriMix, TriMix or Water for Injection were assigned in an 8:3:3 ratio. Participants received three vaccinations at weeks 0, 2, and 4 in an inguinal lymph node. Two weeks after the last vaccination, immunogenicity was evaluated using ELISpot assay. ART was interrupted at week 6 to study the effect of the vaccine on viral rebound. The vaccine was considered safe and well tolerated. Eighteen percent (n = 37) of the AEs were considered definitely related to the study product (grade 1 or 2). Three SAEs occurred: two were unrelated to the study product, and one was possibly related to ART interruption (ATI). ELISpot assays to detect T cell responses using peptides covering the HTI sequence showed no significant differences in immunogenicity between groups. There were no significant differences in viral load rebound dynamics after ATI between groups. The vaccine was safe and well tolerated. We were not able to demonstrate immunogenic effects of the vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley de Jong
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Lorna Leal
- Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic-HIVACAT, University of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)-HIVACAT, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jozefien Buyze
- Clinical trials unit, Clinical Sciences Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Pieter Pannus
- Virology Unit, Biomedical Sciences Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Alberto Guardo
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)-HIVACAT, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Salgado
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute- HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
| | - Beatriz Mothe
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute- HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
- University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), 085000 Vic, Spain
| | - Jose Molto
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
| | - Sara Moron-Lopez
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute- HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
| | - Cristina Gálvez
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute- HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
| | - Eric Florence
- Virology Unit, Biomedical Sciences Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Guido Vanham
- Virology Unit, Biomedical Sciences Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine of Antwerp, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Eric van Gorp
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Erasmus MC, 3015 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Christian Brander
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute- HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
- University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), 085000 Vic, Spain
- Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sabine Allard
- Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, 1090 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Kris Thielemans
- eTheRNA, BVBA (eTheRNA), 2845 Niel, Belgium
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Therapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), 1090 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Javier Martinez-Picado
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute- HIVACAT, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, 08916 Badalona, Spain
- University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), 085000 Vic, Spain
- eTheRNA, BVBA (eTheRNA), 2845 Niel, Belgium
| | - Montserrat Plana
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)-HIVACAT, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felipe García
- Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic-HIVACAT, University of Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS)-HIVACAT, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rob A Gruters
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, 3015 Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Abstract
Despite 30 years of effort, we do not have an effective HIV-1 vaccine. Over the past decade, the HIV-1 vaccine field has shifted emphasis toward antibody-based vaccine strategies, following a lack of efficacy in CD8+ T-cell-based vaccine trials. Several lines of evidence, however, suggest that improved CD8+ T-cell-directed strategies could benefit an HIV-1 vaccine. First, T-cell responses often correlate with good outcomes in non-human primate (NHP) challenge models. Second, subgroup studies of two no-efficacy human clinical vaccine trials found associations between CD8+ T-cell responses and protective effects. Finally, improved strategies can increase the breadth and potency of CD8+ T-cell responses, direct them toward preferred epitopes (that are highly conserved and/or associated with viral control), or both. Optimized CD8+ T-cell vaccine strategies are promising in both prophylactic and therapeutic settings. This commentary briefly outlines some encouraging findings from T-cell vaccine studies, and then directly compares key features of some T-cell vaccine candidates currently in the clinical pipeline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bette Korber
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
| | - Will Fischer
- Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, USA
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Hanke T. Aiming for protective T-cell responses: a focus on the first generation conserved-region HIVconsv vaccines in preventive and therapeutic clinical trials. Expert Rev Vaccines 2019; 18:1029-1041. [PMID: 31613649 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2019.1675518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Despite life-saving antiretroviral drugs, an effective HIV-1 vaccine is the best solution and likely a necessary component of any strategy for halting the AIDS epidemic. The currently prevailing aim is to pursue antibody-mediated vaccine protection. With ample evidence for the ability of T cells to control HIV-1 replication, their protective potential should be also harnessed by vaccination. The challenge is to elicit not just any, but protective T cells.Areas covered: This article reviews the clinical experience with the first-generation conserved-region immunogen HIVconsv delivered by combinations of plasmid DNA, simian adenovirus, and poxvirus MVA. The aim of our strategy is to induce strong and broad T cells targeting functionally important parts of HIV-1 proteins common to global variants. These vaccines were tested in eight phase 1/2 preventive and therapeutic clinical trials in Europe and Africa, and induced high frequencies of broadly specific CD8+ T cells capable of in vitro inhibition of four major HIV-1 clades A, B, C and D, and in combination with latency-reactivating agent provided a signal of drug-free virological control in early treated patients.Expert opinion: A number of critical T-cell traits have to come together at the same time to achieve control over HIV-1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomáš Hanke
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,International Research Center for Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
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Wee EG, Moyo NA, Saunders KO, LaBranche C, Donati F, Capucci S, Parks R, Borthwick N, Hannoun Z, Montefiori DC, Haynes BF, Hanke T. Parallel Induction of CH505 B Cell Ontogeny-Guided Neutralizing Antibodies and tHIVconsvX Conserved Mosaic-Specific T Cells against HIV-1. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2019; 14:148-160. [PMID: 31367651 PMCID: PMC6657236 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2019.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2019] [Accepted: 06/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
The aim of this work was to start collecting information on rational combination of antibody (Ab) and T cell vaccines into single regimens. Two promising candidate HIV-1 vaccine strategies, sequential isolates of CH505 virus Envs developed for initiation of broadly neutralizing antibody lineages and conserved-mosaic tHIVconsvX immunogens aiming to induce effective cross-clade T cell responses, were combined to assess vaccine interactions. These immunogens were delivered in heterologous vector/modality regimens consisting of non-replicating simian (chimpanzee) adenovirus ChAdOx1 (C), non-replicating poxvirus MVA (M), and adjuvanted protein (P). Outbred CD1-SWISS mice were vaccinated intramuscularly using either parallel CM8M (tHIVconsvX)/CPPP (CH505) or sequential CM16M (tHIVconsvX)/CPPP (CH505) protocols, the latter of which delivered T cell CM prior to the CH505 Env. CM8M (tHIVconsvX) and CPPP or CMMP (CH505) vaccinations alone were included as comparators. The vaccine-elicited HIV-1-specific trimer-binding and neutralizing Abs and CD8+/CD4+ T cell responses induced by the combined and comparator regimens were not statistically separable among regimens. The Ab-lineage immunogen strategy was particularly suited for combined regimens for its likely less potent induction of Env-specific T cell responses relative to homologous epitope-based vaccine strategies. These results inform design of the first rationally combined Ab and T cell vaccine regimens in human volunteers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edmund G. Wee
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Nathifa A. Moyo
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Kevin O. Saunders
- Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Celia LaBranche
- Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Filippo Donati
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Silvia Capucci
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Robert Parks
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Nicola Borthwick
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Zara Hannoun
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - David C. Montefiori
- Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Barton F. Haynes
- Duke Human Vaccine Institute, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
- Department of Medicine and Immunology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC 27710, USA
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
- International Research Center for Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan
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Kilpeläinen A, Saubi N, Guitart N, Olvera A, Hanke T, Brander C, Joseph J. Recombinant BCG Expressing HTI Prime and Recombinant ChAdOx1 Boost Is Safe and Elicits HIV-1-Specific T-Cell Responses in BALB/c Mice. Vaccines (Basel) 2019; 7:vaccines7030078. [PMID: 31382453 PMCID: PMC6789536 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines7030078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Revised: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the availability of anti-retroviral therapy, HIV-1 infection remains a massive burden on healthcare systems. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis, confers protection against meningitis and miliary tuberculosis in infants. Recombinant BCG has been used as a vaccine vehicle to express both HIV-1 and Simian Immunodeficiemcy Virus (SIV) immunogens. In this study, we constructed an integrative E. coli-mycobacterial shuttle plasmid, p2auxo.HTI.int, expressing the HIVACAT T-cell immunogen (HTI). The plasmid was transformed into a lysine auxotrophic Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain (BCGΔLys) to generate the vaccine BCG.HTI2auxo.int. The DNA sequence coding for the HTI immunogen and HTI protein expression were confirmed, and working vaccine stocks were genetically and phenotypically characterized. We demonstrated that the vaccine was stable in vitro for 35 bacterial generations, and that when delivered in combination with chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAd)Ox1.HTI in adult BALB/c mice, it was well tolerated and induced HIV-1-specific T-cell responses. Specifically, priming with BCG.HTI2auxo.int doubled the magnitude of the T-cell response in comparison with ChAdOx1.HTI alone while maintaining its breadth. The use of integrative expression vectors and novel HIV-1 immunogens can aid in improving mycobacterial vaccine stability as well as specific immunogenicity. This vaccine candidate may be a useful tool in the development of an effective vaccine platform for priming protective responses against HIV-1/TB and other prevalent pediatric pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Athina Kilpeläinen
- Catalan Center for HIV Vaccine Research and Development, AIDS Research Unit, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic/IDIBAPS, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Narcís Saubi
- Catalan Center for HIV Vaccine Research and Development, AIDS Research Unit, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic/IDIBAPS, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Núria Guitart
- Catalan Center for HIV Vaccine Research and Development, AIDS Research Unit, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic/IDIBAPS, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Alex Olvera
- Irsicaixa AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
- International Research Center of Medical Sciences (IRCMS), Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-0811, Japan
| | - Christian Brander
- Irsicaixa AIDS Research Institute, 08916 Badalona, Catalonia, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), 08500 Vic, Barcelona, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- AELIX Therapeutics, 08028 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Joan Joseph
- Catalan Center for HIV Vaccine Research and Development, AIDS Research Unit, Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Clínic/IDIBAPS, 08036 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
- Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, 08035 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
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40
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Perdiguero B, Sánchez-Corzo C, S Sorzano CO, Mediavilla P, Saiz L, Esteban M, Gómez CE. Induction of Broad and Polyfunctional HIV-1-Specific T Cell Responses by the Multiepitopic Protein TMEP-B Vectored by MVA Virus. Vaccines (Basel) 2019; 7:vaccines7030057. [PMID: 31261918 PMCID: PMC6789790 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines7030057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2019] [Revised: 06/21/2019] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
A human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) vaccine able to induce long-lasting immunity remains a major challenge. We previously designed a T cell multiepitopic immunogen including protective conserved epitopes from HIV-1 Gag, Pol and Nef proteins (TMEP-B), that induced potent HIV-1-specific CD8 T cells when vectored by DNA and combined with the vaccine candidate modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA)-B. Here, we described the vectorization of TMEP-B in MVA (MVA-TMEP) and evaluated the T cell immunogenicity profile elicited in mice when administered in homologous (MVA/MVA) or heterologous (DNA/MVA) prime/boost vector regimens or using homologous or heterologous inserts. The heterologous vector regimen was superior to the homologous protocol in inducing T cell responses. DNA-TMEP-primed animals boosted with MVA-TMEP or MVA-B exhibited the highest magnitudes of HIV-1-specific CD8, CD4 and T follicular helper (Tfh) cells, with MVA-TMEP significantly expanding Gag-specific CD8 T cell responses. In the homologous vector regimen, all groups exhibited similar HIV-1-specific CD8 and CD4 T cell responses, but both MVA-B/MVA-B and MVA-TMEP/MVA-TMEP combinations elicited higher Gag-Pol-Nef (GPN)-specific CD8 T cell responses compared to MVA-TMEP/MVA-B. Our results revealed an enhanced induction of HIV-1-specific T cell responses by TMEP-B when vectored in both DNA and MVA, and supported their use in combined prime/boost strategies for HIV-1 prevention and/or therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Perdiguero
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Sánchez-Corzo
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Carlos Oscar S Sorzano
- Biocomputing Unit, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Pilar Mediavilla
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Lidia Saiz
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Mariano Esteban
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
| | - Carmen Elena Gómez
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review summarizes the recent landscape of HIV therapeutic vaccine research, emphasizing the results of randomized controlled trials that included analytical treatment interruption (ATI) to assess efficacy. RECENT FINDINGS Therapeutic vaccines for HIV are designed to re-educate the host immune response in HIV-infected individuals to better control viral replication in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. No therapeutic vaccine has yet to induce long-term HIV remission following ATI in a randomized controlled trial. This is likely because the vaccines have not elicited a broad enough immune response to suppress the diverse escape variants that emerge during viral rebound, and have not been used with effective agents to reduce the HIV reservoir. Recent studies in nonhuman primates using combination approaches are showing significant successes, with several candidates eliciting significant antiviral activity following ATI. Future studies pairing these vaccines with effective reservoir reduction hold great promise. SUMMARY Therapeutic vaccines aim to modulate the immune system of HIV-infected individuals to elicit sustained virologic control in the absence of antiretroviral therapy. Therapeutic vaccines that elicit broad immune responses have recently shown promise in randomized controlled trials and nonhuman primate studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Stephenson
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.,Harvard Medical School, Boston.,Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
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de Jong W, Aerts J, Allard S, Brander C, Buyze J, Florence E, van Gorp E, Vanham G, Leal L, Mothe B, Thielemans K, Plana M, Garcia F, Gruters R. iHIVARNA phase IIa, a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of iHIVARNA-01 in chronically HIV-infected patients under stable combined antiretroviral therapy. Trials 2019; 20:361. [PMID: 31208472 PMCID: PMC6580477 DOI: 10.1186/s13063-019-3409-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2017] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND HIV therapeutic vaccination aims to improve the immune responses against HIV in order to control viral replication without the need for combined antiretroviral therapy (cART). iHIVARNA-01 is a novel vaccine combining mRNA delivery and T-cell immunogen (HTI) based on conserved targets of effective antiviral T-cell responses. In addition, it holds adequate stimuli required for activating antigen presenting cells (APC)s and co-activating specific T-cells (TriMix), including human CD40L, constitutively active TLR4 (caTLR4) and CD70. We propose that in-vivo targeting of dendritic cells (DCs) by direct administration of a HIV mRNA encoding these immune modulating proteins might be an attractive alternative to target DCs in vitro. METHODS/DESIGN This is a phase-IIa, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multicenter study in chronically HIV-1 infected patients under stable cART. One of the three study arms is randomly allocated to subjects. Three vaccinations with either HIVACAT T-cell immunogen (HTI)-TriMix (iHIVARNA-01), TriMix or water for injection (WFI) (weeks 0, 2 and 4) are administered by intranodal injection in the inguinal region. Two weeks after the last immunization (week 6) cART is stopped for 12 weeks. The two primary endpoints are: (1) safety and tolerability of intranodal iHIVARNA-01 vaccination compared with TriMix or WFI and (2) induced immunogenicity, i.e., increase in the frequency of HIV-specific T-cell responses between baseline, week 6 and 12 weeks after treatment interruption in iHIVARNA-01-treated patients as compared to the control groups, immunized with TriMix-mRNA or WFI measured by an IFNγ ELISPOT assay. Secondary endpoints include the evaluation of time to viral rebound, plasma viral load (pVL) at w18, the proportion of patients with control of viral load, induction of T-cell responses to new HIV epitopes, polyfunctionality of HIV-specific T-cells, CD8+ T-cell in-vitro HIV suppressive capacity, the effect on viral reservoir (measured by proviral DNA and cell-associated RNA), assessment of viral immune escape by mutation and mRNA expression profiles of host immune genes. DISCUSSION This trial aims to direct target DC in situ with mRNA encoding HTI and TriMix for co-stimulation. Intranodal injection circumvents laborious DC isolation and handling in the laboratory. The trial extends on the safety results of a phase-I dose-escalating trial. This candidate vaccine could complement or even replace cART for chronic HIV infection and could be applicable to improve the care and cost of HIV infection. TRIAL REGISTRATION EudraCT 2016-002724-83 (22 September 2016); ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02888756 . Registered on 23 August 2016.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wesley de Jong
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Room Ee-1726, P.O. Box 2040, 3000, CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joeri Aerts
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Therapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Sabine Allard
- Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Christian Brander
- Infectious Diseases Unit, IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.,Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain.,AELIX Therapeutics, Parc Científic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain
| | - Jozefien Buyze
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine and, Antwerp, Belgium.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Eric Florence
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine and, Antwerp, Belgium.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Eric van Gorp
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Room Ee-1726, P.O. Box 2040, 3000, CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Guido Vanham
- Virology Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine and, Antwerp, Belgium.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Lorna Leal
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain.,Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Clínic, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Beatriz Mothe
- Infectious Diseases Unit, IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.,University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain
| | - Kris Thielemans
- Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Therapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Montse Plana
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Félipe Garcia
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain. .,Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Clínic, Villarroel, 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Rob Gruters
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus MC, Room Ee-1726, P.O. Box 2040, 3000, CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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Mothe B, Manzardo C, Sanchez-Bernabeu A, Coll P, Morón-López S, Puertas MC, Rosas-Umbert M, Cobarsi P, Escrig R, Perez-Alvarez N, Ruiz I, Rovira C, Meulbroek M, Crook A, Borthwick N, Wee EG, Yang H, Miró JM, Dorrell L, Clotet B, Martinez-Picado J, Brander C, Hanke T. Therapeutic Vaccination Refocuses T-cell Responses Towards Conserved Regions of HIV-1 in Early Treated Individuals (BCN 01 study). EClinicalMedicine 2019; 11:65-80. [PMID: 31312806 PMCID: PMC6610778 DOI: 10.1016/j.eclinm.2019.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Strong and broad antiviral T-cell responses targeting vulnerable sites of HIV-1 will likely be a critical component for any effective cure strategy. METHODS BCN01 trial was a phase I, open-label, non-randomized, multicenter study in HIV-1-positive individuals diagnosed and treated during early HIV-1 infection to evaluate two vaccination regimen arms, which differed in the time (8 versus 24 week) between the ChAdV63.HIVconsv prime and MVA.HIVconsv boost vaccinations. The primary outcome was safety. Secondary endpoints included frequencies of vaccine-induced IFN-γ+ CD8+ T cells, in vitro virus-inhibitory capacity, plasma HIV-1 RNA and total CD4+ T-cells associated HIV-1 DNA. (NCT01712425). FINDINGS No differences in safety, peak magnitude or durability of vaccine-induced responses were observed between long and short interval vaccination arms. Grade 1/2 local and systemic post-vaccination events occurred in 22/24 individuals and resolved within 3 days. Weak responses to conserved HIV-1 regions were detected in 50% of the individuals before cART initiation, representing median of less than 10% of their total HIV-1-specific T cells. All participants significantly elevated these subdominant T-cell responses, which after MVA.HIVconsv peaked at median (range) of 938 (73-6,805) IFN-γ SFU/106 PBMC, representing on average 58% of their total anti-HIV-1 T cells. The decay in the size of the HIV-1 reservoir was consistent with the first year of early cART initiation in both arms. INTERPRETATION Heterologous prime-boost vaccination with ChAdV63-MVA/HIVconsv was well-tolerated and refocused pre-cART T-cell responses towards more protective epitopes, in which immune escape is frequently associated with reduced HIV-1 replicative fitness and which are common to most global HIV-1 variants. FUNDING HIVACAT Catalan research program for an HIV vaccine and Fundació Gloria Soler. Vaccine manufacture was jointly funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) UK and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) under the MRC/DFID Concordat agreements (G0701669. RESEARCH IN CONTEXT Evidence Before this Study: T cells play an important role in the control of HIV infection and may be particularly useful for HIV-1 cure by killing cells with reactivated HIV-1. Evidence is emerging that not all T-cell responses are protective and mainly only those targeting conserved regions of HIV-1 proteins are effective, but typically immunologically subdominant, while those recognizing hypervariable, easy-to-escape immunodominant 'decoys' do not control viremia and do not protect from a loss of CD4 T cells. We pioneered a vaccine strategy focusing T-cell responses on the most conserved regions of the HIV-1 proteome using an immunogen designated HIVconsv. T cells elicited by the HIVconsv vaccines in HIV-uninfected UK and Kenyan adults inhibited in vitro replication of HIV-1 isolates from 4 major global clades A, B, C and D.Added Value of this Study: The present study demonstrated the concept that epitopes subdominant in natural infection, when taken out of the context of the whole HIV-1 proteome and presented to the immune system by a potent simian adenovirus prime-poxvirus MVA boost regimen, can induce strong responses in patients on antiretroviral treatment and efficiently refocus HIV-1-specific T-cells to the protective epitopes delivered by the vaccine.Implications of all the Available Evidence: Nearly all HIV-1 vaccine strategies currently emphasize induction of broadly neutralizing Abs. The HIVconsv vaccine is one of a very few approaches focussing exclusively on elicitation of T cells and, therefore, can complement antibody induction for better prevention and cure. Given the cross-clade reach on the HIVconsv immunogen design, if efficient, the HIVconsv vaccines could be deployed globally. Effective vaccines will likely be a necessary component in combination with other available preventive measures for halting the HIV-1/AIDS epidemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Mothe
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVIC-UCC), Vic, Spain
- Corresponding author at: IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Crta Canyet s/n, 08916, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain.
| | | | | | - Pep Coll
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | | | | | - Miriam Rosas-Umbert
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Patricia Cobarsi
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Roser Escrig
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Núria Perez-Alvarez
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
- Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Irene Ruiz
- Hospital Clinic-IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cristina Rovira
- Hospital Clinic-IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Alison Crook
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Edmund G. Wee
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Hongbing Yang
- Nuffield Department of Medicine and Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jose M. Miró
- Hospital Clinic-IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Lucy Dorrell
- Nuffield Department of Medicine and Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Bonaventura Clotet
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
- Fundació Lluita contra la Sida, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVIC-UCC), Vic, Spain
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Javier Martinez-Picado
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVIC-UCC), Vic, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Luis Companys 23, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christian Brander
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute-HIVACAT, Badalona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVIC-UCC), Vic, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Luis Companys 23, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- International Research Center for Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
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Lessons for general vaccinology research from attempts to develop an HIV vaccine. Vaccine 2019; 37:3400-3408. [PMID: 30979571 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2019] [Revised: 03/30/2019] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
In the past when large investments have been made in tackling narrow scientific challenges, the enormous expansion in our knowledge in one small area has had a spill-over effect on research and treatment of other diseases. The large investment in HIV vaccine development in recent years has the potential for such an effect on vaccine development for other diseases. HIV vaccine developers have experienced repeated failure using the standard approaches to vaccine development. This has forced them to consider immune responses in greater depth and detail. It has led to a recognition of the importance of epitopic specificity in both antibody and T cell responses. Also, it has led to an understanding of the importance of affinity maturation in antibody responses and the quality of T cell responses in T cell-mediated immunity. It has advanced the development of many novel vaccine vectors and vehicles that are now available for use in other vaccines. Further, it has focused attention on the impact of research funding mechanisms and community engagement on vaccine development. These developments and considerations have implications for vaccinology more generally. Some suggestions are made for investigators working on other "hard-to-develop" vaccines.
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Lau JS, Smith MZ, Lewin SR, McMahon JH. Clinical trials of antiretroviral treatment interruption in HIV-infected individuals. AIDS 2019; 33:773-791. [PMID: 30883388 DOI: 10.1097/qad.0000000000002113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
: Despite the benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for people living with HIV, there has been a long-standing research interest in interrupting ART as a strategy to minimize adverse effects of ART as well as to test interventions aiming to achieve a degree of virological control without ART. We performed a systematic review of HIV clinical studies involving treatment interruption from 2000 to 2017 to describe the differences between treatment interruption in studies that contained and didn't contain an intervention. We assessed differences in monitoring strategies, threshold to restart ART, duration and adverse outcomes of treatment interruption, and factors aimed at minimizing transmission. We found that treatment interruption has been incorporated into 159 clinical studies since 2000 and is increasingly being included in trials to assess the efficacy of interventions to achieve sustained virological remission off ART. Great heterogeneity was noted in immunological, virological and clinical monitoring strategies, as well as in thresholds to recommence ART. Treatment interruption in recent intervention studies were more closely monitored, had more conservative thresholds to restart ART and had a shorter treatment interruption duration, compared with older treatment interruption studies that didn't include an intervention.
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Naidoo L, Mzobe Z, Jin SW, Rajkoomar E, Reddy T, Brockman MA, Brumme ZL, Ndung'u T, Mann JK. Nef-mediated inhibition of NFAT following TCR stimulation differs between HIV-1 subtypes. Virology 2019; 531:192-202. [PMID: 30927712 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2019.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2018] [Revised: 02/13/2019] [Accepted: 02/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Functional characterisation of different HIV-1 subtypes may improve understanding of viral pathogenesis and spread. Here, we evaluated the ability of 345 unique HIV-1 Nef clones representing subtypes A, B, C and D to inhibit NFAT signalling following TCR stimulation. The contribution of this Nef function to disease progression was also assessed in 211 additional Nef clones isolated from unique subtype C infected individuals in early or chronic infection. On average, subtype A and C Nef clones exhibited significantly lower ability to inhibit TCR-mediated NFAT signalling compared to subtype B and D Nef clones. While this observation corroborates accumulating evidence supporting relative attenuation of subtypes A and C that may paradoxically contribute to their increased global prevalence and spread, no significant correlations between Nef-mediated NFAT inhibition activity and clinical markers of HIV-1 infection were observed, indicating that the relationship between Nef function and pathogenesis is complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Naidoo
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Zinhle Mzobe
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Steven W Jin
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6
| | - Erasha Rajkoomar
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Tarylee Reddy
- Medical Research Council, Biostatistics Unit, Durban 4001, South Africa
| | - Mark A Brockman
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6; Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, 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, Durban 4001, South Africa; Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA; Africa Health Research Institute, Durban 4001, South Africa; Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Chariteplatz, D-10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Jaclyn K Mann
- HIV Pathogenesis Programme, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4001, South Africa.
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Beltran-Pavez C, Ferreira CB, Merino-Mansilla A, Fabra-Garcia A, Casadella M, Noguera-Julian M, Paredes R, Olvera A, Haro I, Brander C, Garcia F, Gatell JM, Yuste E, Sanchez-Merino V. Guiding the humoral response against HIV-1 toward a MPER adjacent region by immunization with a VLP-formulated antibody-selected envelope variant. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0208345. [PMID: 30566493 PMCID: PMC6300218 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208345] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Preventive HIV-1 vaccine strategies rely on the elicitation of broadly neutralizing antibody (bNAb) responses, but their induction in vivo by vaccination remains challenging. Considering that the ability of an epitope to elicit effective humoral immunity depends on its exposure on the virion, we have used a reverse genetics approach to select variants from an HIV-1 AC10_29 randomly mutated envelope library that showed increased affinity for a selected bNAb (4E10 bNAb targeting the HIV-1 MPER region). Isolated envelope sequences were analyzed by deep-sequencing showing a small number of dominant changes, including the loss of four potential N-linked glycosylation sites and disruption of the V1/V2 loop. Accordingly, the dominant variant (LR1-C1), showed not only increased affinity for MPER bNAbs 4E10 and 2F5, but also higher affinity for an additional antibody targeting the V3 loop (447-52D) that could be a consequence of an open conformation tier 1-like Env. Furthermore, the amino acids specific for the selected variant are associated with an increased sensitivity for 4E10 and 2F5 antibodies. In vivo studies showed that sera from mice immunized with LR1-C1 viruses possessed an improved neutralizing activity compared to the wild-type AC10_29 env. While Virus Like Particles (VLPs) carrying this envelope were unable to induce detectable neutralizing activity in immunized rabbits, one animal showed antibody response to the 4E10-proximal region. Our data establish a novel approach that has the potential to yield HIV envelope immunogen sequences that direct antibody responses to specific envelope regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carolina Beltran-Pavez
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Carolina B. Ferreira
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alberto Merino-Mansilla
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Amanda Fabra-Garcia
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Maria Casadella
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marc Noguera-Julian
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain
| | - Roger Paredes
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain
| | - Alex Olvera
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Isabel Haro
- Unit of Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Peptides, IQAC-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Christian Brander
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
- Universitat de Vic-Universitat Central de Catalunya (UVic-UCC), Vic, Spain
- ICREA, Pg. Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Felipe Garcia
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jose M. Gatell
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- Infectious Diseases Unit, Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eloisa Yuste
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Victor Sanchez-Merino
- AIDS Research Unit, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, Barcelona, Spain
- HIVACAT, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail:
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Leal L, Guardo AC, Morón-López S, Salgado M, Mothe B, Heirman C, Pannus P, Vanham G, van den Ham HJ, Gruters R, Andeweg A, Van Meirvenne S, Pich J, Arnaiz JA, Gatell JM, Brander C, Thielemans K, Martínez-Picado J, Plana M, García F. Phase I clinical trial of an intranodally administered mRNA-based therapeutic vaccine against HIV-1 infection. AIDS 2018; 32:2533-2545. [PMID: 30289805 PMCID: PMC6221380 DOI: 10.1097/qad.0000000000002026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Objective: The efficacy of therapeutic vaccines against HIV-1 infection has been modest. New inerts to redirect responses to vulnerable sites are urgently needed to improve these results. Design: We performed the first-in-human clinical trial with naked mRNA (iHIVARNA) combining a dendritic cell activation strategy (TriMix:CD40L+CD70+caTLR4 RNA) with a novel HIV immunogen sequences (HTI immunogen). Methods: A dose escalation, phase I clinical trial was performed in 21 chronic HIV-1-infected patients under ART who received three intranodal doses of mRNA (weeks 0, 2 and 4) as follow: TriMix-100 g, TriMix-300 g, TriMix-300 g with HTI-300 g, TriMix-300 g with HTI-600 g, TriMix-300 g with HTI-900 g. Primary end-point was safety and secondary-exploratory end-points were immunogenicity, changes in viral reservoir and transcriptome. Results: Overall, the vaccine was secure and well tolerated. There were 31 grade 1/2 and 1 grade 3 adverse events, mostly unrelated to the vaccination. Patients who received the highest dose showed a moderate increase in T-cell responses spanning HTI sequence at week 8. In addition, the proportion of responders receiving any dose of HTI increased from 31% at w0 to 80% postvaccination. The intervention had no impact on caHIV-DNA levels, however, caHIV-RNA expression and usVL were transiently increased at weeks 5 and 6 in the highest dose of iHIVARNA, and these changes were positively correlated with HIV-1-specific-induced immune responses. Conclusion: This phase I dose-escalating trial showed that iHIVARNA administration was safe and well tolerated, induced moderate HIV-specific T-cell responses and transiently increased different viral replication readouts. These data support further exploration of iHIVARNA in a phase II study. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02413645
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Acute-Phase CD4 + T Cell Responses Targeting Invariant Viral Regions Are Associated with Control of Live Attenuated Simian Immunodeficiency Virus. J Virol 2018; 92:JVI.00830-18. [PMID: 30111562 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00830-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2018] [Accepted: 07/29/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We manipulated SIVmac239Δnef, a model of major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-independent viral control, to evaluate characteristics of effective cellular responses mounted by Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (MCMs) that express the M3 MHC haplotype, which has been associated with poor control of pathogenic simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). We created SIVΔnef-8x to test the hypothesis that effective SIV-specific T cell responses targeting invariant viral regions can emerge in the absence of immunodominant CD8+ T cell responses targeting variable epitopes and that control is achievable in individuals lacking known "protective" MHC alleles. Full-proteome gamma interferon (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assays identified six newly targeted immunogenic regions following SIVΔnef-8x infection of M3/M3 MCMs. We deep sequenced circulating virus and found that four of the six newly targeted regions rarely accumulated mutations. Six animals infected with SIVΔnef-8x had T cell responses that targeted at least one of the four invariant regions and had a lower set point viral load than two animals that did not have T cell responses that targeted any invariant regions. We found that MHC class II molecules restricted all four of the invariant peptide regions, while the two variable regions were restricted by MHC class I molecules. Therefore, in the absence of immunodominant CD8+ T cell responses that target variable regions during SIVmac239Δnef infection, individuals without protective MHC alleles developed predominantly CD4+ T cell responses specific for invariant regions that may improve control of virus replication. Our results provide some evidence that antiviral CD4+ T cells during acute SIV infection can contribute to effective viral control and should be considered in strategies to combat HIV infection.IMPORTANCE Studies defining effective cellular immune responses to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and SIV have largely focused on a rare population that express specific MHC class I alleles and control virus replication in the absence of antiretroviral treatment. This leaves in question whether similar effective immune responses can be achieved in the larger population. The majority of HIV-infected individuals mount CD8+ T cell responses that target variable viral regions that accumulate high-frequency escape mutations. Limiting T cell responses to these variable regions and targeting invariant viral regions, similar to observations in rare "elite controllers," may provide an ideal strategy for the development of effective T cell responses in individuals with diverse MHC genetics. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to determine whether T cell responses can be redirected toward invariant viral regions in individuals without protective MHC alleles and if these responses improve control of virus replication.
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Pol-Driven Replicative Capacity Impacts Disease Progression in HIV-1 Subtype C Infection. J Virol 2018; 92:JVI.00811-18. [PMID: 29997209 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00811-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2018] [Accepted: 06/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
CD8+ T cell-mediated escape mutations in Gag can reduce HIV-1 replication capacity (RC) and alter disease progression, but less is known about immune-mediated attenuation in other HIV-1 proteins. We generated 487 recombinant viruses encoding RT-integrase from individuals with chronic (n = 406) and recent (n = 81) HIV-1 subtype C infection and measured their in vitro RC using a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter T cell assay. In recently infected individuals, reverse transcriptase (RT)-integrase-driven RC correlated significantly with viral load set point (r = 0.25; P = 0.03) and CD4+ T cell decline (P = 0.013). Moreover, significant associations between RT integrase-driven RC and viral load (r = 0.28; P < 0.0001) and CD4+ T cell count (r = -0.29; P < 0.0001) remained in chronic infection. In early HIV infection, host expression of the protective HLA-B*81 allele was associated with lower RC (P = 0.05), as was expression of HLA-B*07 (P = 0.02), suggesting early immune-driven attenuation of RT-integrase by these alleles. In chronic infection, HLA-A*30:09 (in linkage disequilibrium with HLA-B*81) was significantly associated with lower RC (P = 0.05), and all 6 HLA-B alleles with the lowest RC measurements represented protective alleles, consistent with long-term effects of host immune pressures on lowering RT-integrase RC. The polymorphisms V241I, I257V, P272K, and E297K in reverse transcriptase and I201V in integrase, all relatively uncommon polymorphisms occurring in or adjacent to optimally described HLA-restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes, were associated with reduced RC. Together, our data suggest that RT-integrase-driven RC is clinically relevant and provide evidence that immune-driven selection of mutations in RT-integrase can compromise RC.IMPORTANCE Identification of viral mutations that compromise HIV's ability to replicate may aid rational vaccine design. However, while certain escape mutations in Gag have been shown to reduce HIV replication and influence clinical progression, less is known about the consequences of mutations that naturally arise in other HIV proteins. Pol is a highly conserved protein, but the impact of Pol function on HIV disease progression is not well defined. Here, we generated recombinant viruses using the RT-integrase region of Pol derived from HIV-1C-infected individuals with recent and chronic infection and measured their ability to replicate in vitro We demonstrate that RT-integrase-driven replication ability significantly impacts HIV disease progression. We further show evidence of immune-mediated attenuation in RT-integrase and identify specific polymorphisms in RT-integrase that significantly decrease HIV-1 replication ability, suggesting which Pol epitopes could be explored in vaccine development.
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