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Ascough S, Ingram RJ, Chu KKY, Moore SJ, Gallagher T, Dyson H, Doganay M, Metan G, Ozkul Y, Baillie L, Williamson ED, Robinson JH, Maillere B, Boyton RJ, Altmann DM. Impact of HLA Polymorphism on the Immune Response to Bacillus Anthracis Protective Antigen in Vaccination versus Natural Infection. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10101571. [PMID: 36298436 PMCID: PMC9610610 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10101571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2022] [Revised: 09/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The causative agent of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, evades the host immune response and establishes infection through the production of binary exotoxins composed of Protective Antigen (PA) and one of two subunits, lethal factor (LF) or edema factor (EF). The majority of vaccination strategies have focused upon the antibody response to the PA subunit. We have used a panel of humanised HLA class II transgenic mouse strains to define HLA-DR-restricted and HLA-DQ-restricted CD4+ T cell responses to the immunodominant epitopes of PA. This was correlated with the binding affinities of epitopes to HLA class II molecules, as well as the responses of two human cohorts: individuals vaccinated with the Anthrax Vaccine Precipitated (AVP) vaccine (which contains PA and trace amounts of LF), and patients recovering from cutaneous anthrax infections. The infected and vaccinated cohorts expressing different HLA types were found to make CD4+ T cell responses to multiple and diverse epitopes of PA. The effects of HLA polymorphism were explored using transgenic mouse lines, which demonstrated differential susceptibility, indicating that HLA-DR1 and HLA-DQ8 alleles conferred protective immunity relative to HLA-DR15, HLA-DR4 and HLA-DQ6. The HLA transgenics enabled a reductionist approach, allowing us to better define CD4+ T cell epitopes. Appreciating the effects of HLA polymorphism on the variability of responses to natural infection and vaccination is vital in planning protective strategies against anthrax.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Ascough
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London W12 0NN, UK
- Correspondence: (S.A.); (D.M.A.)
| | - Rebecca J. Ingram
- Wellcome-Wolfson Institute of Experimental Medicine, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
| | | | | | - Theresa Gallagher
- BioMET, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
| | - Hugh Dyson
- Defence Science Technology Laboratory, Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK
| | - Mehmet Doganay
- Department of Medical Genetics, Erciyes University Hospital, Kayseri 38095, Turkey
| | - Gökhan Metan
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine Ankara, Ankara 06000, Turkey
| | - Yusuf Ozkul
- Department of Medical Genetics, Erciyes University Hospital, Kayseri 38095, Turkey
| | - Les Baillie
- School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF24 4HQ, UK
| | | | - John H. Robinson
- Institute for Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
| | - Bernard Maillere
- CEA-Saclay, Département Médicaments et Technologies pour la Santé, Université Paris-Saclay, 91192 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Rosemary J. Boyton
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London W12 0NN, UK
- Lung Division, Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London SE1 9RT, UK
| | - Daniel M. Altmann
- Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London W12 0NN, UK
- Correspondence: (S.A.); (D.M.A.)
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Boyce AM, Garibaldi BT. Genomics and High-Consequence Infectious Diseases: A Scoping Review of Emerging Science and Potential Ethical Issues. Health Secur 2019; 17:62-68. [PMID: 30724614 DOI: 10.1089/hs.2018.0108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Host genomic research on high-consequence infectious diseases is a growing area, but the ethical, legal, and social implications of such findings related to potential applications of the research have not yet been identified. While there is a robust ethical debate about the ethical, legal, and social implications of research during an emergency, there has been less consideration of issues facing research conducted outside of the scope of emergency response. Addressing the implications of research at an early stage (anticipatory ethics) helps define the issue space, facilitates preparedness, and promotes ethically and socially responsible practices. To lay the groundwork for more comprehensive anticipatory ethics work, this article provides a preliminary assessment of the state of the field with a scoping review of host genomic research on a subset of high-consequence infectious diseases of relevance to high-level isolation units, focusing on its ethically relevant features and identifying several ethical, legal, and social implications raised by the literature. We discuss the challenges of genomic studies of low-frequency, high-risk events and applications of the science, including identifying targets to guide the development of new therapeutics, improving vaccine development, finding biomarkers to predict disease outcome, and guiding decisions about repurposing existing drugs and genetic screening. Some ethical, legal, and social implications identified in the literature included the rise of systems biology and paradigm shifts in medical countermeasure development; controversies over repurposing of existing drugs; genetic privacy and discrimination; and benefit-sharing and global inequity as part of the broader ecosystem surrounding high-level isolation units. Future anticipatory ethics work should forecast the science and its applications; identify a more comprehensive list of ethical, legal, and social implications; and facilitate evaluation by multiple stakeholders to inform the integration of ethical concerns into high-level isolation unit policy and practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angie M Boyce
- Angie M. Boyce, PhD, is Research Scholar and Associate Faculty, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
| | - Brian T Garibaldi
- Brian T. Garibaldi, MD, MEHP, is Director, Johns Hopkins Biocontainment Unit, and Associate Professor, Medicine and Physiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
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Anthrax lethal toxin and the induction of CD4 T cell immunity. Toxins (Basel) 2012; 4:878-99. [PMID: 23162703 PMCID: PMC3496994 DOI: 10.3390/toxins4100878] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2012] [Revised: 10/08/2012] [Accepted: 10/10/2012] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacillus anthracis secretes exotoxins which act through several mechanisms including those that can subvert adaptive immunity with respect both to antigen presenting cell and T cell function. The combination of Protective Antigen (PA) and Lethal Factor (LF) forming Lethal Toxin (LT), acts within host cells to down-regulate the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling cascade. Until recently the MAPK kinases were the only known substrate for LT; over the past few years it has become evident that LT also cleaves Nlrp1, leading to inflammasome activation and macrophage death. The predicted downstream consequences of subverting these important cellular pathways are impaired antigen presentation and adaptive immunity. In contrast to this, recent work has indicated that robust memory T cell responses to B. anthracis antigens can be identified following natural anthrax infection. We discuss how LT affects the adaptive immune response and specifically the identification of B. anthracis epitopes that are both immunogenic and protective with the potential for inclusion in protein sub-unit based vaccines.
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