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Cárdenas-Guerra RE, Montes-Flores O, Nava-Pintor EE, Reséndiz-Cardiel G, Flores-Pucheta CI, Rodríguez-Gavaldón YI, Arroyo R, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Ortega-López J. Chagasin from Trypanosoma cruzi as a molecular scaffold to express epitopes of TSA-1 as soluble recombinant chimeras. Protein Expr Purif 2024; 218:106458. [PMID: 38423156 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2024.106458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas disease, a global public health problem. New therapeutic drugs and biologics are needed. The TSA-1 recombinant protein of T. cruzi is one such promising antigen for developing a therapeutic vaccine. However, it is overexpressed in E. coli as inclusion bodies, requiring an additional refolding step. As an alternative, in this study, we propose the endogenous cysteine protease inhibitor chagasin as a molecular scaffold to generate chimeric proteins. These proteins will contain combinations of two of the five conserved epitopes (E1 to E5) of TSA-1 in the L4 and L6 chagasin loops. Twenty chimeras (Q1-Q20) were designed, and their solubility was predicted using bioinformatics tools. Nine chimeras with different degrees of solubility were selected and expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3). Western blot assays with anti-6x-His and anti-chagasin antibodies confirmed the expression of soluble recombinant chimeras. Both theoretically and experimentally, the Q12 (E5-E3) chimera was the most soluble, and the Q20 (E4-E5) the most insoluble protein. Q4 (E5-E1) and Q8 (E5-E2) chimeras were classified as proteins with medium solubility that exhibited the highest yield in the soluble fraction. Notably, Q4 has a yield of 239 mg/L, well above the yield of recombinant chagasin (16.5 mg/L) expressed in a soluble form. The expression of the Q4 chimera was scaled up to a 7 L fermenter obtaining a yield of 490 mg/L. These data show that chagasin can serve as a molecular scaffold for the expression of TSA-1 epitopes in the form of soluble chimeras.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosa Elena Cárdenas-Guerra
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Octavio Montes-Flores
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Edgar Ezequiel Nava-Pintor
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gerardo Reséndiz-Cardiel
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Claudia Ivonne Flores-Pucheta
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Yasmín Irene Rodríguez-Gavaldón
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Rossana Arroyo
- Departamento de Infectómica y Patogénesis Molecular, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jaime Ortega-López
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Av. IPN # 2508, Col. San Pedro Zacatenco, Gustavo A. Madero, CP 07360, Mexico City, Mexico.
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Dumonteil E, Tu W, Desale H, Goff K, Marx P, Ortega-Lopez J, Herrera C. Immunoglobulin and T cell receptor repertoire changes induced by a prototype vaccine against Chagas disease in naïve rhesus macaques. J Biomed Sci 2024; 31:58. [PMID: 38824576 PMCID: PMC11143712 DOI: 10.1186/s12929-024-01050-5] [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] [Received: 12/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND A vaccine against Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, would be an excellent additional tool for disease control. A recombinant vaccine based on Tc24 and TSA1 parasite antigens was found to be safe and immunogenic in naïve macaques. METHODS We used RNA-sequencing and performed a transcriptomic analysis of PBMC responses to vaccination of naïve macaques after each vaccine dose, to shed light on the immunogenicity of this vaccine and guide the optimization of doses and formulation. We identified differentially expressed genes and pathways and characterized immunoglobulin and T cell receptor repertoires. RESULTS RNA-sequencing analysis indicated a clear transcriptomic response of PBMCs after three vaccine doses, with the up-regulation of several immune cell activation pathways and a broad non-polarized immune profile. Analysis of the IgG repertoire showed that it had a rapid turnover with novel IgGs produced following each vaccine dose, while the TCR repertoire presented several persisting clones that were expanded after each vaccine dose. CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that three vaccine doses may be needed for optimum immunogenicity and support the further evaluation of the protective efficacy of this vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA.
| | - Weihong Tu
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
| | - Hans Desale
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
| | - Kelly Goff
- Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Preston Marx
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
- Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Jaime Ortega-Lopez
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de Mexico, México
| | - Claudia Herrera
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, 1440 Canal St, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
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Ramos-Vega A, Monreal-Escalante E, Rosales-Mendoza S, Bañuelos-Hernández B, Dumonteil E, Angulo C. Trypanosoma cruzi Tc24 Antigen Expressed and Orally Delivered by Schizochytrium sp. Microalga is Immunogenic in Mice. Mol Biotechnol 2024; 66:1376-1388. [PMID: 37344711 DOI: 10.1007/s12033-023-00763-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023]
Abstract
Chagas disease-caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi-is a neglected tropical disease for which available drugs are not fully effective in the chronic stage and a vaccine is not available yet. Microalgae represent a promising platform for the production and oral delivery of low-cost vaccines. Herein, we report a vaccine prototype against T. cruzi produced in a microalgae platform, based on the candidate antigen Tc24 with a C terminus fusion with the Co1 peptide (Tc24:Co1 vaccine prototype). After modeling the tertiary structure, in silico studies suggested that the chimeric protein is antigenic, not allergenic, and molecular docking indicated binding with Toll-like receptors 2 and 4. Thus, Tc24:Co1 was expressed in the marine microalga Schizochytrium sp., and Western blot confirmed the expression at 48 h after induction, with a yield of 632 µg/L of algal culture (300 μg/g of lyophilized algal cells) as measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Upon oral administration of whole-cell Schizochytrium sp. expressing Tc24:Co1 (7.5 µg or 15 µg of Tc24:Co1 doses) in mice, specific serum IgG and intestinal mucosa IgA responses were detected in addition to an increase in serum Th1/Th2 cytokines. In conclusion, Schizochytrium sp.-expressing Tc24:Co1 is a promising oral vaccine prototype to be evaluated in an animal model of Trypanosoma cruzi infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abel Ramos-Vega
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C., La Paz, BCS, Mexico
| | - Elizabeth Monreal-Escalante
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C., La Paz, BCS, Mexico.
- CONACYT-Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR), Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, Av. Instituto Politécnico Nacional 195, CP. 23096, La Paz, BCS, Mexico.
| | - Sergio Rosales-Mendoza
- Laboratorio de Biofarmacéuticos Recombinantes, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, UASLP, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
- Sección de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de la Salud y Biomedicina, UASLP, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
| | | | - Eric Dumonteil
- School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Carlos Angulo
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C., La Paz, BCS, Mexico.
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Trujillo E, Monreal-Escalante E, Angulo C. Microalgae-made human vaccines and therapeutics: A decade of advances. Biotechnol J 2024; 19:e2400091. [PMID: 38719615 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202400091] [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] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Microalgal emergence is a promising platform with two-decade historical background for producing vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. During that period, microalgal-based vaccines have reported successful production for various diseases. Thus, species selection is important for genetic transformation and delivery methods that have been developed. Although many vaccine prototypes have been produced for infectious and non-infectious diseases, fewer studies have reached immunological and immunoprotective evaluations. Microalgae-made vaccines for Staphylococcus aureus, malaria, influenza, human papilloma, and Zika viruses have been explored in their capacity to induce humoral or cellular immune responses and protective efficacies against experimental challenges. Therefore, specific pathogen antigens and immune system role are important and addressed in controlling these infections. Regarding non-communicable diseases, these vaccines have been investigated for breast cancer; microalgal-produced therapeutic molecules and microalgal-made interferon-α have been explored for hypertension and potential applications in treating viral infections and cancer, respectively. Thus, conducting immunological trials is emphasized, discussing the promising results observed in terms of immunogenicity, desired immune response for controlling affections, and challenges for achieving the desired protection levels. The potential advantages and hurdles associated with this innovative approach are highlighted, underlining the relevance of assessing immune responses in preclinical and clinical trials to validate the efficacy of these biopharmaceuticals. The promising future of this healthcare technology is also envisaged.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edgar Trujillo
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional 195, Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, La Paz, B.C.S., México
| | - Elizabeth Monreal-Escalante
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional 195, Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, La Paz, B.C.S., México
- CONAHCYT-Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional 195, Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, La Paz, B.C.S., México
| | - Carlos Angulo
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C. (CIBNOR), Instituto Politécnico Nacional 195, Playa Palo de Santa Rita Sur, La Paz, B.C.S., México
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Oyeyemi OT, Ogundahunsi O, Schunk M, Fatem RG, Shollenberger LM. Neglected tropical disease (NTD) diagnostics: current development and operations to advance control. Pathog Glob Health 2024; 118:1-24. [PMID: 37872790 PMCID: PMC10769148 DOI: 10.1080/20477724.2023.2272095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) have become important public health threats that require multi-faceted control interventions. As late treatment and management of NTDs contribute significantly to the associated burdens, early diagnosis becomes an important component for surveillance and planning effective interventions. This review identifies common NTDs and highlights the progress in the development of diagnostics for these NTDs. Leveraging existing technologies to improve NTD diagnosis and improving current operational approaches for deployment of developed diagnostics are crucial to achieving the 2030 NTD elimination target. Point-of-care NTD (POC-NTD) diagnostic tools are recommended preferred diagnostic options in resource-constrained areas for mapping risk zones and monitoring treatment efficacy. However, few are currently available commercially. Technical training of remote health care workers on the use of POC-NTD diagnostics, and training of health workers on the psychosocial consequences of these diagnostics are critical in harnessing POC-NTD diagnostic potential. While the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the possibility of achieving NTD elimination in 2030 due to the disruption of healthcare services and dwindling financial support for NTDs, the possible contribution of NTDs in exacerbating COVID-19 pandemic should motivate NTD health system strengthening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oyetunde T. Oyeyemi
- Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria
- Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Virginia, USA
| | - Olumide Ogundahunsi
- The Central Office for Research and Development (CORD), University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria
| | - Mirjam Schunk
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Medical Center of the University of Munich (LMU) institution, Munich, Germany
| | - Ramzy G. Fatem
- Schistosome Biological Supply Center, Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Giza, Egypt
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Ramos-Vega A, Dzul-Huchim VM, Villanueva-Lizama LE, Dumonteil E, Rosales-Mendoza S, Bañuelos-Hernández B, Angulo M, Cruz-Chan JV, Monreal-Escalante E, Angulo C. Protective efficacy of the oral vaccine Tc24:Co1 produced in Schizochytrium sp. against Trypanosoma cruzi infection in a mouse model. Microb Pathog 2024; 186:106488. [PMID: 38061668 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 01/02/2024]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi parasite - causal Chagas disease agent - affects about 7 million people; no vaccine is available, and current medications have not been entirely effective. Multidisciplinary efforts are necessary for developing clinical vaccine prototypes. Thus, this research study aims to assess the expressed and whole-cell administration protection of the oral vaccine prototype Tc24:Co1 using Schizochytrium sp. microalga. High recombinant protein expression yields (675 μg/L) of algal culture were obtained. Additionally, Schizochytrium sp.-Tc24:Co1 resulted stable at 4 °C for up to six months and at 25 °C for three months. After receiving four oral doses of the vaccine, the mice showed a significant humoral immune response and a parasitemia reduction associated with a lack of heart inflammatory damage compared with the unvaccinated controls. The Schizochytrium sp.-Tc24:Co1 vaccine demonstrates to be promising as a prototype for further development showing protective effects against a T. cruzi challenge in a mouse model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abel Ramos-Vega
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
| | - Victor Manuel Dzul-Huchim
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Liliana Estefania Villanueva-Lizama
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Deparment of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Sergio Rosales-Mendoza
- Laboratorio de Biofarmacéuticos Recombinantes, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, UASLP, San Luis Potosí, Mexico; Sección de Biotecnología, Centro de Investigación en Ciencias de la Salud y Biomedicina, UASLP, San Luis Potosí, Mexico
| | | | - Miriam Angulo
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
| | - Julio Vladimir Cruz-Chan
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Elizabeth Monreal-Escalante
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico; CONAHCYT-Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico.
| | - Carlos Angulo
- Immunology & Vaccinology Group, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico.
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Dumonteil E, Tu W, Desale H, Goff K, Marx P, Ortega-Lopez J, Herrera C. Immunoglobin and T cell receptor repertoire changes induced by a prototype vaccine against Chagas disease in naïve rhesus macaques. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3453582. [PMID: 37961272 PMCID: PMC10635379 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3453582/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
A vaccine against Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, would be an excellent additional tool for disease control. A recombinant vaccine based on Tc24 and TSA1 parasite antigens was found to be safe and immunogenic in naïve macaques. Here we performed a transcriptomic analysis of PBMC responses to vaccination, to shed light on the immunogenicity of this vaccine and guide the optimization of doses and formulation. RNA-sequencing analysis indicated a clear transcriptomic response of PBMCs from macaques after three vaccine doses, with the up-regulation of several immune cell activation pathways and a broad non-polarized immune profile. Analysis of the IgG repertoire showed that it had a rapid turnover with novel IgGs produced following each vaccine dose, while the TCR repertoire presented several persisting clones that were expanded after each vaccine dose. These data suggest that three vaccine doses may be needed for optimum immunogenecity and support the further evaluation of the protective efficacy of this vaccine.
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8
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Nguyen DM, Poveda C, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM. The impact of vaccine-linked chemotherapy on liver health in a mouse model of chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2023; 17:e0011519. [PMID: 37988389 PMCID: PMC10697595 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011519] [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] [Received: 07/11/2023] [Revised: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chagas disease, chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, mainly manifests as cardiac disease. However, the liver is important for both controlling parasite burdens and metabolizing drugs. Notably, high doses of anti-parasitic drug benznidazole (BNZ) causes liver damage. We previously showed that combining low dose BNZ with a prototype therapeutic vaccine is a dose sparing strategy that effectively reduced T. cruzi induced cardiac damage. However, the impact of this treatment on liver health is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated several markers of liver health after treatment with low dose BNZ plus the vaccine therapy in comparison to a curative dose of BNZ. METHODOLOGY Female BALB/c mice were infected with a bioluminescent T. cruzi H1 clone for approximately 70 days, then randomly divided into groups of 15 mice each. Mice were treated with a 25mg/kg BNZ, 25μg Tc24-C4 protein/ 5μg E6020-SE (Vaccine), 25mg/kg BNZ followed by vaccine, or 100mg/kg BNZ (curative dose). At study endpoints we evaluated hepatomegaly, parasite burden by quantitative PCR, cellular infiltration by histology, and expression of B-cell translocation gene 2(BTG2) and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) by RT-PCR. Levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were quantified from serum. RESULTS Curative BNZ treatment significantly reduced hepatomegaly, liver parasite burdens, and the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but significantly elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, and LDH. Low BNZ plus vaccine did not significantly affect hepatomegaly, parasite burdens or the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but only elevated ALT and AST. Low dose BNZ significantly decreased expression of both BTG2 and PPARα, and curative BNZ reduced expression of BTG2 while low BNZ plus vaccine had no impact. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm toxicity associated with curative doses of BNZ and suggest that while dose sparing low BNZ plus vaccine treatment does not reduce parasite burdens, it better preserves liver health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duc Minh Nguyen
- Center for Comparative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Fabian Gusovsky
- Global Health Research, Eisai, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kathryn Marie Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
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Liu Z, Ulrich vonBargen R, Kendricks AL, Wheeler K, Leão AC, Sankaranarayanan K, Dean DA, Kane SS, Hossain E, Pollet J, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM, McCall LI. Localized cardiac small molecule trajectories and persistent chemical sequelae in experimental Chagas disease. Nat Commun 2023; 14:6769. [PMID: 37880260 PMCID: PMC10600178 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-42247-w] [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] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Post-infectious conditions present major health burdens but remain poorly understood. In Chagas disease (CD), caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasites, antiparasitic agents that successfully clear T. cruzi do not always improve clinical outcomes. In this study, we reveal differential small molecule trajectories between cardiac regions during chronic T. cruzi infection, matching with characteristic CD apical aneurysm sites. Incomplete, region-specific, cardiac small molecule restoration is observed in animals treated with the antiparasitic benznidazole. In contrast, superior restoration of the cardiac small molecule profile is observed for a combination treatment of reduced-dose benznidazole plus an immunotherapy, even with less parasite burden reduction. Overall, these results reveal molecular mechanisms of CD treatment based on simultaneous effects on the pathogen and on host small molecule responses, and expand our understanding of clinical treatment failure in CD. This link between infection and subsequent persistent small molecule perturbation broadens our understanding of infectious disease sequelae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongyuan Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Rebecca Ulrich vonBargen
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | | | - Kate Wheeler
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Ana Carolina Leão
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Danya A Dean
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Shelley S Kane
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Ekram Hossain
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kathryn M Jones
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | - Laura-Isobel McCall
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
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Arias-Argáez BC, Dzul-Huchim VM, Haro-Álvarez AP, Rosado-Vallado ME, Villanueva-Lizama L, Cruz-Chan JV, Dumonteil E. Signature of cardiac alterations in early and late chronic infections with Trypanosoma cruzi in mice. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0292520. [PMID: 37797045 PMCID: PMC10553825 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292520] [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] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease by Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) infection is a leading cause of myocarditis worldwide. Chagas cardiomyopathy is presented with a wide variety of conduction abnormalities including arrhythmias, first- and second-degree atrioventricular blockade, left ventricular systolic dysfunction and some cases heart failure leading to the death. Currently, there are no effective treatments available against advanced Chagas disease. With the advance in the development of novel therapies, it is important to utilize an animal model that can effectively replicate the diverse stages of Chagas disease, including chronic asymptomatic and symptomatic infection, that are akin to those observed in humans. Therefore, to characterize the cardiac alterations during the evolution of the infection, we evaluated the progression of cardiomyopathy caused by T. cruzi H1 infection in both BALB/c and ICR mouse models by performing electrocardiogram (ECG) studies in unanesthetized mice every month until 210 days post-infection (dpi). In the late chronic phase of infection, we also performed echocardiogram (ECHO) studies to further assess cardiac function. In conclusion, we demonstrated that ICR mice were more susceptible to cardiac alterations compared to BALB/c mice and both mouse strains are suitable experimental models to study chronic T. cruzi infection and novel treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bárbara Carolina Arias-Argáez
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales “Dr. Hideyo Noguchi”, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Victor Manuel Dzul-Huchim
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales “Dr. Hideyo Noguchi”, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Ana Paulina Haro-Álvarez
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, Baja California, México
| | - Miguel Enrique Rosado-Vallado
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales “Dr. Hideyo Noguchi”, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Liliana Villanueva-Lizama
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales “Dr. Hideyo Noguchi”, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Julio Vladimir Cruz-Chan
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales “Dr. Hideyo Noguchi”, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
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11
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Nguyen DM, Poveda C, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM. The impact of vaccine-linked chemotherapy on liver health in a mouse model of chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.07.11.548497. [PMID: 37503013 PMCID: PMC10369866 DOI: 10.1101/2023.07.11.548497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Background Chagas disease, chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi, mainly manifests as cardiac disease. However, the liver is important for both controlling parasite burdens and metabolizing drugs. Notably, high doses of anti-parasitic drug benznidazole (BNZ) causes liver damage. We previously showed that combining low dose BNZ with a prototype therapeutic vaccine is a dose sparing strategy that effectively reduced T. cruzi induced cardiac damage. However, the impact of this treatment on liver health is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated several markers of liver health after treatment with low dose BNZ plus the vaccine therapy in comparison to a curative dose of BNZ. Methodology Female BALB/c mice were infected with a bioluminescent T. cruzi H1 clone for approximately 70 days, then randomly divided into groups of 15 mice each. Mice were treated with a 25mg/kg BNZ, 25μg Tc24-C4 protein/5μg E6020-SE (Vaccine), 25mg/kg BNZ followed by vaccine, or 100mg/kg BNZ (curative dose). At study endpoints we evaluated hepatomegaly, parasite burden by quantitative PCR, cellular infiltration by histology, and expression of B-cell translocation gene 2(BTG2) and Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) by RT-PCR. Levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were quantified from serum. Results Curative BNZ treatment significantly reduced hepatomegaly, liver parasite burdens, and the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but significantly elevated serum levels of ALT, AST, and LDH. Low BNZ plus vaccine did not significantly affect hepatomegaly, parasite burdens or the quantity of cellular infiltrate, but only elevated ALT and AST. Low dose BNZ significantly decreased expression of both BTG2 and PPARα, and curative BNZ reduced expression of BTG2 while low BNZ plus vaccine had no impact. Conclusions These data confirm toxicity associated with curative doses of BNZ and suggest that the dose sparing low BNZ plus vaccine treatment better preserves liver health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Duc Minh Nguyen
- Center for Comparative Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | | | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
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12
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Dumonteil E, Herrera C, Marx PA. Safety and preservation of cardiac function following therapeutic vaccination against Trypanosoma cruzi in rhesus macaques. JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY, IMMUNOLOGY, AND INFECTION = WEI MIAN YU GAN RAN ZA ZHI 2023; 56:400-407. [PMID: 36210315 PMCID: PMC10131272 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmii.2022.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/05/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy is responsible for a large disease burden in the Americas, and a therapeutic vaccine would be highly desirable. We tested the safety and efficacy of a therapeutic DNA vaccine encoding antigens TSA-1 and Tc24 for preventing cardiac alterations in experimentally infected macaques. A secondary objective was to evaluate the feasibility of detecting changes in cardiac alterations in these animals. METHODS Naïve rhesus macaques were infected with Trypanosoma cruzi and treated with three doses of DNA vaccines. RESULTS Blood cell counts and chemistry indicated that therapeutic vaccination was safe, as hepatic and renal function appeared unaffected by the vaccination and/or infection with T. cruzi. Electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings indicated that no marked arrhythmias developed up to 7 months post-infection. Univariate analysis of ECG parameters found no significant differences in any of these parameters between vaccinated and control macaques. However, linear discriminant analysis revealed that control macaques presented clear alterations in their ECG patterns at 7 months post-infection, indicative of the onset of conduction defects and cardiac alterations, and these changes were prevented in vaccine treated macaques. CONCLUSIONS This is the first evidence that therapeutic vaccination against T. cruzi can prevent cardiac alterations in non-human primates, strengthening the rationale for developing a human vaccine against Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
| | - Claudia Herrera
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Preston A Marx
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA; Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
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13
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Becker I, Miranda-Ortiz H, Fernández-Figueroa EA, Sánchez-Montes S, Colunga-Salas P, Grostieta E, Juárez-Gabriel J, Lozano-Sardaneta YN, Arce-Fonseca M, Rodríguez-Morales O, Meneses-Ruíz G, Pastén-Sánchez S, López Martínez I, González-Guzmán S, Paredes-Cervantes V, Moreira OC, Finamore-Araujo P, Canseco-Méndez JC, Coquis-Navarrete U, Rengifo-Correa L, González-Salazar C, Alfaro-Cortés MM, Falcón-Lezama JA, Tapia-Conyer R, Stephens CR. The Low Variability of Tc24 in Trypanosoma cruzi TcI as an Advantage for Chagas Disease Prophylaxis and Diagnosis in Mexico. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12030368. [PMID: 36986290 PMCID: PMC10057631 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12030368] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Chagas disease is the main neglected tropical disease in America. It is estimated that around 6 million people are currently infected with the parasite in Latin America, and 25 million live in endemic areas with active transmission. The disease causes an estimated economic loss of USD 24 billion dollars annually, with a loss of 75,200 working years per year of life; it is responsible for around ~12,000 deaths annually. Although Mexico is an endemic country that recorded 10,186 new cases of Chagas disease during the period of 1990–2017, few studies have evaluated the genetic diversity of genes that could be involved in the prophylaxis and/or diagnosis of the parasite. One of the possible candidates proposed as a vaccine target is the 24 kDa trypomastigote excretory–secretory protein, Tc24, whose protection is linked to the stimulation of T. cruzi-specific CD8+ immune responses. (2) Methods: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the fine-scale genetic diversity and structure of Tc24 in T. cruzi isolates from Mexico, and to compare them with other populations reported in the Americas with the aim to reconsider the potential role of Tc24 as a key candidate for the prophylaxis and improvement of the diagnosis of Chagas disease in Mexico. (3) Results: Of the 25 Mexican isolates analysed, 48% (12) were recovered from humans and 24% (6) recovered from Triatoma barberi and Triatoma dimidiata. Phylogenetic inferences revealed a polytomy in the T. cruzi clade with two defined subgroups, one formed by all sequences of the DTU I and the other formed by DTU II–VI; both subgroups had high branch support. Genetic population analysis detected a single (monomorphic) haplotype of TcI throughout the entire distribution across both Mexico and South America. This information was supported by Nei’s pairwise distances, where the sequences of TcI showed no genetic differences. (4) Conclusions: Given that both previous studies and the findings of the present work confirmed that TcI is the only genotype detected from human isolates obtained from various states of Mexico, and that there is no significant genetic variability in any of them, it is possible to propose the development of in silico strategies for the production of antigens that optimise the diagnosis of Chagas disease, such as quantitative ELISA methods that use this region of Tc24.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingeborg Becker
- Centro de Medicina Tropical, Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Correspondence: (I.B.); (C.R.S.)
| | - Haydee Miranda-Ortiz
- Unidad de Secuenciación, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City 14610, Mexico
| | | | - Sokani Sánchez-Montes
- Centro de Medicina Tropical, Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Laboratorio de Diagnóstico, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Región Poza Rica-Tuxpan, Universidad Veracruzana, Tuxpan de Rodríguez Cano 92870, Mexico
| | - Pablo Colunga-Salas
- Centro de Medicina Tropical, Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Instituto de Biotecnología y Ecología Aplicada, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa de Enríquez 91090, Mexico
| | - Estefanía Grostieta
- Centro de Medicina Tropical, Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Javier Juárez-Gabriel
- Centro de Medicina Tropical, Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Laboratorio de Diagnóstico, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias Región Poza Rica-Tuxpan, Universidad Veracruzana, Tuxpan de Rodríguez Cano 92870, Mexico
| | - Yokomi N. Lozano-Sardaneta
- Centro de Medicina Tropical, Unidad de Investigación en Medicina Experimental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Minerva Arce-Fonseca
- Department of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Mexico City 14080, Mexico
| | - Olivia Rodríguez-Morales
- Department of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Cardiology “Ignacio Chávez”, Mexico City 14080, Mexico
| | - Gabriela Meneses-Ruíz
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Secretaría de Salud, Mexico City 01480, Mexico
| | - Sergio Pastén-Sánchez
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Secretaría de Salud, Mexico City 01480, Mexico
| | - Irma López Martínez
- Departamento de Parasitología, Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Secretaría de Salud, Mexico City 01480, Mexico
| | - Saúl González-Guzmán
- Laboratorio del Banco Central de Sangre del Centro Médico Nacional “La Raza”, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City 02990, Mexico
- Departamento de Investigación, Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad de Zumpango, Zumpango 55600, Mexico
| | - Vladimir Paredes-Cervantes
- Unidad de Investigación Médica en Inmunología e Infectología, Hospital de Infectología, Centro Médico Nacional “La Raza”, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Mexico City 02990, Mexico
| | - Otacilio C. Moreira
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular e Doencas Endêmicas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 21040900, RJ, Brazil
| | - Paula Finamore-Araujo
- Laboratorio de Biología Molecular e Doencas Endêmicas, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz 21040900, RJ, Brazil
| | | | - Uriel Coquis-Navarrete
- Departamento de Genómica Poblacional, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City 14610, Mexico
| | - Laura Rengifo-Correa
- Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | | | | | - Jorge A. Falcón-Lezama
- División Académica de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Villahermosa 86100, Mexico
| | - Roberto Tapia-Conyer
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
| | - Christopher R. Stephens
- Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Correspondence: (I.B.); (C.R.S.)
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14
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Jones KM, Mangin EN, Reynolds CL, Villanueva LE, Cruz JV, Versteeg L, Keegan B, Kendricks A, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ. Vaccine-linked chemotherapy improves cardiac structure and function in a mouse model of chronic Chagas disease. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2023; 13:1106315. [PMID: 36844399 PMCID: PMC9947347 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1106315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Chagas disease, caused by chronic infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, affects 6-7 million people worldwide. The major clinical manifestation of Chagas disease is chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC), which encompasses a spectrum of symptoms including arrhythmias, hypertrophy, dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and sudden death. Current treatment is limited to two antiparasitic drugs, benznidazole (BNZ) and nifurtimox, but both have limited efficacy to halt the progression of CCC. We developed a vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy using our vaccine consisting of recombinant Tc24-C4 protein and a TLR-4 agonist adjuvant in a stable squalene emulsion, in combination with low dose benznidazole treatment. We previously demonstrated in acute infection models that this strategy parasite specific immune responses, and reduced parasite burdens and cardiac pathology. Here, we tested our vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy in a mouse model of chronic T. cruzi infection to evaluate the effect on cardiac function. Methods Female BALB/c mice infected with 500 blood form T. cruzi H1 strain trypomastigotes were treated beginning 70 days after infection with a low dose of BNZ and either low or high dose of vaccine, in both sequential and concurrent treatments streams. Control mice were untreated, or administered only one treatment. Cardiac health was monitored throughout the course of treatment by echocardiography and electrocardiograms. Approximately 8 months after infection, endpoint histopathology was performed to measure cardiac fibrosis and cellular infiltration. Results Vaccine-linked chemotherapy improved cardiac function as evidenced by amelioration of altered left ventricular wall thickness, left ventricular diameter, as well as ejection fraction and fractional shortening by approximately 4 months of infection, corresponding to two months after treatment was initiated. At study endpoint, vaccine-linked chemotherapy reduced cardiac cellular infiltration, and induced significantly increased antigen specific IFN-γ and IL-10 release from splenocytes, as well as a trend toward increased IL-17A. Discussion These data suggest that vaccine-linked chemotherapy ameliorates changes in cardiac structure and function induced by infection with T. cruzi. Importantly, similar to our acute model, the vaccine-linked chemotherapy strategy induced durable antigen specific immune responses, suggesting the potential for a long lasting protective effect. Future studies will evaluate additional treatments that can further improve cardiac function during chronic infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M. Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,*Correspondence: Kathryn M. Jones,
| | - Elise N. Mangin
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Corey L. Reynolds
- Department of Molecular Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Liliana E. Villanueva
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Julio Vladimir Cruz
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
| | - Brian Keegan
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - April Kendricks
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Fabian Gusovsky
- Global Health Research, Eisai, Inc., Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, United States,James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, United States,Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States
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15
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Liu Z, Ulrich R, Kendricks AL, Wheeler K, Leão AC, Pollet J, Bottazzi ME, Hotez P, Gusovsky F, Jones KM, McCall LI. Localized cardiac metabolic trajectories and post-infectious metabolic sequelae in experimental Chagas disease. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-2497474. [PMID: 36711878 PMCID: PMC9882638 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2497474/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Post-infectious conditions, where clinical symptoms fail to resolve even after pathogen clearance, present major health burdens. However, the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. In Chagas disease (CD), caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, antiparasitic agents can clear T. cruzi but late-stage treatment does not improve clinical cardiac outcomes. In this study, we revealed differential metabolic trajectories of cardiac regions during T. cruzi infection, matching sites of clinical symptoms. Incomplete, region-specific, cardiac metabolic restoration was observed in animals treated with the antiparasitic benznidazole, even though parasites were successfully cleared. In contrast, superior metabolic restoration was observed for a combination treatment of reduced-dose benznidazole plus an immunotherapy (Tc24-C4 T. cruzi flagellar protein and TLR4 agonist adjuvant), even though parasite burden reduction was lower. Overall, these results provide a mechanism to explain prior clinical treatment failures in CD and to test novel candidate treatment regimens. More broadly, our results demonstrate a link between persistent metabolic perturbation and post-infectious conditions, with broad implications for our understanding of post-infectious disease sequelae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zongyuan Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Rebecca Ulrich
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - April L. Kendricks
- Southern Star Medical Research Institute, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Kate Wheeler
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
| | - Ana Carolina Leão
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Peter Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | | | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States of America
| | - Laura-Isobel McCall
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
- Laboratories of Molecular Anthropology and Microbiome Research, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States of America
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Chagas Heart Disease: Beyond a Single Complication, from Asymptomatic Disease to Heart Failure. J Clin Med 2022; 11:jcm11247262. [PMID: 36555880 PMCID: PMC9784121 DOI: 10.3390/jcm11247262] [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: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 11/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas cardiomyopathy (CC), caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is an important cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in developing countries. It is estimated that 6 to 7 million people worldwide are infected, and it is predicted that it will be responsible for 200,000 deaths by 2025. The World Health Organization (WHO) considers Chagas disease (CD) as a Neglected Tropical Disease (NTD), which must be acknowledged and detected in time, as it remains a clinical and diagnostic challenge in both endemic and non-endemic regions and at different levels of care. The literature on CC was analyzed by searching different databases (Medline, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCO) from 1968 until October 2022. Multicenter and bioinformatics trials, systematic and bibliographic reviews, international guidelines, and clinical cases were included. The reference lists of the included papers were checked. No linguistic restrictions or study designs were applied. This review is intended to address the current incidence and prevalence of CD and to identify the main pathogenic mechanisms, clinical presentation, and diagnosis of CC.
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Dzul-Huchim VM, Ramirez-Sierra MJ, Martinez-Vega PP, Rosado-Vallado ME, Arana-Argaez VE, Ortega-Lopez J, Gusovsky F, Dumonteil E, Cruz-Chan JV, Hotez P, Bottazzi ME, Villanueva-Lizama LE. Vaccine-linked chemotherapy with a low dose of benznidazole plus a bivalent recombinant protein vaccine prevents the development of cardiac fibrosis caused by Trypanosoma cruzi in chronically-infected BALB/c mice. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2022; 16:e0010258. [PMID: 36095001 PMCID: PMC9499242 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2022] [Revised: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 08/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Chagas disease (CD) is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and affects 6–7 million people worldwide. Approximately 30% of chronic patients develop chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC) after decades. Benznidazole (BNZ), one of the first-line chemotherapy used for CD, induces toxicity and fails to halt the progression of CCC in chronic patients. The recombinant parasite-derived antigens, including Tc24, Tc24-C4, TSA-1, and TSA-1-C4 with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) agonist-adjuvants reduce cardiac parasite burdens, heart inflammation, and fibrosis, leading us to envision their use as immunotherapy together with BNZ. Given genetic immunization (DNA vaccines) encoding Tc24 and TSA-1 induce protective immunity in mice and dogs, we propose that immunization with the corresponding recombinant proteins offers an alternative and feasible strategy to develop these antigens as a bivalent human vaccine. We hypothesized that a low dose of BNZ in combination with a therapeutic vaccine (TSA-1-C4 and Tc24-C4 antigens formulated with a synthetic TLR-4 agonist-adjuvant, E6020-SE) given during early chronic infection, could prevent cardiac disease progression and provide antigen-specific T cell immunity. Methodology/ Principal findings We evaluated the therapeutic vaccine candidate plus BNZ (25 mg/kg/day/7 days) given on days 72 and 79 post-infection (p.i) (early chronic phase). Fibrosis, inflammation, and parasite burden were quantified in heart tissue at day 200 p.i. (late chronic phase). Further, spleen cells were collected to evaluate antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune response, using flow cytometry. We found that vaccine-linked BNZ treated mice had lower cardiac fibrosis compared to the infected untreated control group. Moreover, cells from mice that received the immunotherapy had higher stimulation index of antigen-specific CD8+Perforin+ T cells as well as antigen-specific central memory T cells compared to the infected untreated control. Conclusions Our results suggest that the bivalent immunotherapy together with BNZ treatment given during early chronic infection protects BALB/c mice against cardiac fibrosis progression and activates a strong CD8+ T cell response by in vitro restimulation, evidencing the induction of a long-lasting T. cruzi-immunity. Chagas disease (CD) is a neglected tropical disease caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, transmitted through contact with infected feces of vectors bugs. CD can induce cardiac abnormalities including the development of fibrosis and eventually death. Benznidazole (BNZ) is the first-line drug approved against CD, however, its toxicity and lack of efficacy in the chronic phase have limited its use. Previous studies have demonstrated the feasibility of reducing doses of BNZ given in combination with therapeutic vaccines during the acute phase of CD, which increases its tolerability and reduces adverse side effects. Considering that patients are often diagnosed until more advanced stages of the disease, its necessary to evaluate therapies given in the chronic phase of CD. In this study, we evaluated a vaccine formulated with the recombinant T. cruzi-antigens TSA-1-C4 and Tc24-C4 and the adjuvant E6020-SE in combination with a low dose of BNZ given during the chronic phase of T. cruzi-infection using a murine model. The authors found that the combination therapy protects mice against cardiac fibrosis progression, allows the activation of a CD8+ T cell response, and induces a prolonged memory response against T. cruzi. This study supports the development of the vaccine-linked chemotherapy approach to prevent T. cruzi chronic infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Manuel Dzul-Huchim
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Maria Jesus Ramirez-Sierra
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Pedro Pablo Martinez-Vega
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Miguel Enrique Rosado-Vallado
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Victor Ermilo Arana-Argaez
- Laboratorio de Farmacología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Jaime Ortega-Lopez
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Fabian Gusovsky
- Eisai, Inc., Eisai Inc, Andover, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Los Angeles, United States of America
| | - Julio Vladimir Cruz-Chan
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Peter Hotez
- Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - María Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Liliana Estefania Villanueva-Lizama
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- * E-mail:
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18
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Paula AT, Ribeiro KVG, Cardoso KF, Bastos DSS, Santos EC, Novaes RD, Cardoso SA, Oliveira LL. Protective immunity triggered by ectonucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-based biopharmaceuticals attenuates cardiac parasitism and prevents mortality in Trypanosoma cruzi infection. Bioorg Med Chem 2022; 72:116966. [PMID: 35998390 DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2022.116966] [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: 04/26/2022] [Revised: 08/04/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease is a potentially fatal infection in 21 endemic Latin America countries for which the effectiveness of reference antiparasitic chemotherapy is limited. Thus, we developed three biopharmaceuticals and evaluated the effectiveness of different immunization strategies (recombinant protein NTPDase-1 [rNTPDase-1], DNA plasmid encoding Trypanosoma cruzi NTPDase-1 [TcNTPDase-1] and DNA-NTPDase-1 prime/rNTPDase-1 boost [Prime-boost]) based on the surface ecto-nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase (ecto-NTPDase) enzyme of T. cruzi in animals challenged with a virulent strain (Y) of this parasite. BALB/c mice were immunized three times at 30 days intervals, challenged with T. cruzi 15 days after the last immunization, and euthanized 30 days after T. cruzi challenge. Our results showed limited polarization of specific anti-ecto-NTPDase immunoglobulins in mice receiving both immunization protocols. Conversely, the Prime-boost strategy stimulated the Th1 protective phenotype, upregulating TNF-α and downregulating IL-10 production while increasing the activation/distribution of CD3+/CD8+, CD4+/CD44hi and CD8+/CD44hi/CD62L cells in immunized and infected mice. Furthermore, IL-6 and IL10 levels were reduced, while the distribution of CD4+/CD44hi and CD3+/CD8+ cells was increased from rNTPDase-1 and DNA-NTPDase1-based immunization strategies. Animals receiving DNA-NTPDase1 and Prime-boost protocols before T. cruzi challenged exhibited an enhanced immunological response associated with IL-17 upregulation and remarkable downregulation of heart parasitism (T. cruzi DNA) and mortality. These findings indicated that NTPDase-1 with Prime-boost strategy induced a protective and sustained Th17 response, enhancing host resistance against T. cruzi. Thus, ecto-NTPDase is a potentially relevant and applicable in the development of biopharmaceuticals with greater immunoprophylactic potential for Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Eliziária Cardoso Santos
- School of Medicine, Federal University of Jequitinhonha and Mucuri Valleys, Diamantina, MG, Brazil
| | - Rômulo Dias Novaes
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Department of Structural Biology, Federal University of Alfenas, Alfenas 37130-001, MG, Brazil
| | - Silvia Almeida Cardoso
- Department of Medicine and Nursing, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa 36570-900, MG, Brazil
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19
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Jones KM, Poveda C, Versteeg L, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ. Preclinical advances and the immunophysiology of a new therapeutic chagas disease vaccine. Expert Rev Vaccines 2022; 21:1185-1203. [PMID: 35735065 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2022.2093721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Chronic infection with the protozoal parasite Trypanosoma cruzi leads to a progressive cardiac disease, known as chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy (CCC). A new therapeutic Chagas disease vaccine is in development to augment existing antiparasitic chemotherapy drugs. AREAS COVERED We report on our current understanding of the underlying immunologic and physiologic mechanisms that lead to CCC, including parasite immune escape mechanisms that allow persistence and the subsequent inflammatory and fibrotic processes that lead to clinical disease. We report on vaccine design and the observed immunotherapeutic effects including induction of a balanced TH1/TH2/TH17 immune response that leads to reduced parasite burdens and tissue pathology. Further, we report vaccine-linked chemotherapy, a dose sparing strategy to further reduce parasite burdens and tissue pathology. EXPERT OPINION Our vaccine-linked chemotherapeutic approach is a multimodal treatment strategy, addressing both the parasite persistence and the underlying deleterious host inflammatory and fibrotic responses that lead to cardiac dysfunction. In targeting treatment towards patients with chronic indeterminate or early determinate Chagas disease, this vaccine-linked chemotherapeutic approach will be highly economical and will reduce the global disease burden and deaths due to CCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn M Jones
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, De Elst 1, 6708 WD Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America.,James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America.,Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States of America
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20
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Assessment of a combined treatment with a therapeutic vaccine and benznidazole for the Trypanosoma cruzi chronic infection. Acta Trop 2022; 229:106334. [PMID: 35101415 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2022.106334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2022] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The difficulties encountered in achieving treatments for chronic Chagas disease have promoted the investigation of new therapeutic strategies. In this study, we used two murine models of Trypanosoma cruzi chronic infection to determine the usefulness of applying a therapeutic vaccine alone or followed by benznidazole (Bz) chemotherapy. A vaccine formulation based on an N-terminal fragment of Trans-sialidase (TS) and Immunostimulant Particle Adjuvant (ISPA) - TSNt-ISPA was obtained. Firstly, the immunogenicity and protective capacity of TSNt-ISPA was demonstrated as a prophylactic formulation in an acute model of infection. Later, the formulation was assessed as a therapeutic vaccine alone or combined with (Bz) using two models of chronic infection. BALB/c mice chronically infected with Sylvio X10/4 or Tulahuen cl2 T. cruzi strains were not treated as control or treated only with the therapeutic vaccine TSNt-ISPA, with a combined treatment TSNt-ISPA+Bz (Bz applied after the vaccine), or only with Bz. The vaccination schedule consisted of TSNt-ISPA administration at days110, 120, and 130 post-infection (pi) and Bz administration was performed daily from day 140 to 170 pi. At day 273 pi, electrocardiographic (ECG) parameters, heart parasite load, myocarditis, and heart fibrosis were assessed. In both models, therapeutic administration of TSNt-ISPA reduced ECG alterations and the cardiac tissue damage observed in the chronic phase. Moreover, vaccine treatment significantly decreased heart parasite load in both Sylvio X10/4 and Tulahuen cl2 infected mice. The combined treatment, but not Bz or vaccine administration alone, allowed to restore ECG parameters in Tulahuen cl2 infected mice. The results indicate the usefulness of the therapeutic TSNt-ISPA formulation in BALB/c mice chronically infected with Sylvio X10/4 or Tulahuen cl2 strain. For the mice infected with T. cruzi Tulahuen cl2 strain, the combined treatment with the vaccine and Bz had a more positive effect on the course of heart disease than the individual treatments with the vaccine or Bz alone.
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21
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Vaccine Design against Chagas Disease Focused on the Use of Nucleic Acids. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10040587. [PMID: 35455336 PMCID: PMC9028413 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10040587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 04/02/2022] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and is endemic to Central and South America. However, it has spread around the world and affects several million people. Treatment with currently available drugs cause several side effects and require long treatment times to eliminate the parasite, however, this does not improve the chronic effects of the disease such as cardiomyopathy. A therapeutic vaccine for Chagas disease may be able to prevent the disease and improve the chronic effects such as cardiomyopathy. This vaccine would be beneficial for both infected people and those which are at risk in endemic and non-endemic areas. In this article, we will review the surface antigens of T. cruzi, in order to choose those that are most antigenic and least variable, to design effective vaccines against the etiological agent of Chagas disease. Also, we discuss aspects of the design of nucleic acid-based vaccines, which have been developed and proven to be effective against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The role of co-adjuvants and delivery carriers is also discussed. We present an example of a chimeric trivalent vaccine, based on experimental work, which can be used to design a vaccine against Chagas disease.
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22
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Ramírez-Toloza G, Aguilar-Guzmán L, Valck C, Menon SS, Ferreira VP, Ferreira A. Is It Possible to Intervene in the Capacity of Trypanosoma cruzi to Elicit and Evade the Complement System? Front Immunol 2021; 12:789145. [PMID: 34975884 PMCID: PMC8716602 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.789145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas' disease is a zoonotic parasitic ailment now affecting more than 6 million people, mainly in Latin America. Its agent, the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is primarily transmitted by endemic hematophagous triatomine insects. Transplacental transmission is also important and a main source for the emerging global expansion of this disease. In the host, the parasite undergoes intra (amastigotes) and extracellular infective (trypomastigotes) stages, both eliciting complex immune responses that, in about 70% of the cases, culminate in permanent immunity, concomitant with the asymptomatic presence of the parasite. The remaining 30% of those infected individuals will develop a syndrome, with variable pathological effects on the circulatory, nervous, and digestive systems. Herein, we review an important number of T. cruzi molecules, mainly located on its surface, that have been characterized as immunogenic and protective in various experimental setups. We also discuss a variety of parasite strategies to evade the complement system - mediated immune responses. Within this context, we also discuss the capacity of the T. cruzi infective trypomastigote to translocate the ER-resident chaperone calreticulin to its surface as a key evasive strategy. Herein, it is described that T. cruzi calreticulin inhibits the initial stages of activation of the host complement system, with obvious benefits for the parasite. Finally, we speculate on the possibility to experimentally intervene in the interaction of calreticulin and other T. cruzi molecules that interact with the complement system; thus resulting in significant inhibition of T. cruzi infectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Galia Ramírez-Toloza
- Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Livestock Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Lorena Aguilar-Guzmán
- Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Livestock Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carolina Valck
- Department of Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Smrithi S. Menon
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States
| | - Viviana P. Ferreira
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH, United States
| | - Arturo Ferreira
- Department of Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
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23
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da Costa KM, Marques da Fonseca L, Dos Reis JS, Santos MARDC, Previato JO, Mendonça-Previato L, Freire-de-Lima L. Trypanosoma cruzi trans-Sialidase as a Potential Vaccine Target Against Chagas Disease. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:768450. [PMID: 34765570 PMCID: PMC8576188 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.768450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas’ disease is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, described in the early 20th century by the Brazilian physician Dr. Carlos Chagas. There was a great amount of research devoted to diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease. One of the most important discoveries made since then, impacting the understanding of how the parasite interacts with the host’s immune system, was the description of trans-sialidase. It is an unique enzyme, capable of masking the parasite’s presence from the host, while at the same time dampening the activation of CD8+ T cells, the most important components of the immune response. Since the description of Chagas’ disease in 1909, extensive research has identified important events in the disease in order to understand the biochemical mechanism that modulates T. cruzi-host cell interactions and the ability of the parasite to ensure its survival. The importance of the trans-sialidase enzyme brought life to many studies for the design of diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines. While many groups have been prolific, such efforts have encountered problems, among them: the fact that while T. cruzi have many genes that are unique to the parasite, it relies on multiple copies of them and the difficulty in providing epitopes that result in effective and robust immune responses. In this review, we aim to convey the importance of trans-sialidase as well as to provide a history, including the initial failures and the most promising successes in the chasing of a working vaccine for a disease that is endemic in many tropical countries, including Brazil.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelli Monteiro da Costa
- Laboratório de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Marques da Fonseca
- Laboratório de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Jhenifer Santos Dos Reis
- Laboratório de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | | | - José Osvaldo Previato
- Laboratório de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Lucia Mendonça-Previato
- Laboratório de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Leonardo Freire-de-Lima
- Laboratório de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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24
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Versteeg L, Adhikari R, Poveda C, Villar-Mondragon MJ, Jones KM, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Tijhaar E, Pollet J. Location and expression kinetics of Tc24 in different life stages of Trypanosoma cruzi. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009689. [PMID: 34478444 PMCID: PMC8415617 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0009689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Tc24-C4, a modified recombinant flagellar calcium-binding protein of Trypanosoma cruzi, is under development as a therapeutic subunit vaccine candidate to prevent or delay progression of chronic Chagasic cardiomyopathy. When combined with Toll-like receptor agonists, Tc24-C4 immunization reduces parasitemia, parasites in cardiac tissue, and cardiac fibrosis and inflammation in animal models. To support further research on the vaccine candidate and its mechanism of action, murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against Tc24-C4 were generated. Here, we report new findings made with mAb Tc24-C4/884 that detects Tc24-WT and Tc24-C4, as well as native Tc24 in T. cruzi on ELISA, western blots, and different imaging techniques. Surprisingly, detection of Tc24 by Tc24-C/884 in fixed T. cruzi trypomastigotes required permeabilization of the parasite, revealing that Tc24 is not exposed on the surface of T. cruzi, making a direct role of antibodies in the induced protection after Tc24-C4 immunization less likely. We further observed that after immunostaining T. cruzi-infected cells with mAb Tc24-C4/884, the expression of Tc24 decreases significantly when T. cruzi trypomastigotes enter host cells and transform into amastigotes. However, Tc24 is then upregulated in association with parasite flagellar growth linked to re-transformation into the trypomastigote form, prior to host cellular escape. These observations are discussed in the context of potential mechanisms of vaccine immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leroy Versteeg
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Rakesh Adhikari
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Cristina Poveda
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Maria Jose Villar-Mondragon
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Edwin Tijhaar
- Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
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25
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Hernández-Cuevas NA, Marín-Cervera A, Garcia-Polanco S, Martínez-Vega P, Rosado-Vallado M, Dumonteil E. Fibronectin degradation as biomarker for Trypanosoma cruzi infection and treatment monitoring in mice. Parasitology 2021; 148:1067-1073. [PMID: 34024298 PMCID: PMC11010125 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182021000809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Revised: 05/13/2021] [Accepted: 05/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Biomarkers (coming from host or parasite) to monitor Chagas disease (CD) progression as well as the therapeutic response in chronic CD are critically needed, since seronegativization, which may be considered the best indicator of therapeutic cure, takes several years to be observed in adults. Several molecules have been suggested as biomarkers for CD, however, they have to be validated. Taking advantage of mouse models of Trypanosoma cruzi infection, we investigated changes in the degradation profile of fibronectin in plasma. The degradation profile of fibronectin was different in the acute phase compared to the chronic phase of the infection. Fibronectin fragments of approximately 150, 100, 40 and 30 kDa were identified. Furthermore, those degradation profiles correlated with acute parasitaemia as well as with cardiac parasite burden and tissue damage during the infection. The usefulness of fibronectin degradation as a biomarker for therapeutic response following drug treatment and immunotherapeutic vaccination also was evaluated and a decreased fibronectin degradation profile was observed upon benznidazole or a vaccine candidate treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nora Adriana Hernández-Cuevas
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales ‘Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Andrea Marín-Cervera
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales ‘Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Shineily Garcia-Polanco
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales ‘Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Pedro Martínez-Vega
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales ‘Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Miguel Rosado-Vallado
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales ‘Dr. Hideyo Noguchi’, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
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Parsons Z, Banitaan S. Automatic identification of Chagas disease vectors using data mining and deep learning techniques. ECOL INFORM 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2021.101270] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
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Dumonteil E, Herrera C. The Case for the Development of a Chagas Disease Vaccine: Why? How? When? Trop Med Infect Dis 2021; 6:tropicalmed6010016. [PMID: 33530605 PMCID: PMC7851737 DOI: 10.3390/tropicalmed6010016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is a major neglected tropical disease, transmitted predominantly by triatomine insect vectors, but also through congenital and oral routes. While endemic in the Americas, it has turned into a global disease. Because of the current drug treatment limitations, a vaccine would represent a major advancement for better control of the disease. Here, we review some of the rationale, advances, and challenges for the ongoing development of a vaccine against Chagas disease. Recent pre-clinical studies in murine models have further expanded (i) the range of vaccine platforms and formulations tested; (ii) our understanding of the immune correlates for protection; and (iii) the extent of vaccine effects on cardiac function, beyond survival and parasite burden. We further discuss outstanding issues and opportunities to move Chagas disease development forward in the near future.
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Vergni D, Gaudio R, Santoni D. The farther the better: Investigating how distance from human self affects the propensity of a peptide to be presented on cell surface by MHC class I molecules, the case of Trypanosoma cruzi. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243285. [PMID: 33284846 PMCID: PMC7721184 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
More than twenty years ago the reverse vaccinology paradigm came to light trying to design new vaccines based on the analysis of genomic information in order to select those pathogen peptides able to trigger an immune response. In this context, focusing on the proteome of Trypanosoma cruzi, we investigated the link between the probabilities for pathogen peptides to be presented on a cell surface and their distance from human self. We found a reasonable but, as far as we know, undiscovered property: the farther the distance between a peptide and the human-self the higher the probability for that peptide to be presented on a cell surface. We also found that the most distant peptides from human self bind, on average, a broader collection of HLAs than expected, implying a potential immunological role in a large portion of individuals. Finally, introducing a novel quantitative indicator for a peptide to measure its potential immunological role, we proposed a pool of peptides that could be potential epitopes and that can be suitable for experimental testing. The software to compute peptide classes according to the distance from human self is free available at http://www.iasi.cnr.it/~dsantoni/nullomers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Vergni
- Istituto per le Applicazioni del Calcolo “Mauro Picone” - CNR, Rome, Italy
| | - Rosanna Gaudio
- Department of Biology, University Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Daniele Santoni
- Istituto di Analisi dei Sistemi ed Informatica “Antonio Ruberti” - CNR, Rome, Italy
- * E-mail:
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Arnal A, Villanueva‐Lizama L, Teh‐Poot C, Herrera C, Dumonteil E. Extent of polymorphism and selection pressure on the Trypanosoma cruzi vaccine candidate antigen Tc24. Evol Appl 2020; 13:2663-2672. [PMID: 33294015 PMCID: PMC7691455 DOI: 10.1111/eva.13068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Revised: 06/30/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a major public health problem in the Americas, and existing drugs have severe limitations. In this context, a vaccine would be an attractive alternative for disease control. One of the difficulties in developing an effective vaccine lies in the high genetic diversity of T. cruzi. In this study, we evaluated the level of sequence diversity of the leading vaccine candidate Tc24 in multiple parasite strains. METHODS AND RESULTS We quantified its level of polymorphism within and between T. cruzi discrete typing units (DTUs) and how this potential polymorphism is structured by different selective pressures. We observed a low level of polymorphism of Tc24 protein, weakly associated with parasite DTUs, but not with the geographic origin of the strains. In particular, Tc24 was under strong purifying selection pressure and predicted CD8+ T-cell epitopes were mostly conserved. Tc24 strong conservation may be associated with structural/functional constrains to preserve EF hand domains and their calcium-binding loops, and Tc24 is likely important for the parasite fitness. DISCUSSION Together, these results show that a vaccine based on Tc24 is likely to be effective against a wide diversity of parasite strains across the American continent, and further development of this vaccine candidate should be a high priority.
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Affiliation(s)
- Audrey Arnal
- Laboratorio de ParasitologíaCentro de Investigaciones Regionales “DrHideyo Noguchi”Universidad Autónoma de YucatánMéridaMexico
- Departamento de Ecología de la BiodiversidadInstituto de EcologíaUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoCiudad de MéxicoMéxico
| | - Liliana Villanueva‐Lizama
- Laboratorio de ParasitologíaCentro de Investigaciones Regionales “DrHideyo Noguchi”Universidad Autónoma de YucatánMéridaMexico
| | - Christian Teh‐Poot
- Laboratorio de ParasitologíaCentro de Investigaciones Regionales “DrHideyo Noguchi”Universidad Autónoma de YucatánMéridaMexico
| | - Claudia Herrera
- Department of Tropical MedicineSchool of Public Health and Tropical MedicineTulane UniversityNew OrleansLAUSA
- Vector‐Borne and Infectious Disease Research CenterTulane UniversityNew OrleansLAUSA
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical MedicineSchool of Public Health and Tropical MedicineTulane UniversityNew OrleansLAUSA
- Vector‐Borne and Infectious Disease Research CenterTulane UniversityNew OrleansLAUSA
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30
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Han CY, Issa H, Rychtář J, Taylor D, Umana N. A voluntary use of insecticide treated nets can stop the vector transmission of Chagas disease. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2020; 14:e0008833. [PMID: 33141850 PMCID: PMC7671556 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0008833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
One of the stated goals of the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases is the interruption of domiciliary transmissions of Chagas disease in the region of the Americas. We used a game-theoretic approach to assess the voluntary use of insecticide treated nets (ITNs) in the prevention of the spread of infection through vector bites. Our results show that individuals behave rationally and weigh the risks of insect bites against the cost of the ITNs. The optimal voluntary use of ITNs results in predicted incidence rates that closely track the real incidence rates in Latin America. This means that ITNs are effective and could be used to control the spread of the disease by relying on individual decisions rather than centralized policies. Our model shows that to completely eradicate the vector transmission through the voluntary individual use of ITNs, the cost of ITNs should be as low as possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheol Yong Han
- Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Habeeb Issa
- Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Jan Rychtář
- Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Dewey Taylor
- Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
| | - Nancy Umana
- Department of Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA
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31
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Villanueva-Lizama LE, Cruz-Chan JV, Versteeg L, Teh-Poot CF, Hoffman K, Kendricks A, Keegan B, Pollet J, Gusovsky F, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Jones KM. TLR4 agonist protects against Trypanosoma cruzi acute lethal infection by decreasing cardiac parasite burdens. Parasite Immunol 2020; 42:e12769. [PMID: 32592180 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12769] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2020] [Revised: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
E6020 is a synthetic agonist of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different doses of E6020-SE on Trypanosoma cruzi-specific immune responses and its ability to confer protection against acute lethal infection in mice. Forty female BALB/c were infected with 500 trypomastigotes of T cruzi H1 strain, divided into four groups (n = 10) and treated at 7- and 14-day post-infection (dpi) with different doses of E6020-SE or PBS (control). Survival was followed for 51 days, mice were euthanized and hearts were collected to evaluate parasite burden, inflammation and fibrosis. We found significantly higher survival and lower parasite burdens in mice injected with E6020-SE at all doses compared to the control group. However, E6020-SE treatment did not significantly reduce cardiac inflammation or fibrosis. On the other hand, E6020-SE modulated Th1 and Th2 cytokines, decreasing IFN-γ and IL-4 in a dose-dependent manner after stimulation with parasite antigens. We conclude that E6020-SE alone increased survival by decreasing cardiac parasite burdens in BALB/c mice acutely infected with T cruzi but failed to prevent cardiac damage. Our results suggest that for optimal protection, a vaccine antigen is necessary to balance and orient a protective immune response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliana E Villanueva-Lizama
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Julio V Cruz-Chan
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Christian F Teh-Poot
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, México
| | - Kristyn Hoffman
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - April Kendricks
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Brian Keegan
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | - Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA.,James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.,Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, TX, USA
| | - Kathryn M Jones
- Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Richard K, Perkins DJ, Harberts EM, Song Y, Gopalakrishnan A, Shirey KA, Lai W, Vlk A, Mahurkar A, Nallar S, Hawkins LD, Ernst RK, Vogel SN. Dissociation of TRIF bias and adjuvanticity. Vaccine 2020; 38:4298-4308. [PMID: 32389496 PMCID: PMC7302928 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.04.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2019] [Revised: 03/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Toll-like receptors (TLRs), a family of "pattern recognition receptors," bind microbial and host-derived molecules, leading to intracellular signaling and proinflammatory gene expression. TLR4 is unique in that ligand-mediated activation requires the co-receptor myeloid differentiation 2 (MD2) to initiate two signaling cascades: the MyD88-dependent pathway is initiated at the cell membrane, and elicits rapid MAP kinase and NF-κB activation, while the TIR-domain containing adaptor inducing interferon-β (TRIF)-dependent pathway is initiated from TLR4-containing endosomes and results in IRF3 activation. Previous studies associated inflammation with the MyD88 pathway and adjuvanticity with the TRIF pathway. Gram-negative lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a potent TLR4 agonist, and structurally related molecules signal through TLR4 to differing extents. Herein, we compared monophosphoryl lipid A (sMPL) and E6020, two synthetic, non-toxic LPS lipid A analogs used as vaccine adjuvants, for their capacities to activate TLR4-mediated innate immune responses and to enhance antibody production. In mouse macrophages, high dose sMPL activates MyD88-dependent signaling equivalently to E6020, while E6020 exhibits significantly more activation of the TRIF pathway (a "TRIF bias") than sMPL. Eritoran, a TLR4/MD2 antagonist, competitively inhibited sMPL more strongly than E6020. Despite these differences, sMPL and E6020 adjuvants enhanced antibody responses to comparable extents, with balanced immunoglobulin (Ig) isotypes in two immunization models. These data indicate that a TRIF bias is not necessarily predictive of superior adjuvanticity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katharina Richard
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Darren J Perkins
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Erin M Harberts
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Yang Song
- Genome Informatics Core, Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), UMSOM, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Archana Gopalakrishnan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Kari Ann Shirey
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Wendy Lai
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Alexandra Vlk
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Anup Mahurkar
- Genome Informatics Core, Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS), UMSOM, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Shreeram Nallar
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | | | - Robert K Ernst
- Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Maryland School of Dentistry (UMSOD), Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Stefanie N Vogel
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM), Baltimore, MD, United States.
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Dumonteil E, Herrera C, Tu W, Goff K, Fahlberg M, Haupt E, Kaur A, Marx PA, Ortega-Lopez J, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME. Safety and immunogenicity of a recombinant vaccine against Trypanosoma cruzi in Rhesus macaques. Vaccine 2020; 38:4584-4591. [PMID: 32417142 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 04/21/2020] [Accepted: 05/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is one of the most important neglected parasitic diseases in the Americas. Vaccines represent an attractive complementary strategy for the control of T. cruzi infection and pre-clinical studies in mice demonstrated that trypomastigote surface antigen (TSA-1) and the flagellar calcium-binding (Tc24) parasite antigens are promising candidates for vaccine development. We performed here the first evaluation of the safety and immunogenicity of two recombinant vaccine antigens (named TSA1-C4 and Tc24-C4) in naïve non-human primates. Three rhesus macaques received 3 doses of each recombinant protein, formulated with E6020 (Eisai Co., Ltd.), a novel Toll-like receptor-4 agonist, in a stable emulsion. All parameters from blood chemistry and blood cell counts were stable over the course of the study and unaffected by the vaccine. A specific IgG response against both antigens was detectable after the first vaccine dose, and increased with the second dose. After three vaccine doses, stimulation of PBMCs with a peptide pool derived from TSA1-C4 resulted in the induction of TSA1-C4-specific TNFα-, IL-2- and IFNγ-producing CD4+ in one or two animals while stimulation with a peptide pool derived from Tc24-C4 only activated IFNγ-producing CD4+T cells in one animal. In two animals there was also activation of TSA1-C4-specific IL2-producing CD8+ T cells. This is the first report of the immunogenicity of T. cruzi-derived recombinant antigens formulated as an emulsion with a TLR4 agonist in a non-human primate model. Our results strongly support the need for further evaluation of the preventive efficacy of this type of vaccine in non-human primates and explore the effect of the vaccine in a therapeutic model of naturally-infected Chagasic non-human primates, which would strengthen the rationale for the clinical development as a human vaccine against Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
| | - Claudia Herrera
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Weihong Tu
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - Kelly Goff
- Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Marissa Fahlberg
- Division of Immunology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Erin Haupt
- Division of Immunology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Amitinder Kaur
- Division of Immunology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Preston A Marx
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA; Division of Microbiology, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Tulane University, Covington, LA, USA
| | - Jaime Ortega-Lopez
- Departmento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, CINVESTAV, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Quijia Quezada C, Azevedo CS, Charneau S, Santana JM, Chorilli M, Carneiro MB, Bastos IMD. Advances in nanocarriers as drug delivery systems in Chagas disease. Int J Nanomedicine 2019; 14:6407-6424. [PMID: 31496694 PMCID: PMC6691952 DOI: 10.2147/ijn.s206109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Accepted: 05/31/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease is one of the most important public health problems in Latin America due to its high mortality and morbidity levels. There is no effective treatment for this disease since drugs are usually toxic with low bioavailability. Serious efforts to achieve disease control and eventual eradication have been unsuccessful to date, emphasizing the need for rapid diagnosis, drug development, and a reliable vaccine. Novel systems for drug and vaccine administration based on nanocarriers represent a promising avenue for Chagas disease treatment. Nanoparticulate systems can reduce toxicity, and increase the efficacy and bioavailability of active compounds by prolonging release, and therefore improve the therapeutic index. Moreover, nanoparticles are able to interact with the host's immune system, modulating the immune response to favour the elimination of pathogenic microorganisms. In addition, new advances in diagnostic assays, such as nanobiosensors, are beneficial in that they enable precise identification of the pathogen. In this review, we provide an overview of the strategies and nanocarrier-based delivery systems for antichagasic agents, such as liposomes, micelles, nanoemulsions, polymeric and non-polymeric nanoparticles. We address recent progress, with a particular focus on the advances of nanovaccines and nanodiagnostics, exploring new perspectives on Chagas disease treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Quijia Quezada
- Pathogen-Host Interface Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil.,Department of Drugs and Medicines, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Clênia S Azevedo
- Pathogen-Host Interface Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Sébastien Charneau
- Laboratory of Protein Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Jaime M Santana
- Pathogen-Host Interface Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Marlus Chorilli
- Department of Drugs and Medicines, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marcella B Carneiro
- Electron Microscopy Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
| | - Izabela Marques Dourado Bastos
- Pathogen-Host Interface Laboratory, Department of Cell Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Brasilia, Brasília, Brazil
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35
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Teh-Poot C, Dumonteil E. Mining Trypanosoma cruzi Genome Sequences for Antigen Discovery and Vaccine Development. Methods Mol Biol 2019; 1955:23-34. [PMID: 30868516 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9148-8_2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
A large number of studies have demonstrated that Trypanosoma cruzi can be controlled by vaccines in animal models, but the identification of effective vaccine antigens represents one of the most critical steps in vaccine development. Thus, only a limited diversity of parasite antigens has been empirically tested as vaccine candidates. More recently, genome-to-vaccine approaches, based principally on T-cell epitope prediction, have emerged as powerful strategies to accelerate vaccine development. In parallel, the increased availability of extensive genomic information on multiple T. cruzi strains offers a major resource for data mining and antigen identification. We present here some of the key strategies for T. cruzi genome mining for antigen discovery and vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Teh-Poot
- Laboratorio de Parasitologia, CIR Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
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High prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in shelter dogs from southern Louisiana, USA. Parasit Vectors 2019; 12:322. [PMID: 31238941 PMCID: PMC6593594 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3572-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Chagas disease is a zoonotic disease caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The role of dogs as sentinels has been proposed in multiple regions, as they are a domestic reservoir for T. cruzi. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of T. cruzi infection in shelter dogs from southern Louisiana, and assess its magnitude and distribution. Results A total of 540 dogs were enrolled, from 20 animal shelters, and tested for T. cruzi infection by serological tests (rapid test, ELISA and western blot) and PCR. We documented a high prevalence of T. cruzi infection with at least 6.9% (95% CI: 5.0–9.3%) seropositive and 15.7% (95% CI: 12.9–19.1%) PCR-positive dogs. Serological tests showed limited agreement, and concordance between serology and PCR was higher when considering reactivity to single serological tests. Trypanosoma cruzi infection was distributed evenly among shelters. Infection was significantly correlated with age (R2 = 0.99), indicating an incidence of new cases of 2.27 ± 0.25% per year. Conclusion Trypanosoma cruzi infection is a significant and widespread veterinary problem in shelter dogs in the region, although it is mostly unnoticed by health professionals. This highlights the need for greater awareness of T. cruzi infection among the veterinary community and dog owners. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3572-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Cabrera G, Marcipar I. Vaccines and the regulatory arm of the immune system. An overview from the Trypanosoma cruzi infection model. Vaccine 2019; 37:3628-3637. [PMID: 31155420 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.05.015] [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] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Revised: 04/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/03/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The knowledge that the immune system is composed of a regulatory/suppressor arm added a new point of view to better understand the nature of several pathologies including cancer, transplants, infections and autoimmune diseases. The striking discoveries concerning molecules and cells involved in this kind of regulation were followed by the elucidation of equally notable mechanisms used by several pathogens to manipulate the host immune system. Vaccines against pathogens are an invaluable tool developed to help the immune system cope with a potential infection or prevent disease pathology. Nowadays, there is accumulated evidence indicating that the powerful stimulation capacity of vaccines influences not only the effector arm of the immune system but also cells with regulatory/suppressor capacity, such as myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi) is a protozoan parasite with a complex life cycle that has evolved several strategies to influence the regulatory immune response. Although diverse vaccine formulations have been able to stimulate the effector response, achieving non-sterilizing protection against T. cruzi, the influence of the vaccine candidates on the regulatory machinery has scarcely been assessed. This fact may not only reveal important information concerning how vaccines may influence cells with regulatory/suppressor capacity but also open the possibility to analyze whether vaccines are able to disrupt the mechanisms used by some pathogens to manipulate the host regulatory circuits. The aim of this review is to summarize and discuss available data related to the role of cellular components, like MDSCs and Foxp3+ Tregs, during T. cruzi infection, and the potential utility of those populations as additional targets for the rational design of vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Cabrera
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina.
| | - Iván Marcipar
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina; Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
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Barry MA, Versteeg L, Wang Q, Pollet J, Zhan B, Gusovsky F, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Jones KM. A therapeutic vaccine prototype induces protective immunity and reduces cardiac fibrosis in a mouse model of chronic Trypanosoma cruzi infection. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019; 13:e0007413. [PMID: 31145733 PMCID: PMC6542517 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0007413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2018] [Accepted: 04/25/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, develops into chronic Chagas’ cardiomyopathy in ~30% of infected individuals, characterized by conduction disorders, arrhythmias, heart failure, and even sudden cardiac death. Current anti-parasitic treatments are plagued by significant side effects and poor efficacy in the chronic phase of disease; thus, there is a pressing need for new treatment options. A therapeutic vaccine could bolster the protective TH1-mediated immune response, thereby slowing or halting the progression of chronic Chagas’ cardiomyopathy. Prior work in mice has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy of a Tc24 recombinant protein vaccine in the acute phase of Chagas disease. However, it is anticipated that humans will be vaccinated therapeutically when in the chronic phase of disease. This study investigates the therapeutic efficacy of a vaccine prototype containing recombinant protein Tc24, formulated with an emulsion containing the Toll-like receptor 4 agonist E6020 as an immunomodulatory adjuvant in a mouse model of chronic T. cruzi infection. Among outbred ICR mice vaccinated during chronic T. cruzi infection, there is a significant increase in the number of animals with undetectable systemic parasitemia (60% of vaccinated mice compared to 0% in the sham vaccine control group), and a two-fold reduction in cardiac fibrosis over the control group. The vaccinated mice produce a robust protective TH1-biased immune response to the vaccine, as demonstrated by a significant increase in antigen-specific IFNγ-production, the number of antigen-specific IFNγ-producing cells, and IgG2a antibody titers. Importantly, therapeutic vaccination significantly reduced cardiac fibrosis in chronically infected mice. This is a first study demonstrating therapeutic efficacy of the prototype Tc24 recombinant protein and E6020 stable emulsion vaccine against cardiac fibrosis in a mouse model of chronic T. cruzi infection. Chagas disease is a parasitic infection that can cause severe heart disease. Current treatments do not work well and have significant side effects. Because of this, the authors created a new vaccine prototype with the goal that it could be given to infected people to prevent Chagas-associated heart disease. The vaccine contains a manufactured protein identical to a protein in the parasite (called Tc24) as well as a component to help the body produce a protective immune response (a vaccine adjuvant called E6020). The vaccine would boost the body’s natural immune response to the parasite infection, reducing the number of parasites in the body, and protecting the heart. Frequently, people are not diagnosed until later in the infection, because the early (or acute) stage of disease can be mistaken for a common cold. Because of this, it is important to test the vaccine when given in the later (or chronic) stage of infection. The authors tested the vaccine in a mouse model of chronic T. cruzi infection and found that the vaccinated mice had lower levels of parasites in their body and less damage to their hearts. This research shows promising value of a therapeutic vaccine to prevent Chagas-associated heart disease in a mouse model, with the hope that the same effect could be found in humans one day.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meagan A. Barry
- Interdepartmental Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MB); (KJ)
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Qian Wang
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jeroen Pollet
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Bin Zhan
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Fabian Gusovsky
- Eisai, Inc., Eisai Inc, Andover, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Interdepartmental Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter J. Hotez
- Interdepartmental Program in Translational Biology and Molecular Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kathryn M. Jones
- Section of Tropical Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MB); (KJ)
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Pérez Brandán C, Mesias AC, Acuña L, Teixeira TL, da Silva CV. Evaluation of pathogen P21 protein as a potential modulator of the protective immunity induced by Trypanosoma cruzi attenuated parasites. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz 2019; 114:e180571. [PMID: 31116244 PMCID: PMC6528380 DOI: 10.1590/0074-02760180571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND TcP21 is a ubiquitous secreted protein of Trypanosoma cruzi and its recombinant form (rP21) promotes parasite cell invasion and acts as a phagocytosis inducer by activating actin polymerisation in the host cell. OBJECTIVE Our goal was to evaluate if the additional supplementation of rP21 during a prime/boost/challenge scheme with T. cruzi TCC attenuated parasites could modify the well-known protective behavior conferred by these parasites. METHODS The humoral immune response was evaluated through the assessment of total anti-T. cruzi antibodies as well as IgG subtypes. IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-10 were measured in supernatants of splenic cells stimulated with total parasite homogenate or rP21. FINDINGS Our results demonstrated that, when comparing TCC+rP21 vs. TCC vaccinated animals, the levels of IFN-γ were significantly higher in the former group, while the levels of IL-10 and TNF-α were significantly lower. Further, the measurement of parasite load after lethal challenge showed an exacerbated infection and parasite load in heart and skeletal muscle after pre-treatment with rP21, suggesting the important role of this protein during parasite natural invasion process. MAIN CONCLUSION Our results demonstrated that rP21 may have adjuvant capacity able to modify the cytokine immune profile elicited by attenuated parasites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Pérez Brandán
- Universidad Nacional de Salta, Instituto de Patología Experimental, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Salta- Capital, Argentina
| | - Andrea C Mesias
- Universidad Nacional de Salta, Instituto de Patología Experimental, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Salta- Capital, Argentina
| | - Leonardo Acuña
- Universidad Nacional de Salta, Instituto de Patología Experimental, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Salta- Capital, Argentina
| | - Thaise Lara Teixeira
- Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
| | - Claudio Vieira da Silva
- Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Uberlândia, MG, Brasil
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Bartsch SM, Bottazzi ME, Asti L, Strych U, Meymandi S, Falcón-Lezama JA, Randall S, Hotez PJ, Lee BY. Economic value of a therapeutic Chagas vaccine for indeterminate and Chagasic cardiomyopathy patients. Vaccine 2019; 37:3704-3714. [PMID: 31104883 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.05.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2019] [Revised: 05/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Therapeutic vaccines to prevent Chagas disease progression to cardiomyopathy are under development because the only available medications (benznidazole and nifurtimox) are limited by their efficacy, long treatment course, and side effects. Better understanding the potential clinical and economic value of such vaccines can help guide development and implementation. METHODS We developed a computational Chagas Markov model to evaluate the clinical and economic value of a therapeutic vaccine given in conjunction with benznidazole in indeterminate and chronic Chagas patients. Scenarios explored the vaccine's impact on reducing drug treatment dosage, duration, and adverse events, and risk of disease progression. RESULTS When administering standard-of-care benznidazole to 1000 indeterminate patients, 148 discontinued treatment and 219 progressed to chronic disease, resulting in 119 Chagas-related deaths and 2293 DALYs, costing $18.9 million in lifetime societal costs. Compared to benznidazole-only, therapeutic vaccination administered with benznidazole (25-75% reduction in standard dose and duration), resulted in 37-111 more patients (of 1000) completing treatment, preventing 11-219 patients from progressing, 6-120 deaths, and 108-2229 DALYs (5-100% progression risk reduction), saving ≤$16,171 per patient. When vaccinating determinate Kuschnir class 1 Chagas patients, 10-197 fewer patients further progressed compared to benznidazole-only, averting 11-228 deaths and 144-3037 DALYs (5-100% progression risk reduction), saving ≤$34,059 per person. When vaccinating Kuschnir class 2 patients, 13-279 fewer progressed (279 with benznidazole-only), averting 13-692 deaths and 283-10,785 DALYs (5-100% progression risk reduction), saving ≤$89,759. Therapeutic vaccination was dominant (saved costs and provided health benefits) with ≥ 5% progression risk reduction, except when only reducing drug treatment regimen and adverse events, but remained cost-effective when costing <$200. CONCLUSIONS Our study helps outline the thresholds at which a therapeutic Chagas vaccine may be cost-effective (e.g., <5% reduction in preventing cardiac progression, 25% reduction in benznidazole treatment doses and duration) and cost-saving (e.g., ≥5% and 25%, respectively).
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Bartsch
- Public Health Computational and Operational Research (PHICOR), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- National School of Tropical Medicine and Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, BCM113 Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Lindsey Asti
- Public Health Computational and Operational Research (PHICOR), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Ulrich Strych
- National School of Tropical Medicine and Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, BCM113 Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Sheba Meymandi
- Center of Excellence for Chagas Disease at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, 14445 Olive View Drive, Sylmar, CA 91342, USA
| | - Jorge Abelardo Falcón-Lezama
- Carlos Slim Foundation, Lago Zurich 245, Piso 20. Ampliación Granada, Del. Miguel Hidalgo, C.P. 11529 Ciudad de México, Mexico
| | - Samuel Randall
- Public Health Computational and Operational Research (PHICOR), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- National School of Tropical Medicine and Departments of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, BCM113 Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Bruce Y Lee
- Public Health Computational and Operational Research (PHICOR), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Global Obesity Prevention Center (GOPC), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
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Dumonteil E, Herrera C, Buekens P. A therapeutic preconceptional vaccine against Chagas disease: A novel indication that could reduce congenital transmission and accelerate vaccine development. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2019; 13:e0006985. [PMID: 30703092 PMCID: PMC6354953 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Eric Dumonteil
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Claudia Herrera
- Department of Tropical Medicine, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and Vector Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
| | - Pierre Buekens
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
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42
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Gunter SM, Versteeg L, Jones KM, Keegan BP, Strych U, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Brown EL. Covalent vaccination with Trypanosoma cruzi Tc24 induces catalytic antibody production. Parasite Immunol 2018; 40:e12585. [PMID: 30132929 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12585] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2018] [Revised: 08/13/2018] [Accepted: 08/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi 24 (Tc24) is a recently described B-cell superantigen (BC-SAg) expressed by all developmental stages of T. cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. BC-SAgs are immunoevasins that interfere with the catalytic response available to a subset of natural antibodies comprising the preimmune (innate) repertoire. Electrophilic modifications of BC-SAgs facilitate the formation of highly energetic covalent reactions favouring B-cell differentiation instead of B-cell downregulation. Therefore, the aim of this study was to convert the inhibitory signals delivered to B-cells with specificity for Tc24 into activating signals after conjugating electrophilic phosphonate groups to recombinant Tc24 (eTc24). Covalent immunization with eTc24 increased the binding affinity between eTc24 and naturally nucleophilic immunoglobulins with specificity for this BC-SAg. Flow cytometric analyses demonstrated that eTc24 but not Tc24 or other electrophilically modified control proteins bound Tc24-specific IgM+ B-cells covalently. In addition, immunization of mice with eTc24 adjuvanted with ISA720 induced the production of catalytic responses specific for Tc24 compared to the abrogation of this response in mice immunized with Tc24/ISA720. eTc24-immunized mice also produced IgMs that bound recombinant Tc24 compared to the binding observed for IgMs purified from non eTc24-immunized controls. These data suggest that eTc24 immunization overrides the immunosuppressive properties of this BC-SAg.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah M Gunter
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Leroy Versteeg
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Kathryn M Jones
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Brian P Keegan
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.,Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Pediatric Tropical Medicine, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Eric L Brown
- Center for Infectious Disease, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas
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de la Cruz JJ, Villanueva-Lizama L, Dzul-Huchim V, Ramírez-Sierra MJ, Martinez-Vega P, Rosado-Vallado M, Ortega-Lopez J, Flores-Pucheta CI, Gillespie P, Zhan B, Bottazzi ME, Hotez PJ, Dumonteil E. Production of recombinant TSA-1 and evaluation of its potential for the immuno-therapeutic control of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2018; 15:210-219. [PMID: 30192702 PMCID: PMC6363145 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2018.1520581] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
A therapeutic vaccine for human Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis caused by Trypanosoma cruzi) is under development based on the success of vaccinating mice with DNA constructs expressing the antigens Tc24 and Tc-TSA-1. However, because DNA and nucleic acid vaccines produce less than optimal responses in humans, our strategy relies on administering a recombinant protein-based vaccine, together with adjuvants that promote Th1-type immunity. Here we describe a process for the purification and refolding of recombinant TSA-1 expressed in Escherichia coli. The overall yield (20–25%) and endotoxin level of the purified recombinant TSA-1 (rTSA-1) is suitable for pilot scale production of the antigen for use in phase 1 clinical trials. Mice infected with T. cruzi were treated with rTSA-1, either alone or with Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) agonist adjuvants including monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA), glucopyranosyl lipid A (GLA, IDRI), and E6020 (EISEI, Inc). TSA-1 with the TLR-4 agonists was effective at reducing parasitemia relative to rTSA-1 alone, although it was difficult to discern a therapeutic effect compared to treatment with TLR-4 agonists alone. However, rTSA-1 with a 10 ug dose of MPLA optimized reductions in cardiac tissue inflammation, which were significantly reduced compared to MPLA alone. It also elicited the lowest parasite burden and the highest levels of TSA-1-specific IFN-gamma levels and IFN-gamma/IL-4 ratios. These results warrant the further evaluation of rTSA-1 in combination with rTc24 in order to maximize the therapeutic effect of vaccine-linked chemotherapy in both mice and non-human primates before advancing to clinical development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Jose de la Cruz
- a Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , Yucatán , México
| | - Liliana Villanueva-Lizama
- a Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , Yucatán , México
| | - Victor Dzul-Huchim
- a Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , Yucatán , México
| | - María-Jesus Ramírez-Sierra
- a Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , Yucatán , México
| | - Pedro Martinez-Vega
- a Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , Yucatán , México
| | - Miguel Rosado-Vallado
- a Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi , Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán , Mérida , Yucatán , México
| | - Jaime Ortega-Lopez
- b Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería , CINVESTAV-IPN , Ciudad de México , México
| | | | - Portia Gillespie
- c Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology , National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , TX , USA
| | - Bin Zhan
- c Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology , National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , TX , USA
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- c Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology , National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , TX , USA
| | - Peter J Hotez
- c Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology , National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine , Houston , TX , USA
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- d Department of Tropical Medicine , Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University , New Orleans , LA , USA
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Libisch MG, Faral-Tello P, Garg NJ, Radi R, Piacenza L, Robello C. Early Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Triggers mTORC1-Mediated Respiration Increase and Mitochondrial Biogenesis in Human Primary Cardiomyocytes. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:1889. [PMID: 30166980 PMCID: PMC6106620 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.01889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 07/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagasic chronic cardiomyopathy is one of the most frequent and severe manifestations of Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The pathogenic and biochemical mechanisms responsible for cardiac lesions remain not completely understood, although it is clear that hypertrophy and subsequent heart dilatation is in part caused by the direct infection of cardiomyocytes. In this work, we evaluated the initial response of human cardiomyocytes to T. cruzi infection by transcriptomic profiling. Immediately after infection, cardiomyocytes dramatically change their gene expression patterns, up regulating most of the genes encoding for respiratory chain, oxidative phosphorylation and protein synthesis. We found that these changes correlate with an increase in basal and maximal respiration, as well as in spare respiratory capacity, which is accompanied by mitochondrial biogenesis pgc-1α independent. We also demonstrate that these changes are mediated by mTORC1 and reversed by rapamycin, resembling the molecular mechanisms described for the non-chagasic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The results of the present work identify that early during infection, the activation of mTORC1, mitochondrial biogenesis and improvement in oxidative phosphorylation are key biochemical changes that provide new insights into the host response to parasite infection and the pathogenesis of chronic chagasic cardiomyopathy. The finding that this phenotype can be reversed opens a new perspective in the treatment of Chagas disease, through the identification of host targets, and the use of combined parasite and host targeted therapies, in order to prevent chagasic cardiomyopathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gabriela Libisch
- Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Interactions-UBM, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Paula Faral-Tello
- Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Interactions-UBM, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Nisha J Garg
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, United States
| | - Rafael Radi
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Center for Free Radical and Biomedical Research, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Lucía Piacenza
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Center for Free Radical and Biomedical Research, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
| | - Carlos Robello
- Laboratory of Host-Pathogen Interactions-UBM, Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Montevideo, Uruguay.,Departamento de Bioquímica, Center for Free Radical and Biomedical Research, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay
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Filardy AA, Guimarães-Pinto K, Nunes MP, Zukeram K, Fliess L, Pereira L, Oliveira Nascimento D, Conde L, Morrot A. Human Kinetoplastid Protozoan Infections: Where Are We Going Next? Front Immunol 2018; 9:1493. [PMID: 30090098 PMCID: PMC6069677 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 06/15/2018] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Kinetoplastida trypanosomatidae microorganisms are protozoan parasites exhibiting a developmental stage in the gut of insect vectors and tissues of vertebrate hosts. During the vertebrate infective stages, these parasites alter the differential expression of virulence genes, modifying their biological and antigenic properties in order to subvert the host protective immune responses and establish a persistent infection. One of the hallmarks of kinetoplastid parasites is their evasion mechanisms from host immunity, leading to disease chronification. The diseases caused by kinetoplastid parasites are neglected by the global expenditures in research and development, affecting millions of individuals in the low and middle-income countries located mainly in the tropical and subtropical regions. However, investments made by public and private initiatives have over the past decade leveraged important lines of intervention that if well-integrated to health care programs will likely accelerate disease control initiatives. This review summarizes recent advances in public health care principles, including new drug discoveries and their rational use with chemotherapeutic vaccines, and the implementation of control efforts to spatially mapping the kinetoplastid infections through monitoring of infected individuals in epidemic areas. These approaches should bring us the means to track genetic variation of parasites and drug resistance, integrating this knowledge into effective stewardship programs to prevent vector-borne kinetoplastid infections in areas at risk of disease spreading.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Almeida Filardy
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Kamila Guimarães-Pinto
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Marise Pinheiro Nunes
- Immunoparasitology Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ketiuce Zukeram
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Lara Fliess
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ludimila Pereira
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Danielle Oliveira Nascimento
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luciana Conde
- Department of Immunology, Paulo de Góes Microbiology Institute, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Alexandre Morrot
- Immunoparasitology Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Tuberculosis Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Vaccine-Linked Chemotherapy Improves Benznidazole Efficacy for Acute Chagas Disease. Infect Immun 2018; 86:IAI.00876-17. [PMID: 29311242 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00876-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Accepted: 01/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease affects 6 to 7 million people worldwide, resulting in significant disease burdens and health care costs in countries of endemicity. Chemotherapeutic treatment is restricted to two parasiticidal drugs, benznidazole and nifurtimox. Both drugs are highly effective during acute disease but are only minimally effective during chronic disease and fraught with significant adverse clinical effects. In experimental models, vaccines can be used to induce parasite-specific balanced TH1/TH2 immune responses that effectively reduce parasite burdens and associated inflammation while minimizing adverse effects. The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of vaccine-linked chemotherapy for reducing the amount of benznidazole required to significantly reduce blood and tissue parasite burdens. In this study, we were able to achieve a 4-fold reduction in the amount of benznidazole required to significantly reduce blood and tissue parasite burdens by combining the low-dose benznidazole with a recombinant vaccine candidate, Tc24 C4, formulated with a synthetic Toll-like 4 receptor agonist, E6020, in a squalene oil-in-water emulsion. Additionally, vaccination induced a robust parasite-specific balanced TH1/TH2 immune response. We concluded that vaccine-linked chemotherapy is a feasible option for advancement to clinical use for improving the tolerability and efficacy of benznidazole.
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Bontempi I, Fleitas P, Poato A, Vicco M, Rodeles L, Prochetto E, Cabrera G, Beluzzo B, Arias D, Racca A, Guerrero S, Marcipar I. Trans-sialidase overcomes many antigens to be used as a vaccine candidate against Trypanosoma cruzi. Immunotherapy 2018; 9:555-565. [PMID: 28595515 DOI: 10.2217/imt-2017-0009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
AIM The development of vaccines against Trypanosoma cruzi remains in an exploratory stage. Despite several antigen candidates have been evaluated, a comparison among the performance of the immunogens cannot be carried out because the available reports differ in formulations and infection model. In this work, we compared the protective capacity of seven T. cruzi antigens in the same model of five new antigens and two well-established candidates. Materials & methods: We evaluated highly immunogenic proteins that contain tandem repeats (FRA [flagelar repetitive protein], Tc3, Tc6); enzymes involved in metabolic pathways critical for parasite survival (cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase and tryparedoxin peroxidase); and enzymes involved in parasite invasion (trans-sialidase [TS] and cruzipain). All these antigens were formulated with Freund's adjuvant and protection against the parasite infection was assessed in BALB/c mice. RESULTS Tc3, cytosolic tryparedoxin peroxidase, cruzipain and TS showed the best outcome after infection in survival level and parasitemia. According to these data, these groups were also assessed using the ISCOMATRIX™ adjuvant which is being used in clinical trials. CONCLUSION Taken together, our results showed that the TS overcomes the performance of other antigens when the same model is employed, confirming that TS is a promising antigen that could be used as a vaccine against T. cruzi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Bontempi
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Pedro Fleitas
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Alexia Poato
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Miguel Vicco
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina.,Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Luz Rodeles
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina.,Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Estefania Prochetto
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Gabriel Cabrera
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Bruno Beluzzo
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Diego Arias
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral (CONICET-UNL), Argentina
| | - Andrea Racca
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
| | - Sergio Guerrero
- Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral (CONICET-UNL), Argentina
| | - Iván Marcipar
- Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Argentina
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Villanueva-Lizama LE, Cruz-Chan JV, Aguilar-Cetina ADC, Herrera-Sanchez LF, Rodriguez-Perez JM, Rosado-Vallado ME, Ramirez-Sierra MJ, Ortega-Lopez J, Jones K, Hotez P, Bottazzi ME, Dumonteil E. Trypanosoma cruzi vaccine candidate antigens Tc24 and TSA-1 recall memory immune response associated with HLA-A and -B supertypes in Chagasic chronic patients from Mexico. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2018; 12:e0006240. [PMID: 29377898 PMCID: PMC5805372 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006240] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Revised: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 01/16/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi antigens TSA-1 and Tc24 have shown promise as vaccine candidates in animal studies. We evaluated here the recall immune response these antigens induce in Chagasic patients, as a first step to test their immunogenicity in humans. We evaluated the in vitro cellular immune response after stimulation with recombinant TSA-1 (rTSA-1) or recombinant Tc24 (rTc24) in mononuclear cells of asymptomatic Chagasic chronic patients (n = 20) compared to healthy volunteers (n = 19) from Yucatan, Mexico. Proliferation assays, intracellular cytokine staining, cytometric bead arrays, and memory T cell immunophenotyping were performed by flow cytometry. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from Chagasic patients showed significant proliferation after stimulation with rTc24 and presented a phenotype of T effector memory cells (CD45RA-CCR7-). These cells also produced IFN-γ and, to a lesser extent IL10, after stimulation with rTSA-1 and rTc24 proteins. Overall, both antigens recalled a broad immune response in some Chagasic patients, confirming that their immune system had been primed against these antigens during natural infection. Analysis of HLA-A and HLA-B allele diversity by PCR-sequencing indicated that HLA-A03 and HLA-B07 were the most frequent supertypes in this Mexican population. Also, there was a significant difference in the frequency of HLA-A01 and HLA-A02 supertypes between Chagasic patients and controls, while the other alleles were evenly distributed. Some aspects of the immune response, such as antigen-induced IFN-γ production by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and CD8+ proliferation, showed significant association with specific HLA-A supertypes, depending on the antigen considered. In conclusion, our results confirm the ability of both TSA-1 and Tc24 recombinant proteins to recall an immune response induced by the native antigens during natural infection in at least some patients. Our data support the further development of these antigens as therapeutic vaccine against Chagas disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liliana E. Villanueva-Lizama
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Julio V. Cruz-Chan
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Amarú del C. Aguilar-Cetina
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Luis F. Herrera-Sanchez
- Unidad Cardiometabólica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Jose M. Rodriguez-Perez
- Departmento de biología molecular, Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez, México D.F, México
| | - Miguel E. Rosado-Vallado
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Maria J. Ramirez-Sierra
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
| | - Jaime Ortega-Lopez
- Departamento de Biotecnología y Bioingeniería, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México D.F, México
| | - Kathryn Jones
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Peter Hotez
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Department of Pediatrics and National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States of America
| | - Eric Dumonteil
- Laboratorio de Parasitología, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, México
- Department of Tropical Medicine, Vector-Borne Infectious Disease Research Center, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America
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Biter AB, Weltje S, Hudspeth EM, Seid CA, McAtee CP, Chen WH, Pollet JB, Strych U, Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME. Characterization and Stability of Trypanosoma cruzi 24-C4 (Tc24-C4), a Candidate Antigen for a Therapeutic Vaccine Against Chagas Disease. J Pharm Sci 2017; 107:1468-1473. [PMID: 29274820 DOI: 10.1016/j.xphs.2017.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2017] [Revised: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Chagas disease due to chronic infection with Trypanosoma cruzi is a neglected cause of heart disease, affecting approximately 6-10 million individuals in Latin America and elsewhere. T. cruzi Tc24, a calcium-binding protein in the flagellar pocket of the parasite, is a candidate antigen for an injectable therapeutic vaccine as an alternative or a complement to chemotherapy. Previously, we reported that a genetically engineered construct from which all cysteine residues had been eliminated (Tc24-C4) yields a recombinant protein with reduced aggregation and improved analytical purity in comparison to the wild-type form, without compromising antigenicity and immunogenicity. We now report that the established process for producing Escherichia coli-expressed Tc24-C4 protein is robust and reproducibly yields protein lots with consistent analytical characteristics, freeze-thaw, accelerated, and long-term stability profiles. The data indicate that, like most proteins, Tc24-C4 should be stable at -80°C, but also at 4°C and room temperature for at least 30 days, and up to 7-15 days at 37°C. Thus, the production process for recombinant Tc24-C4 is suitable for Current Good Manufacturing Practice production and clinical testing, based on process robustness, analytical characteristics, and stability profile.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amadeo B Biter
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Sarah Weltje
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Elissa M Hudspeth
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Christopher A Seid
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - C Patrick McAtee
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Wen-Hsiang Chen
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Jeroen B Pollet
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Ulrich Strych
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030
| | - Peter J Hotez
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030; Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76706
| | - Maria Elena Bottazzi
- Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030; Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, Houston, Texas 77030; Department of Biology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76706.
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50
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Genetic Adjuvantation of a Cell-Based Therapeutic Vaccine for Amelioration of Chagasic Cardiomyopathy. Infect Immun 2017; 85:IAI.00127-17. [PMID: 28674032 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00127-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Chagas disease, caused by infection with the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is a leading cause of heart disease ("chagasic cardiomyopathy") in Latin America, disproportionately affecting people in resource-poor areas. The efficacy of currently approved pharmaceutical treatments is limited mainly to acute infection, and there are no effective treatments for the chronic phase of the disease. Preclinical models of Chagas disease have demonstrated that antigen-specific CD8+ gamma interferon (IFN-γ)-positive T-cell responses are essential for reducing parasite burdens, increasing survival, and decreasing cardiac pathology in both the acute and chronic phases of Chagas disease. In the present study, we developed a genetically adjuvanted, dendritic cell-based immunotherapeutic for acute Chagas disease in an attempt to delay or prevent the cardiac complications that eventually result from chronic T. cruzi infection. Dendritic cells transduced with the adjuvant, an adenoviral vector encoding a dominant negative isoform of Src homology region 2 domain-containing tyrosine phosphatase 1 (SHP-1) along with the T. cruzi Tc24 antigen and trans-sialidase antigen 1 (TSA1), induced significant numbers of antigen-specific CD8+ IFN-γ-positive cells following injection into BALB/c mice. A vaccine platform transduced with the adenoviral vector and loaded in tandem with the recombinant protein reduced parasite burdens by 76% to >99% in comparison to a variety of different controls and significantly reduced cardiac pathology in a BALB/c mouse model of live Chagas disease. Although no statistical differences in overall survival rates among cohorts were observed, the data suggest that immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of acute Chagas disease are feasible and that this approach may warrant further study.
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