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Sadeghi L, Bolhassani A, Mohit E, Baesi K, Aghasadeghi MR, Milani A, Agi E. Engineered ClearColi™-derived outer membrane vesicles as functional carriers for development of HIV-1 therapeutic vaccine candidate. Microb Pathog 2024; 193:106749. [PMID: 38879140 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2024.106749] [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: 02/27/2024] [Revised: 06/09/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/24/2024]
Abstract
Bacteria-derived outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) can be engineered to incorporate foreign antigens. This study explored the potential of ClearColi™-derived OMVs as a natural adjuvant and a carrier (recombinant OMVs or rOMVs) for development of an innovative therapeutic vaccine candidate harboring HIV-1 Nef and Nef-Tat antigens. Herein, the rOMVs containing CytolysinA (ClyA)-Nef and ClyA-Nef-Tat fusion proteins were isolated from ClearColi™ strain. The presence of Nef and Nef-Tat proteins on their surface (rOMVNef and rOMVNef-Tat) was confirmed by western blotting after proteinase K treatment. Immune responses induced by Nef and Nef-Tat proteins emulsified with Montanide® ISA720 or mixed with OMVs, and also rOMVNef and rOMVNef-Tat were investigated in BALB/c mice. Additionally, the potency of splenocytes exposed to single-cycle replicable (SCR) HIV-1 virions was assessed for the secretion of cytokines in vitro. Our findings showed that the rOMVs as an antigen carrier (rOMVNef and rOMVNef-Tat) induced higher levels of IgG2a, IFN-γ and granzyme B compared to OMVs as an adjuvant (Nef + OMV and Nef-Tat + OMV), and also Montanide® ISA720 (Nef + Montanide and Nef-Tat + Montanide). Moreover, IFN-γ level in splenocytes isolated from mice immunized with rOMVNef-Tat was higher than other regimens after exposure to SCR virions. Generally, ClearColi™-derived rOMVs can serve as potent carriers for developing effective vaccines against HIV-1 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leila Sadeghi
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Elham Mohit
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; Protein Technology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Kazem Baesi
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Alireza Milani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elnaz Agi
- Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
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Nikyar A, Bolhassani A, Rouhollah F, Heshmati M. In Vitro Delivery of HIV-1 Nef-Vpr DNA Construct Using the Human Antimicrobial Peptide LL-37. Curr Drug Deliv 2022; 19:1083-1092. [PMID: 35176981 DOI: 10.2174/1567201819666220217164055] [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: 07/25/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES DNA-based therapeutic vaccines have been proposed as promising strategy for treatment of established HIV infections. However, these vaccines are often associated with certain shortcomings, such as poor immunogenicity and low transfection efficiency. In this study, we investigated ability of LL-37 to deliver a potential immunogenic fusion construct comprising HIV-1 nef and vpr genes into a mammalian cell line. METHODS First, the pEGFP-N1 eukaryotic expression vector harboring the HIV-1 nef-vpr fusion was produced free of endotoxin on large scale. Then, DNA/LL-37 complexes were prepared by co-incubation of pEGFP-nef-vpr with LL-37 for 45 minutes at different nitrogen to phosphate (N/P) ratios. Formation of DNA/peptide complexes was investigated by gel retardation assay. Next, stability and morphological characteristics of the nanoparticles were evaluated. Toxicity of LL-37 and the nanoparticles in HEK-293T cells was assessed by MTT assay. Transfection efficiency of the DNA/LL-37 complexes was studied by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, and western blot analysis. RESULTS LL-37 formed stable complexes with pEGFP-nef-vpr (diameter of 150-200 nm) while providing good protection against nucleolytic and proteolytic degradation. The peptide significantly affected cell viability even at low concentrations. However, the LL-37/DNA complexes had no significant cytotoxic effect. Treatment of cells with pEGFP-N1/LL-37 and pEGFP-nef-vpr/LL-37 resulted in transfection of 36.32% ± 1.13 and 25.55% ± 2.07 of cells, respectively. CONCLUSION Given these findings and the important immunomodulatory and antiviral activities of LL-37, the use of this peptide can be further exploited in the development of novel gene delivery strategies and vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arash Nikyar
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDs, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Rouhollah
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Masoumeh Heshmati
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and Technology, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
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Milani A, Baesi K, Agi E, Marouf G, Ahmadi M, Bolhassani A. HIV-1 Accessory Proteins: Which one is Potentially Effective in Diagnosis and Vaccine Development? Protein Pept Lett 2021; 28:687-698. [PMID: 33390106 DOI: 10.2174/0929866528999201231213610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) could increase the number of circulating naive CD4 T lymphocytes, but was not able to eradicate human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection. OBJECTIVE Thus, induction of strong immune responses is important for control of HIV-1 infection. Furthermore, a simple and perfect serological method is required to detect virus in untreated-, treated- and drug resistant- HIV-1 infected individuals. METHODS This study was conducted to assess and compare immunogenic properties of Nef, Vif, Vpr and Vpu accessory proteins as an antigen candidate in mice and their diagnostic importance in human as a biomarker. RESULTS Our data showed that in mice, all heterologous prime/ boost regimens were more potent than homologous prime/ boost regimens in eliciting Th1 response and Granzyme B secretion as CTL activity. Moreover, the Nef, Vpu and Vif proteins could significantly increase Th1 immune response. In contrast, the Vpr protein could considerably induce Th2 immune response. On the other hand, among four accessory proteins, HIV-1 Vpu could significantly detect treated group from untreated group as a possible biomarker in human. CONCLUSION Generally, among accessory proteins, Nef, Vpu and Vif antigens were potentially more suitable vaccine antigen candidates than Vpr antigen. Human antibodies against all these proteins were higher in HIV-1 different groups than healthy group. Among them, Vpu was known as a potent antigen in diagnosis of treated from untreated individuals. The potency of accessory proteins as an antigen candidate in an animal model and a human cohort study are underway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alireza Milani
- Department of Hepatitis, AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Kazem Baesi
- Department of Hepatitis, AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Elnaz Agi
- Iranian Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Center, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ghazal Marouf
- Department of Hepatitis, AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Maryam Ahmadi
- Department of Hepatitis, AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis, AIDS and Blood Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Expression of a Novel HIV-1 Gag-Pol-Env-Nef-Rev Multi-Epitope Construct in Escherichia coli. JOURNAL OF MEDICAL MICROBIOLOGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2021. [DOI: 10.52547/jommid.9.2.62] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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Khojasteh NF, Fekri M, Shabani SH, Milani A, Baesi K, Bolhassani A. Evaluation of HIV-1 Regulatory and Structural Proteins as Antigen Candidate in Mice and Humans. Curr HIV Res 2021; 19:225-237. [PMID: 33243125 DOI: 10.2174/1570162x18999201125212131] [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: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 10/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The diagnosis of HIV infection is important among different groups. Moreover, combination antiretroviral therapy is used to treat HIV-1, but it cannot eradicate the infection. Thus, the development of therapeutic vaccines, along with antiretroviral therapy, is recommended. This study evaluates the values of four HIV proteins as antigen candidates in therapeutic vaccine design as well as a possible diagnostic marker for HIV infection in humans. METHODS In this study, the HIV-1 Tat and Rev regulatory proteins and structural Gp120 and p24 proteins were generated in E. coli expression system. Their immunogenicity was evaluated in BALB/ c mice using homologous and heterologous prime/boost strategies. Moreover, the detection of anti- HIV IgG antibodies against these recombinant proteins was assessed in untreated (Naïve/ HIV-infected), treated, and drug-resistant patients compared to the healthy (control) group as a possible diagnostic marker for HIV infection. RESULTS In humans, our results showed that among HIV-1 proteins, anti-Gp120 antibody was not detected in treated individuals compared to the healthy (control) group. The levels of anti-Gp120 antibody were significantly different between the treated group and Naïve as well as drug-resistant subjects. Moreover, the level of anti-p24 antibody was significantly lower in the treated group than the Naive group. In mice, the results of immunization indicated that the Rev antigen could significantly induce IgG2a, IgG2b, and IFN-γ secretion aimed at Th1 response as well as Granzyme B generation as CTL activity in comparison with other antigens. Furthermore, the heterologous DNA prime/ protein boost regimen was more potent than the homologous regimen for stimulation of cellular immunity. CONCLUSION Briefly, the levels of both anti-Gp120 and anti-p24 antibodies can be considered for the diagnosis of the HIV-infected individuals in different groups compared to the healthy group. Moreover, among four recombinant proteins, Rev elicited Th1 cellular immunity and CTL activity in mice as an antigen candidate in therapeutic vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mehrshad Fekri
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Alireza Milani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Kazem Baesi
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Construction of a Prokaryotic Expression Vector harboring Two HIV-1 Accessory Genes. MEDICAL LABORATORY JOURNAL 2021. [DOI: 10.52547/mlj.15.2.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
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Davoodi S, Bolhassani A, Namazi F. In vivo delivery of a multiepitope peptide and Nef protein using novel cell-penetrating peptides for development of HIV-1 vaccine candidate. Biotechnol Lett 2021; 43:547-559. [PMID: 33386500 PMCID: PMC7775797 DOI: 10.1007/s10529-020-03060-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES A potent HIV vaccine should overcome some limitations such as polymorphism of human HLA, the diversity of HIV-1 virus, and the lack of an effective delivery system. In this study, a DNA construct encoding Nef60-84, Nef126-144, Vpr34-47, Vpr60-75, Gp16030-53, Gp160308-323, and P248-151 epitopes was designed using bioinformatics tools. The pcDNA3.1-nef-vpr-gp160-p24 and pcDNA3.1-nef constructs were prepared in large scale as endotoxin-free form. Moreover, the recombinant Nef-Vpr-Gp160-p24 polypeptide and Nef protein were generated inE. coli. These constructs were delivered using cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) in vivo, and immune responses were assessed for different modalities in BALB/c mice. RESULTS The recombinant DNA constructs were confirmed as the ~ 867 bp and ~ 648 bp bands related tonef-vpr-gp160-p24 andnef genes on agarose gel. Moreover, the purified Nef-Vpr-Gp160-p24 polypeptide and Nef protein showed the ~ 32 kDa and ~ 30 kDa bands on SDS-PAGE, respectively. The results of immune responses indicated that the heterologous prime/boost regimens using both Nef-Vpr-Gp160-P24 and Nef antigens induced significantly the secretion of IgG2a, IgG2b, IFN-γ and Granzyme B compared to other groups. The levels of Granzyme B in mice immunized with Nef antigen were higher than those immunized with Nef-Vpr-Gp160-P24 antigen. The CPPs showed the same potency with Montanide adjuvant for eliciting immune responses. CONCLUSIONS The heterologous prime/boost regimens for both antigens could significantly direct immune responses toward Th1 and CTL activity compared to other regimens. Comparing the efficiency of Nef-Vpr-Gp160-P24 and Nef constructs, the Nef-Vpr-Gp160-P24 constructs delivered by CPPs showed promising results as an HIV vaccine candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saba Davoodi
- Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Department of Hepatitis and AIDS, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
| | - Fatemeh Namazi
- Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
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