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Josi R, Speiser DE, de Brot S, Vogt AC, Sevick-Muraca EM, Tolstonog GV, Bachmann MF, Mohsen MO. A tetravalent nanovaccine that inhibits growth of HPV-associated head and neck carcinoma via dendritic and T cell activation. iScience 2024; 27:109439. [PMID: 38523774 PMCID: PMC10957412 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024] Open
Abstract
The global incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated head and neck carcinoma is on the rise, in response to this a tetravalent therapeutic vaccine named Qβ-HPVag was developed. This vaccine, utilizing virus-like particles (VLPs) loaded with toll-like receptor ligands and chemically coupled to four HPV16-derived peptides, demonstrated strong anti-tumor effects in a murine head and neck cancer model. Qβ-HPVag impeded tumor progression, increased infiltration of HPV-specific T cells, and significantly improved survival. The vaccine`s efficacy was associated with immune repolarization in the tumor microenvironment, characterized by expanded activated dendritic cell subsets (cDC1, cDC2, DC3). Notably, mice responding to treatment exhibited a higher percentage of migratory DC3 cells expressing CCR7. These findings suggest promising prospects for optimized VLP-based vaccines in treating HPV-associated head and neck cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romano Josi
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB), Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daniel E. Speiser
- Department of Oncology, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Simone de Brot
- COMPATH, Institute of Animal Pathology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Anne-Cathrine Vogt
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB), Bern, Switzerland
| | - Eva M. Sevick-Muraca
- Center for Molecular Imaging, Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine, McGovern Medical School, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Genrich V. Tolstonog
- Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Agora Cancer Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Martin F. Bachmann
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, The Henry Welcome Building for Molecular Physiology, The Jenner Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mona O. Mohsen
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Department of BioMedical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
- Tajarub Research & Development, Doha, State of Qatar
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Manfredi F, Chiozzini C, Ferrantelli F, Leone P, Pugliese K, Spada M, Di Virgilio A, Giovannelli A, Valeri M, Cara A, Michelini Z, Andreotti M, Federico M. Antiviral effect of SARS-CoV-2 N-specific CD8 + T cells induced in lungs by engineered extracellular vesicles. NPJ Vaccines 2023; 8:83. [PMID: 37268624 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00686-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Induction of effective immunity in the lungs should be a requisite for any vaccine designed to control the severe pathogenic effects generated by respiratory infectious agents. We recently provided evidence that the generation of endogenous extracellular vesicles (EVs) engineered for the incorporation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 Nucleocapsid (N) protein induced immunity in the lungs of K18-hACE2 transgenic mice, which then can survive the lethal virus infection. However, nothing is known about the ability of the N-specific CD8+ T cell immunity in controlling viral replication in the lungs, a major pathogenic signature of severe disease in humans. To fill the gap, we investigated the immunity generated in the lungs by N-engineered EVs in terms of induction of N-specific effectors and resident memory CD8+ T lymphocytes before and after virus challenge carried out three weeks and three months after boosting. At the same time points, viral replication extents in the lungs were evaluated. Three weeks after the second immunization, virus replication was reduced in mice best responding to vaccination by more than 3-logs compared to the control group. The impaired viral replication matched with a reduced induction of Spike-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes. The antiviral effect appeared similarly strong when the viral challenge was carried out 3 months after boosting, and associated with the persistence of N-specific CD8+ T-resident memory lymphocytes. In view of the quite low mutation rate of the N protein, the present vaccine strategy has the potential to control the replication of all emerging variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Manfredi
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Chiara Chiozzini
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Flavia Ferrantelli
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Patrizia Leone
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Katherina Pugliese
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Massimo Spada
- National Center for Animal Experimentation and Welfare, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Antonio Di Virgilio
- National Center for Animal Experimentation and Welfare, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Giovannelli
- National Center for Animal Experimentation and Welfare, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Mauro Valeri
- National Center for Animal Experimentation and Welfare, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Andrea Cara
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Zuleika Michelini
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Mauro Andreotti
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy
| | - Maurizio Federico
- National Center for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
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Strong SARS-CoV-2 N-Specific CD8+ T Immunity Induced by Engineered Extracellular Vesicles Associates with Protection from Lethal Infection in Mice. Viruses 2022; 14:v14020329. [PMID: 35215922 PMCID: PMC8879411 DOI: 10.3390/v14020329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell immunity is expected to counteract viral variants in both efficient and durable ways. We recently described a way to induce a potent SARS-CoV-2 CD8+ T immune response through the generation of engineered extracellular vesicles (EVs) emerging from muscle cells. This method relies on intramuscular injection of DNA vectors expressing different SARS-CoV-2 antigens fused at their N-terminus with the Nefmut protein, i.e., a very efficient EV-anchoring protein. However, quality, tissue distribution, and efficacy of these SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells remained uninvestigated. To fill the gaps, antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes induced by the immunization through the Nefmut-based method were characterized in terms of their polyfunctionality and localization at lung airways, i.e., the primary targets of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We found that injection of vectors expressing Nefmut/S1 and Nefmut/N generated polyfunctional CD8+ T lymphocytes in both spleens and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs). When immunized mice were infected with 4.4 lethal doses of 50% of SARS-CoV-2, all S1-immunized mice succumbed, whereas those developing the highest percentages of N-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes resisted the lethal challenge. We also provide evidence that the N-specific immunization coupled with the development of antigen-specific CD8+ T-resident memory cells in lungs, supporting the idea that the Nefmut-based immunization can confer a long-lasting, lung-specific immune memory. In view of the limitations of current anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in terms of antibody waning and efficiency against variants, our CD8+ T cell-based platform could be considered for a new combination prophylactic strategy.
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Virus-Induced CD8 + T-Cell Immunity and Its Exploitation to Contain the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:vaccines9080922. [PMID: 34452047 PMCID: PMC8402519 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9080922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The current battle against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)-Coronavirus-2 benefits from the worldwide distribution of different vaccine formulations. All anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in use are conceived to induce anti-Spike neutralizing antibodies. However, this strategy still has unresolved issues, the most relevant of which are: (i) the resistance to neutralizing antibodies of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and (ii) the waning of neutralizing antibodies. On the other hand, both pre-clinical evidence and clinical evidence support the idea that the immunity sustained by antigen-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes can complement and also surrogate the antiviral humoral immunity. As a distinctive feature, anti-SARS-CoV-2 CD8+ T-driven immunity maintains its efficacy even in the presence of viral protein mutations. In addition, on the basis of data obtained in survivors of the SARS-CoV epidemic, this immunity is expected to last for several years. In this review, both the mechanisms and role of CD8+ T-cell immunity in viral infections, particularly those induced by SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, are analyzed. Moreover, a CD8+ T-cell-based vaccine platform relying on in vivo engineered extracellular vesicles is described. When applied to SARS-CoV-2, this strategy was proven to induce a strong immunogenicity, holding great promise for its translation into the clinic.
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