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Malyshkina A, Brüggemann A, Paschen A, Dittmer U. Cytotoxic CD4 + T cells in chronic viral infections and cancer. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1271236. [PMID: 37965314 PMCID: PMC10642198 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1271236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/16/2023] Open
Abstract
CD4+ T cells play an important role in immune responses against pathogens and cancer cells. Although their main task is to provide help to other effector immune cells, a growing number of infections and cancer entities have been described in which CD4+ T cells exhibit direct effector functions against infected or transformed cells. The most important cell type in this context are cytotoxic CD4+ T cells (CD4+ CTL). In infectious diseases anti-viral CD4+ CTL are mainly found in chronic viral infections. Here, they often compensate for incomplete or exhausted CD8+ CTL responses. The induction of CD4+ CTL is counter-regulated by Tregs, most likely because they can be dangerous inducers of immunopathology. In viral infections, CD4+ CTL often kill via the Fas/FasL pathway, but they can also facilitate the exocytosis pathway of killing. Thus, they are very important effectors to keep persistent virus in check and guarantee host survival. In contrast to viral infections CD4+ CTL attracted attention as direct anti-tumor effectors in solid cancers only recently. Anti-tumor CD4+ CTL are defined by the expression of cytolytic markers and have been detected within the lymphocyte infiltrates of different human cancers. They kill tumor cells in an antigen-specific MHC class II-restricted manner not only by cytolysis but also by release of IFNγ. Thus, CD4+ CTL are interesting tools for cure approaches in chronic viral infections and cancer, but their potential to induce immunopathology has to be carefully taken into consideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Malyshkina
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Alicia Brüggemann
- Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Annette Paschen
- Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Ulf Dittmer
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany
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2
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Shoukry NH, Cox AL, Walker CM. Immunological Monitoring in Hepatitis C Virus Controlled Human Infection Model. Clin Infect Dis 2023; 77:S270-S275. [PMID: 37579206 PMCID: PMC10425133 DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciad359] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Controlled human infection model trials for hepatitis C virus represent an important opportunity to identify correlates of protective immunity against a well-characterized inoculum of hepatitis C virus and how such responses are modified by vaccination. In this article, we discuss the approach to immunological monitoring during such trials, including a set of recommendations for optimal sampling schedule and preferred immunological assays to examine the different arms of the immune response. We recommend that this approach be adapted to different trial designs. Finally, we discuss how these studies can provide surrogate predictors of the success of candidate vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naglaa H Shoukry
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Département de Médecine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Andrea L Cox
- Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Christopher M Walker
- Center for Vaccines and Immunity, The Abigail Wexner Research Institute, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
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3
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Pedroso A, Herrera Belén L, Beltrán JF, Castillo RL, Pessoa A, Pedroso E, Farías JG. In Silico Design of a Chimeric Humanized L-asparaginase. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24087550. [PMID: 37108713 PMCID: PMC10144303 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24087550] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/15/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer among children worldwide, characterized by an overproduction of undifferentiated lymphoblasts in the bone marrow. The treatment of choice for this disease is the enzyme L-asparaginase (ASNase) from bacterial sources. ASNase hydrolyzes circulating L-asparagine in plasma, leading to starvation of leukemic cells. The ASNase formulations of E. coli and E. chrysanthemi present notorious adverse effects, especially the immunogenicity they generate, which undermine both their effectiveness as drugs and patient safety. In this study, we developed a humanized chimeric enzyme from E. coli L-asparaginase which would reduce the immunological problems associated with current L-asparaginase therapy. For these, the immunogenic epitopes of E. coli L-asparaginase (PDB: 3ECA) were determined and replaced with those of the less immunogenic Homo sapiens asparaginase (PDB:4O0H). The structures were modeled using the Pymol software and the chimeric enzyme was modeled using the SWISS-MODEL service. A humanized chimeric enzyme with four subunits similar to the template structure was obtained, and the presence of asparaginase enzymatic activity was predicted by protein-ligand docking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Pedroso
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile
| | - Lisandra Herrera Belén
- Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Santo Tomas, Avenida Carlos Schorr 255, Talca 3460000, Chile
| | - Jorge F Beltrán
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile
| | - Rodrigo L Castillo
- Department of Internal Medicine, East Division, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago 7500922, Chile
| | - Adalberto Pessoa
- Department of Biochemical and Pharmaceutical Technology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-000, Brazil
| | - Enrique Pedroso
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medical Sciences Matanzas, Matanzas 42300, Cuba
| | - Jorge G Farías
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Science, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4811230, Chile
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4
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Proof-of-Concept Analysis of B Cell Receptor Repertoire in COVID-19 Patients Undergoing ECMO by Single-Cell V(D)J and Gene Expression Sequencing. Curr Issues Mol Biol 2023; 45:1471-1482. [PMID: 36826040 PMCID: PMC9955795 DOI: 10.3390/cimb45020095] [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: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, has altered human activities all over the world and has become a global hazard to public health. Despite considerable advancements in pandemic containment techniques, in which vaccination played a key role, COVID-19 remains a global threat, particularly for frail patients and unvaccinated individuals, who may be more susceptible to developing ARDS. Several studies reported that patients with COVID-19-related ARDS who were treated with ECMO had a similar survival rate to those with COVID-19-unrelated ARDS. In order to shed light on the potential mechanisms underlying the COVID-19 infection, we conducted this proof-of-concept study using single-cell V(D)J and gene expression sequencing of B cells to examine the dynamic changes in the transcriptomic BCR repertoire present in patients with COVID-19 at various stages. We compared a recovered and a deceased COVID-19 patient supported by ECMO with one COVID-19-recovered patient who did not receive ECMO treatment and one healthy subject who had never been infected previously. Our analysis revealed a downregulation of FXYD, HLA-DRB1, and RPS20 in memory B cells; MTATP8 and HLA-DQA1 in naïve cells; RPS4Y1 in activated B cells; and IGHV3-73 in plasma cells in COVID-19 patients. We further described an increased ratio of IgA + IgG to IgD + IgM, suggestive of an intensive memory antibody response, in the COVID ECMO D patient. Finally, we assessed a V(D)J rearrangement of heavy chain IgHV3, IGHJ4, and IGHD3/IGHD2 families in COVID-19 patients regardless of the severity of the disease.
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Hoogeveen RC, Dijkstra S, Bartsch LM, Drescher HK, Aneja J, Robidoux MP, Cheney JA, Timm J, Gehring A, de Sousa PSF, Ximenez L, Peliganga LB, Pitts A, Evans FB, Boonstra A, Kim AY, Lewis-Ximenez LL, Lauer GM. Hepatitis B virus-specific CD4 T cell responses differentiate functional cure from chronic surface antigen + infection. J Hepatol 2022; 77:1276-1286. [PMID: 35716846 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2022.05.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2021] [Revised: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS With or without antiviral treatment, few individuals achieve sustained functional cure of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. A better definition of what mediates functional cure is essential for improving immunotherapeutic strategies. We aimed to compare HBV-specific T cell responses in patients with different degrees of viral control. METHODS We obtained blood from 124 HBV-infected individuals, including those with acute self-limiting HBV infection, chronic infection, and chronic infection with functional cure. We screened for HBV-specific T cell specificities by ELISpot, assessed the function of HBV-specific T cells using intracellular cytokine staining, and characterized HBV-specific CD4 T cells using human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II tetramer staining, all directly ex vivo. RESULTS ELISpot screening readily identified HBV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cell responses in acute resolving infection compared with more limited reactivity in chronic infection. Applying more sensitive assays revealed higher frequencies of functional HBV-specific CD4 T cells, but not CD8 T cells, in functional cure compared to chronic infection. Function independent analysis using HLA multimers also identified more HBV-specific CD4 T cell responses in functional cure compared to chronic infection, with the emergence of CD4 T cell memory both after acute and chronic infection. CONCLUSIONS Functional cure is associated with higher frequencies of functional HBV-specific CD4 memory T cell responses. Thus, immunotherapeutic approaches designed to induce HBV functional cure should also aim to improve CD4 T cell responses. LAY SUMMARY Immunotherapy is a form of treatment that relies on harnessing the power of an individual's immune system to target a specific disease or pathogen. Such approaches are being developed for patients with chronic HBV infection, in an attempt to mimic the immune response in patients who control HBV infection spontaneously, achieving a so-called functional cure. However, what exactly defines protective immune responses remains unclear. Herein, we show that functional cure is associated with robust responses by HBV-specific CD4 T cells (a type of immune cell).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruben C Hoogeveen
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Suzan Dijkstra
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Lea M Bartsch
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Hannah K Drescher
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Jasneet Aneja
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA; Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Maxwell P Robidoux
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - James A Cheney
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Joerg Timm
- Institute of Virology, Heinrich Heine University, University Hospital, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Adam Gehring
- Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Department of Immunology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Lya Ximenez
- Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Luis Baiao Peliganga
- Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Agostinho Neto, Luanda, Angola; Ministério da Saúde de Angola, Luanda, Angola
| | - Anita Pitts
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Fiona B Evans
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - André Boonstra
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Arthur Y Kim
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | | | - Georg M Lauer
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
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6
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Epitope-Evaluator: An interactive web application to study predicted T-cell epitopes. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273577. [PMID: 36018887 PMCID: PMC9417011 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple immunoinformatic tools have been developed to predict T-cell epitopes from protein amino acid sequences for different major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles. These prediction tools output hundreds of potential peptide candidates which require further processing; however, these tools are either not graphical or not friendly for non-programming users. We present Epitope-Evaluator, a web tool developed in the Shiny/R framework to interactively analyze predicted T-cell epitopes. Epitope-Evaluator contains six tools providing the distribution of epitopes across a selected set of MHC alleles, the promiscuity and conservation of epitopes, and their density and location within antigens. Epitope-Evaluator requires as input the fasta file of protein sequences and the output prediction file coming out from any predictor. By choosing different cutoffs and parameters, users can produce several interactive plots and tables that can be downloaded as JPG and text files, respectively. Using Epitope-Evaluator, we found the HLA-B*40, HLA-B*27:05 and HLA-B*07:02 recognized fewer epitopes from the SARS-CoV-2 proteome than other MHC Class I alleles. We also identified shared epitopes between Delta, Omicron, and Wuhan Spike variants as well as variant-specific epitopes. In summary, Epitope-Evaluator removes the programming barrier and provides intuitive tools, allowing a straightforward interpretation and graphical representations that facilitate the selection of candidate epitopes for experimental evaluation. The web server Epitope-Evaluator is available at https://fuxmanlab.shinyapps.io/Epitope-Evaluator/.
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7
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Karsten H, Cords L, Westphal T, Knapp M, Brehm TT, Hermanussen L, Omansen TF, Schmiedel S, Woost R, Ditt V, Peine S, Lütgehetmann M, Huber S, Ackermann C, Wittner M, Addo MM, Sette A, Sidney J, Schulze Zur Wiesch J. High-resolution analysis of individual spike peptide-specific CD4 + T-cell responses in vaccine recipients and COVID-19 patients. Clin Transl Immunology 2022; 11:e1410. [PMID: 35957961 PMCID: PMC9363231 DOI: 10.1002/cti2.1410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Potential differences in the breadth, distribution and magnitude of CD4+ T‐cell responses directed against the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein between vaccinees, COVID‐19 patients and subjects who experienced both ways of immunisation have not been comprehensively compared on a peptide level. Methods Following virus‐specific in vitro cultivation, we determined the T‐cell responses directed against 253 individual overlapping 15‐mer peptides covering the entire SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein using IFN‐γ ELISpot and intracellular cytokine staining. In vitro HLA binding was determined for selected peptides. Results We mapped 955 single peptide‐specific CD4+ T‐cell responses in a cohort of COVID‐19 patients (n = 8), uninfected vaccinees (n = 16) and individuals who experienced both infection and vaccination (n = 11). Patients and vaccinees (two‐time and three‐time vaccinees alike) had a comparable number of CD4+ T‐cell responses (median 26 vs. 29, P = 0.7289). Most of these specificities were conserved in B.1.1.529 and the BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages. The highest magnitude of these in vitro IFN‐γ CD4+ T‐cell responses was observed in COVID‐19 patients (median 0.35%), and three‐time vaccinees showed a higher magnitude than two‐time vaccinees (median 0.091% vs. 0.175%, P < 0.0001). Twelve peptide specificities were each detected in at least 40% of subjects. In vitro HLA binding showed promiscuous presentation by DRB1 molecules for several peptides. Conclusion Both SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and vaccination prime broadly directed T‐cell responses directed against the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein. This comprehensive high‐resolution analysis of spike peptide specificities will be a useful resource for further investigation of spike‐specific T‐cell responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Karsten
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Leon Cords
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Tim Westphal
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
| | - Maximilian Knapp
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Thomas Theo Brehm
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
| | - Lennart Hermanussen
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Till Frederik Omansen
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,Department of Tropical Medicine Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg Germany
| | - Stefan Schmiedel
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Robin Woost
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Vanessa Ditt
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Sven Peine
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Marc Lütgehetmann
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany.,Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Samuel Huber
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Christin Ackermann
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Melanie Wittner
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
| | - Marylyn Martina Addo
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany.,Department of Tropical Medicine Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg Germany
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) La Jolla CA USA
| | - John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) La Jolla CA USA
| | - Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
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Enhanced safety and efficacy of protease-regulated CAR-T cell receptors. Cell 2022; 185:1745-1763.e22. [PMID: 35483375 PMCID: PMC9467936 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 52.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Regulatable CAR platforms could circumvent toxicities associated with CAR-T therapy, but existing systems have shortcomings including leakiness and attenuated activity. Here, we present SNIP CARs, a protease-based platform for regulating CAR activity using an FDA-approved small molecule. Design iterations yielded CAR-T cells that manifest full functional capacity with drug and no leaky activity in the absence of drug. In numerous models, SNIP CAR-T cells were more potent than constitutive CAR-T cells and showed diminished T cell exhaustion and greater stemness. In a ROR1-based CAR lethality model, drug cessation following toxicity onset reversed toxicity, thereby credentialing the platform as a safety switch. In the same model, reduced drug dosing opened a therapeutic window that resulted in tumor eradication in the absence of toxicity. SNIP CARs enable remote tuning of CAR activity, which provides solutions to safety and efficacy barriers that are currently limiting progress in using CAR-T cells to treat solid tumors.
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9
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Echeverría N, Comas V, Aldunate F, Perbolianachis P, Moreno P, Cristina J. In the era of rapid mRNA-based vaccines: Why is there no effective hepatitis C virus vaccine yet? World J Hepatol 2021; 13:1234-1268. [PMID: 34786164 PMCID: PMC8568586 DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v13.i10.1234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2021] [Revised: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is responsible for no less than 71 million people chronically infected and is one of the most frequent indications for liver transplantation worldwide. Despite direct-acting antiviral therapies fuel optimism in controlling HCV infections, there are several obstacles regarding treatment accessibility and reinfection continues to remain a possibility. Indeed, the majority of new HCV infections in developed countries occur in people who inject drugs and are more plausible to get reinfected. To achieve global epidemic control of this virus the development of an effective prophylactic or therapeutic vaccine becomes a must. The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic led to auspicious vaccine development against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, which has renewed interest on fighting HCV epidemic with vaccination. The aim of this review is to highlight the current situation of HCV vaccine candidates designed to prevent and/or to reduce HCV infectious cases and their complications. We will emphasize on some of the crossroads encountered during vaccine development against this insidious virus, together with some key aspects of HCV immunology which have, so far, hampered the progress in this area. The main focus will be on nucleic acid-based as well as recombinant viral vector-based vaccine candidates as the most novel vaccine approaches, some of which have been recently and successfully employed for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Finally, some ideas will be presented on which methods to explore for the design of live-attenuated vaccines against HCV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Echeverría
- Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Victoria Comas
- Departamento de Desarrollo Biotecnológico, Instituto de Higiene, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay
| | - Fabián Aldunate
- Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Paula Perbolianachis
- Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Pilar Moreno
- Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay
| | - Juan Cristina
- Laboratorio de Virología Molecular, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay.
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10
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Acid Stripping after Infection Improves the Detection of Viral HLA Class I Natural Ligands Identified by Mass Spectrometry. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms221910503. [PMID: 34638844 PMCID: PMC8508920 DOI: 10.3390/ijms221910503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Identification of a natural human leukocyte antigen (HLA) ligandome is a key element to understand the cellular immune response. Advanced high throughput mass spectrometry analyses identify a relevant, but not complete, fraction of the many tens of thousands of self-peptides generated by antigen processing in live cells. In infected cells, in addition to this complex HLA ligandome, a minority of peptides from degradation of the few proteins encoded by the viral genome are also bound to HLA class I molecules. In this study, the standard immunopeptidomics strategy was modified to include the classical acid stripping treatment after virus infection to enrich the HLA ligandome in virus ligands. Complexes of HLA-B*27:05-bound peptide pools were isolated from vaccinia virus (VACV)-infected cells treated with acid stripping after virus infection. The HLA class I ligandome was identified using high throughput mass spectrometry analyses, yielding 37 and 51 natural peptides processed and presented untreated and after acid stripping treatment VACV-infected human cells, respectively. Most of these virus ligands were identified in both conditions, but exclusive VACV ligands detected by mass spectrometry detected on acid stripping treatment doubled the number of those identified in the untreated VACV-infected condition. Theoretical binding affinity prediction of the VACV HLA-B*27:05 ligands and acute antiviral T cell response characterization in the HLA transgenic mice model showed no differences between HLA ligands identified under the two conditions: untreated and under acid stripping condition. These findings indicated that acid stripping treatment could be useful to identify HLA class I ligands from virus-infected cells.
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11
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Heide J, Schulte S, Kohsar M, Brehm TT, Herrmann M, Karsten H, Marget M, Peine S, Johansson AM, Sette A, Lütgehetmann M, Kwok WW, Sidney J, Schulze zur Wiesch J. Broadly directed SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell response includes frequently detected peptide specificities within the membrane and nucleoprotein in patients with acute and resolved COVID-19. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009842. [PMID: 34529740 PMCID: PMC8445433 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to define the breadth and specificity of dominant SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell epitopes using a comprehensive set of 135 overlapping 15-mer peptides covering the SARS-CoV-2 envelope (E), membrane (M) and nucleoprotein (N) in a cohort of 34 individuals with acute (n = 10) and resolved (n = 24) COVID-19. Following short-term virus-specific in vitro cultivation, the single peptide-specific CD4+ T cell response of each patient was screened using enzyme linked immuno spot assay (ELISpot) and confirmed by single-peptide intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) for interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production. 97% (n = 33) of patients elicited one or more N, M or E-specific CD4+ T cell responses and each patient targeted on average 21.7 (range 0-79) peptide specificities. Overall, we identified 10 N, M or E-specific peptides that showed a response frequency of more than 36% and five of them showed high binding affinity to multiple HLA class II binders in subsequent in vitro HLA binding assays. Three peptides elicited CD4+ T cell responses in more than 55% of all patients, namely Mem_P30 (aa146-160), Mem_P36 (aa176-190), both located within the M protein, and Ncl_P18 (aa86-100) located within the N protein. These peptides were further defined in terms of length and HLA restriction. Based on this epitope and restriction data we developed a novel DRB*11 tetramer (Mem_aa145-164) and examined the ex vivo phenotype of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells in one patient. This detailed characterization of single T cell peptide responses demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 infection universally primes a broad T cell response directed against multiple specificities located within the N, M and E structural protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Heide
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
| | - Sophia Schulte
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Matin Kohsar
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Thomas Theo Brehm
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
| | - Marissa Herrmann
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
| | - Hendrik Karsten
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Matthias Marget
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Sven Peine
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Alexandra M. Johansson
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Marc Lütgehetmann
- Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - William W. Kwok
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - John Sidney
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Julian Schulze zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
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12
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Where to Next? Research Directions after the First Hepatitis C Vaccine Efficacy Trial. Viruses 2021; 13:v13071351. [PMID: 34372558 PMCID: PMC8310243 DOI: 10.3390/v13071351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Revised: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 07/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Thirty years after its discovery, the hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. Given that many countries continue to experience high rates of transmission despite the availability of potent antiviral therapies, an effective vaccine is seen as critical for the elimination of HCV. The recent failure of the first vaccine efficacy trial for the prevention of chronic HCV confirmed suspicions that this virus will be a challenging vaccine target. Here, we examine the published data from this first efficacy trial along with the earlier clinical and pre-clinical studies of the vaccine candidate and then discuss three key research directions expected to be important in ongoing and future HCV vaccine development. These include the following: 1. design of novel immunogens that generate immune responses to genetically diverse HCV genotypes and subtypes, 2. strategies to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies against envelope glycoproteins in addition to cytotoxic and helper T cell responses, and 3. consideration of the unique immunological status of individuals most at risk for HCV infection, including those who inject drugs, in vaccine platform development and early immunogenicity trials.
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13
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Saraceni C, Birk J. A Review of Hepatitis B Virus and Hepatitis C Virus Immunopathogenesis. J Clin Transl Hepatol 2021; 9:409-418. [PMID: 34221927 PMCID: PMC8237136 DOI: 10.14218/jcth.2020.00095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite the advances in therapy, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) still represent a significant global health burden, both as major causes of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death worldwide. HBV is capable of incorporating its covalently closed circular DNA into the host cell's hepatocyte genome, making it rather difficult to eradicate its chronic stage. Successful viral clearance depends on the complex interactions between the virus and host's innate and adaptive immune response. One encouraging fact on hepatitis B is the development and effective distribution of the HBV vaccine. This has significantly reduced the spread of this virus. HCV is a RNA virus with high mutagenic capacity, thus enabling it to evade the immune system and have a high rate of chronic progression. High levels of HCV heterogeneity and its mutagenic capacity have made it difficult to create an effective vaccine. The recent advent of direct acting antivirals has ushered in a new era in hepatitis C therapy. Sustained virologic response is achieved with DAAs in 85-99% of cases. However, this still leads to a large population of treatment failures, so further advances in therapy are still needed. This article reviews the immunopathogenesis of HBV and HCV, their properties contributing to host immune system avoidance, chronic disease progression, vaccine efficacy and limitations, as well as treatment options and common pitfalls of said therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey Saraceni
- Correspondence to: Corey Saraceni, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-8074, USA. Tel: +1-203-733-7408, Fax: +1-860-679-3159, E-mail:
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14
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Intra-host evolutionary dynamics of the hepatitis C virus among people who inject drugs. Sci Rep 2021; 11:9986. [PMID: 33976241 PMCID: PMC8113533 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-88132-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Most individuals chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are asymptomatic during the initial stages of infection and therefore the precise timing of infection is often unknown. Retrospective estimation of infection duration would improve existing surveillance data and help guide treatment. While intra-host viral diversity quantifications such as Shannon entropy have previously been utilized for estimating duration of infection, these studies characterize the viral population from only a relatively short segment of the HCV genome. In this study intra-host diversities were examined across the HCV genome in order to identify the region most reflective of time and the degree to which these estimates are influenced by high-risk activities including those associated with HCV acquisition. Shannon diversities were calculated for all regions of HCV from 78 longitudinally sampled individuals with known seroconversion timeframes. While the region of the HCV genome most accurately reflecting time resided within the NS3 gene, the gene region with the highest capacity to differentiate acute from chronic infections was identified within the NS5b region. Multivariate models predicting duration of infection from viral diversity significantly improved upon incorporation of variables associated with recent public, unsupervised drug use. These results could assist the development of strategic population treatment guidelines for high-risk individuals infected with HCV and offer insights into variables associated with a likelihood of transmission.
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15
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Abstract
HDV is a small, defective RNA virus that requires the HBsAg of HBV for its assembly, release, and transmission. Chronic HBV/HDV infection often has a severe clinical outcome and is difficult to treat. The important role of a robust virus-specific T cell response for natural viral control has been established for many other chronic viral infections, but the exact role of the T cell response in the control and progression of chronic HDV infection is far less clear. Several recent studies have characterised HDV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses on a peptide level. This review comprehensively summarises all HDV-specific T cell epitopes described to date and describes our current knowledge of the role of T cells in HDV infection. While we now have better tools to study the adaptive anti-HDV-specific T cell response, further efforts are needed to define the HLA restriction of additional HDV-specific T cell epitopes, establish additional HDV-specific MHC tetramers, understand the degree of cross HDV genotype reactivity of individual epitopes and understand the correlation of the HBV- and HDV-specific T cell response, as well as the breadth and specificity of the intrahepatic HDV-specific T cell response.
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Key Words
- ADAR1, adenosine deaminases acting on RNA
- ALT, alanine aminotransferase
- AST, aspartate aminotransferase
- CD4+
- CD8+
- ELISpot, enzyme-linked immune spot assay
- HBV
- HDAg, hepatitis delta antigen
- HDV
- Hepatitis Delta
- ICS, intracellular cytokine staining
- IFN-, interferon-
- L-HDAg, large hepatitis delta antigen
- MAIT, mucosa-associated invariant T cells
- NK cells, natural killer cells
- NTCP, sodium taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide
- PBMCs, peripheral blood mononuclear cells
- PD-1, programmed cell death protein 1
- PTM, post-translational modification
- Peg-IFN-α, pegylated interferon alpha
- S-HDAg, small hepatitis delta antigen
- T cell
- TCF, T cell-specific transcription factor
- TNFα, tumour necrosis factor-α
- Th1, T helper 1
- aa, amino acid(s)
- cccDNA, covalently closed circular DNA
- epitope
- viral escape
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16
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Hajikhezri Z, Roohvand F, Maleki M, Shahmahmoodi S, Amirzargar AA, Keshavarz A, Seyed N, Farahmand M, Samimi-Rad K. HCV Core/NS3 Protein Immunization with "N-Terminal Heat Shock gp96 Protein (rNT (gp96))" Induced Strong and Sustained Th1-Type Cytokines in Immunized Mice. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:vaccines9030215. [PMID: 33802466 PMCID: PMC7999198 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9030215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Feeble cellular responses induced by T cell-based vaccines are a major challenge for the development of an effective vaccine against Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To address this challenge, the potential of N-terminal fragment of gp96 heat shock protein (rNT (gp96) as an adjuvant was evaluated and compared to that of the CpG (as a recognized Th1-type adjuvant) in the formulation of HCV core/NS3 antigens in three immunization strategies of protein/protein, DNA/DNA, and DNA/protein. Immunized mice were evaluated for elicited immune responses in week 3 (W3) and 11 post-immunizations. Our results demonstrated that the protein (subunit) vaccine formulated with rNT (gp96) in protein/protein strategy (core/NS3 + gp96) was significantly more efficient than CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN) formulation and all other immunization strategies in the induction of Th1-type cytokines. This group of mice (core/NS3 + gp96) also elicited a high level of anti-Core-NS3 total immunoglobulin G (IgG) with dominant IgG2a isotype at W3. Thus, the co-administration of recombinant NT (gp96) protein with rHCV proteins might be a promising approach in the formulation of HCV subunit vaccine candidates for induction of high levels of Th1 cytokines and humoral responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zamaneh Hajikhezri
- Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran; (Z.H.); (S.S.); (A.K.); (M.F.)
| | - Farzin Roohvand
- Department of Virology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran;
| | - Monireh Maleki
- Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Tehran 1477893855, Iran;
| | - Shohreh Shahmahmoodi
- Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran; (Z.H.); (S.S.); (A.K.); (M.F.)
- Food Microbiology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran
| | - Ali Akbar Amirzargar
- Molecular Immunology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran;
- Immunogenetic Laboratory, Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran
| | - Abolfazl Keshavarz
- Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran; (Z.H.); (S.S.); (A.K.); (M.F.)
| | - Negar Seyed
- Department of Immunotherapy and Leishmania Vaccine Research, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran;
| | - Mohammad Farahmand
- Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran; (Z.H.); (S.S.); (A.K.); (M.F.)
| | - Katayoun Samimi-Rad
- Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1449614535, Iran; (Z.H.); (S.S.); (A.K.); (M.F.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +98-2188950595; Fax: +98-2188962343
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17
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Abstract
Antibody responses in hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been a rather mysterious research topic for many investigators working in the field. Chronic HCV infection is often associated with dysregulation of immune functions particularly in B cells, leading to abnormal lymphoproliferation or the production of autoantibodies that exacerbate inflammation and extrahepatic diseases. When considering the antiviral function of antibody, it was difficult to endorse its role in HCV protection, whereas T-cell response has been shown unequivocally critical for natural recovery. Recent breakthroughs in the study of HCV and antigen-specific antibody responses provide important insights into viral vulnerability to antibodies and the immunogenetic and structural properties of the neutralizing antibodies. The new knowledge reinvigorates HCV vaccine research by illuminating a new path for the rational design of vaccine antigens to elicit broadly neutralizing antibodies for protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mansun Law
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92109, USA
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18
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Mekonnen ZA, Masavuli MG, Yu W, Gummow J, Whelan DM, Al-Delfi Z, Torresi J, Gowans EJ, Grubor-Bauk B. Enhanced T Cell Responses Induced by a Necrotic Dendritic Cell Vaccine, Expressing HCV NS3. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:559105. [PMID: 33343515 PMCID: PMC7739890 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.559105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A vaccine that induces potent, broad and sustained cell-mediated immunity, resulting in effective memory has the potential to restrict hepatitis C (HCV) virus infection. Early, multi-functional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses against non-structural protein 3 (NS3) have been associated with HCV clearance. Necrotic cells generate strong immune responses and represent a major antigenic source used by dendritic cells (DC) for processing and presentation, but there is conflicting evidence as to their immunogenicity in vaccination. Immunization with DC loaded with viral antigens has been done in the past, but to date the immunogenicity of live vs. necrotic DC vaccines has not been investigated. We developed a DC2.4 cell line stably expressing HCV NS3, and compared the NS3-specific responses of live vs. necrotic NS3 DC. Vaccination of mice with necrotic NS3 DC increased the breadth of T-cell responses and enhanced the production of IL-2, TNF-α, and IFN-γ by effector memory CD4+ and CD8+T cells, compared to mice vaccinated with live NS3 DC. A single dose of necrotic NS3 DC vaccine induced a greater influx and activation of cross-presenting CD11c+ CD8α+ DC and necrosis-sensing Clec9A+ DC in the draining lymph nodes. Furthermore, using a hydrodynamic challenge model necrotic NS3 DC vaccination resulted in enhanced clearance of NS3-positive hepatocytes from the livers of vaccinated mice. Taken together, the data demonstrate that necrotic DC represent a novel and exciting vaccination strategy capable of inducing broad and multifunctional T cell memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zelalem A Mekonnen
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Makutiro G Masavuli
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Wenbo Yu
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.,Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Jason Gummow
- Gene Silencing and Expression Laboratory, Robinson Research Institute, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Dawn M Whelan
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Zahraa Al-Delfi
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Joseph Torresi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Eric J Gowans
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Branka Grubor-Bauk
- Viral Immunology Group, Discipline of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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19
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Knierman MD, Lannan MB, Spindler LJ, McMillian CL, Konrad RJ, Siegel RW. The Human Leukocyte Antigen Class II Immunopeptidome of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein. Cell Rep 2020; 33:108454. [PMID: 33220791 PMCID: PMC7664343 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Precise elucidation of the antigen sequences for T cell immunosurveillance greatly enhances our ability to understand and modulate humoral responses to viral infection or active immunization. Mass spectrometry is used to identify 526 unique sequences from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein extracellular domain in a complex with human leukocyte antigen class II molecules on antigen-presenting cells from a panel of healthy donors selected to represent a majority of allele usage from this highly polymorphic molecule. The identified sequences span the entire spike protein, and several sequences are isolated from a majority of the sampled donors, indicating promiscuous binding. Importantly, many peptides derived from the receptor binding domain used for cell entry are identified. This work represents a precise and comprehensive immunopeptidomic investigation with the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and allows detailed analysis of features that may aid vaccine development to end the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Knierman
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Megan B Lannan
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Laura J Spindler
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Carl L McMillian
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Robert J Konrad
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Robert W Siegel
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA.
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20
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Hartnell F, Esposito I, Swadling L, Brown A, Phetsouphanh C, de Lara C, Gentile C, Turner B, Dorrell L, Capone S, Folgori A, Barnes E, Klenerman P. Characterizing Hepatitis C Virus-Specific CD4 + T Cells Following Viral-Vectored Vaccination, Directly Acting Antivirals, and Spontaneous Viral Cure. Hepatology 2020; 72:1541-1555. [PMID: 32012325 PMCID: PMC7610807 DOI: 10.1002/hep.31160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Induction of functional helper CD4+ T cells is the hallmark of a protective immune response against hepatitis C virus (HCV), associated with spontaneous viral clearance. Heterologous prime/boost viral vectored vaccination has demonstrated induction of broad and polyfunctional HCV-specific CD8+ T cells in healthy volunteers; however, much less is known about CD4+ T-cell subsets following vaccination. APPROACH AND RESULTS We analyzed HCV-specific CD4+ T-cell populations using major histocompatibility complex class II tetramers in volunteers undergoing HCV vaccination with recombinant HCV adenoviral/modified vaccinia Ankara viral vectors. Peptide-specific T-cell responses were tracked over time, and functional (proliferation and cytokine secretion) and phenotypic (cell surface and intranuclear) markers were assessed using flow cytometry. These were compared to CD4+ responses in 10 human leukocyte antigen-matched persons with HCV spontaneous resolution and 21 chronically infected patients treated with directly acting antiviral (DAA) therapy. Vaccination induced tetramer-positive CD4+ T cells that were highest 1-4 weeks after boosting (mean, 0.06%). Similar frequencies were obtained for those tracked following spontaneous resolution of disease (mean, 0.04%). In addition, the cell-surface phenotype (CD28, CD127) memory subset markers and intranuclear transcription factors, as well as functional capacity of peptide-specific CD4+ T-cell responses characterized after vaccination, are comparable to those following spontaneous viral resolution. In contrast, helper responses in chronic infection were infrequently detected and poorly functional and did not consistently recover following HCV cure. CONCLUSIONS Helper CD4+ T-cell phenotype and function following HCV viral vectored vaccination resembles "protective memory" that is observed following spontaneous clearance of HCV. DAA cure does not promote resurrection of exhausted CD4+ T-cell memory in chronic infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicity Hartnell
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Ilaria Esposito
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Leo Swadling
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Anthony Brown
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Catherine de Lara
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | | | - Bethany Turner
- Jenner Vaccine TrialsNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Lucy Dorrell
- Jenner Vaccine TrialsNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | | | | | - Eleanor Barnes
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom,Jenner Vaccine TrialsNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre OxfordJohn Radcliffe HospitalOxfordUnited Kingdom,Translational Gastroenterology UnitJohn Radcliffe HospitalOxfordUnited Kingdom
| | - Paul Klenerman
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen ResearchUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom,Jenner Vaccine TrialsNuffield Department of MedicineUniversity of OxfordOxfordUnited Kingdom,NIHR Biomedical Research Centre OxfordJohn Radcliffe HospitalOxfordUnited Kingdom,Translational Gastroenterology UnitJohn Radcliffe HospitalOxfordUnited Kingdom
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21
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Chen DY, Wolski D, Aneja J, Matsubara L, Robilotti B, Hauck G, de Sousa PSF, Subudhi S, Fernandes CA, Hoogeveen RC, Kim AY, Lewis-Ximenez L, Lauer GM. Hepatitis C virus-specific CD4+ T cell phenotype and function in different infection outcomes. J Clin Invest 2020; 130:768-773. [PMID: 31904582 DOI: 10.1172/jci126277] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
CD4+ T cell failure is a hallmark of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, the mechanisms underlying the impairment and loss of virus-specific CD4+ T cells in persisting HCV infection remain unclear. Here we examined HCV-specific CD4+ T cells longitudinally during acute infection with different infection outcomes. We found that HCV-specific CD4+ T cells are characterized by expression of a narrower range of T cell inhibitory receptors compared with CD8+ T cells, with initially high expression levels of PD-1 and CTLA-4 that were associated with negative regulation of proliferation in all patients, irrespective of outcome. In addition, HCV-specific CD4+ T cells were phenotypically similar during early resolving and persistent infection and secreted similar levels of cytokines. However, upon viral control, CD4+ T cells quickly downregulated inhibitory receptors and differentiated into long-lived memory cells. In contrast, persisting viremia continued to drive T cell activation and PD-1 and CTLA-4 expression, and blocked T cell differentiation, until the cells quickly disappeared from the circulation. Our data support an important and physiological role for inhibitory receptor-mediated regulation of CD4+ T cells in early HCV infection, irrespective of outcome, with persistent HCV viremia leading to sustained upregulation of PD-1 and CTLA-4.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jasneet Aneja
- Gastrointestinal Unit and.,Infectious Disease Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Arthur Y Kim
- Infectious Disease Division, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Lia Lewis-Ximenez
- Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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22
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Binder B, Thimme R. CD4+ T cell responses in human viral infection: lessons from hepatitis C. J Clin Invest 2020; 130:595-597. [PMID: 31904589 DOI: 10.1172/jci133222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Liver disease as a result of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global problem. While some HCV infections resolve spontaneously, viral persistence associates with compromised T cell immunity. In this issue of the JCI, Chen et al. and Coss et al. explored virus-specific CD4+ T cell response during HCV infection. Both studies evaluated the HCV-specific T cells of patients with different courses of infection. Chen et al. revealed that initial CD4+ T cell responses are similar during early infection and that T cell failure resulted from loss of the virus-specific T cells themselves. Coss et al. showed that HCV-specific CD4+ T cells temporarily recovered in some women following childbirth. These studies contribute to our understanding of CD4+ T cell functionality during different natural courses of infection, with the notable implication that restoring CD4+ T cell immunity might contribute to controlling HCV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt Binder
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.,IMM-PACT Clinician Scientist Programme, Faculty of Medicine, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Robert Thimme
- Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
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23
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Donnison T, von Delft A, Brown A, Swadling L, Hutchings C, Hanke T, Chinnakannan S, Barnes E. Viral vectored hepatitis C virus vaccines generate pan-genotypic T cell responses to conserved subdominant epitopes. Vaccine 2020; 38:5036-5048. [PMID: 32532545 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.05.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2019] [Revised: 03/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/15/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Viral genetic variability presents a major challenge to the development of a prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine. A promising HCV vaccine using chimpanzee adenoviral vectors (ChAd) encoding a genotype (gt) 1b non-structural protein (ChAd-Gt1b-NS) generated high magnitude T cell responses. However, these T cells showed reduced cross-recognition of dominant epitope variants and the vaccine has recently been shown to be ineffective at preventing chronic HCV. To address the challenge of viral diversity, we developed ChAd vaccines encoding HCV genomic sequences that are conserved between all major HCV genotypes and adjuvanted by truncated shark invariant chain (sIitr). METHODS Age-matched female mice were immunised intramuscularly with ChAd (108 infectious units) encoding gt-1 and -3 (ChAd-Gt1/3) or gt-1 to -6 (ChAd-Gt1-6) conserved segments spanning the HCV proteome, or gt-1b (ChAd-Gt1b-NS control), with immunogenicity assessed 14-days post-vaccination. RESULTS Conserved segment vaccines, ChAd-Gt1/3 and ChAd-Gt1-6, generated high-magnitude, broad, and functional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. Compared to the ChAd-Gt1b-NS vaccine, these vaccines generated significantly greater responses against conserved non-gt-1 antigens, including conserved subdominant epitopes that were not targeted by ChAd-Gt1b-NS. Epitopes targeted by the conserved segment HCV vaccine induced T cells, displayed 96.6% mean sequence homology between all HCV subtypes (100% sequence homology for the majority of genotype-1, -2, -4 sequences and 94% sequence homology for gt-3, -6, -7, and -8) in contrast to 85.1% mean sequence homology for epitopes targeted by ChAd-Gt1b-NS induced T cells. The addition of truncated shark invariant chain (sIitr) increased the magnitude, breadth, and cross-reactivity of the T cell response. CONCLUSIONS We have demonstrated that genetically adjuvanted ChAd vectored HCV T cell vaccines encoding genetic sequences conserved between genotypes are immunogenic, activating T cells that target subdominant conserved HCV epitopes. These pre-clinical studies support the use of conserved segment HCV T cell vaccines in human clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy Donnison
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom
| | - Annette von Delft
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony Brown
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom
| | - Leo Swadling
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom
| | - Claire Hutchings
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom
| | - Tomáš Hanke
- Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom; Joint Research Center for Human Retrovirus Infection, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan
| | - Senthil Chinnakannan
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom
| | - Eleanor Barnes
- Peter Medawar Building for Pathogen Research, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX1 3SY, United Kingdom; Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, OX3 7DQ, United Kingdom.
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24
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Esposito I, Cicconi P, D'Alise AM, Brown A, Esposito M, Swadling L, Holst PJ, Bassi MR, Stornaiuolo M, Mori F, Vassilev V, Li W, Donnison T, Gentile C, Turner B, von Delft A, Del Sorbo M, Barra F, Contino AM, Abbate A, Novellino E, Thomsen AR, Christensen JP, Lahm A, Grazioli F, Ammendola V, Siani L, Colloca S, Klenerman P, Nicosia A, Dorrell L, Folgori A, Capone S, Barnes E. MHC class II invariant chain-adjuvanted viral vectored vaccines enhances T cell responses in humans. Sci Transl Med 2020; 12:12/548/eaaz7715. [PMID: 32554708 PMCID: PMC7610808 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz7715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 05/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Strategies to enhance the induction of high magnitude T cell responses through vaccination are urgently needed. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-associated invariant chain (Ii) plays a critical role in antigen presentation, forming MHC class II peptide complexes for the generation of CD4+ T cell responses. Preclinical studies evaluating the fusion of Ii to antigens encoded in vector delivery systems have shown that this strategy may enhance T cell immune responses to the encoded antigen. We now assess this strategy in humans, using chimpanzee adenovirus 3 and modified vaccinia Ankara vectors encoding human Ii fused to the nonstructural (NS) antigens of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a heterologous prime/boost regimen. Vaccination was well tolerated and enhanced the peak magnitude, breadth, and proliferative capacity of anti-HCV T cell responses compared to non-Ii vaccines in humans. Very high frequencies of HCV-specific T cells were elicited in humans. Polyfunctional HCV-specific CD8+ and CD4+ responses were induced with up to 30% of CD3+CD8+ cells targeting single HCV epitopes; these were mostly effector memory cells with a high proportion expressing T cell activation and cytolytic markers. No volunteers developed anti-Ii T cell or antibody responses. Using a mouse model and in vitro experiments, we show that Ii fused to NS increases HCV immune responses through enhanced ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. This strategy could be used to develop more potent HCV vaccines that may contribute to the HCV elimination targets and paves the way for developing class II Ii vaccines against cancer and other infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Esposito
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Paola Cicconi
- The Jenner Institute Laboratories, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | | | - Anthony Brown
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | | | - Leo Swadling
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Peter Johannes Holst
- Center for Medical Parasitology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.,InProTher ApS, BioInnovation Institute, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Maria Rosaria Bassi
- Center for Medical Parasitology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mariano Stornaiuolo
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | | | | | - Wenqin Li
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Timothy Donnison
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Chiara Gentile
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Bethany Turner
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Annette von Delft
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | | | | | | | | | - Ettore Novellino
- Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
| | - Allan Randrup Thomsen
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Paul Klenerman
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.,The Jenner Institute Laboratories, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Alfredo Nicosia
- Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy.,CEINGE-Biotecnologie Avanzate, via Gaetano Salvatore 486, 80145 Naples, Italy.,Keires AG, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Lucy Dorrell
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK.,Oxford NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, Headington OX3 9DU, UK
| | | | | | - Eleanor Barnes
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK. .,The Jenner Institute Laboratories, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
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25
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Structure-Based Immunogenicity Prediction of Uricase from Fungal (Aspergillus flavus), Bacterial (Bacillus subtillis) and Mammalian Sources Using Immunoinformatic Approach. Protein J 2020; 39:133-144. [DOI: 10.1007/s10930-020-09886-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
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26
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Immunogenicity assessment of fungal l-asparaginases: an in silico approach. SN APPLIED SCIENCES 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s42452-020-2021-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022] Open
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27
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Heide J, Wildner NH, Ackermann C, Wittner M, Marget M, Sette A, Sidney J, Jacobs T, Schulze Zur Wiesch J. Detection of EXP1-Specific CD4+ T Cell Responses Directed Against a Broad Range of Epitopes Including Two Promiscuous MHC Class II Binders During Acute Plasmodium falciparum Malaria. Front Immunol 2020; 10:3037. [PMID: 32038611 PMCID: PMC6993587 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.03037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: T cells are thought to play a major role in conferring immunity against malaria. This study aimed to comprehensively define the breadth and specificity of the Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum)-specific CD4+ T cell response directed against the exported protein 1 (EXP1) in a cohort of patients diagnosed with acute malaria. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 44 patients acutely infected with P. falciparum, and of one patient infected with P. vivax, were stimulated and cultured in vitro with an overlapping set of 31 P. falciparum-specific 13-17-mer peptides covering the entire EXP1 sequence. EXP1-specific T cell responses were analyzed by ELISPOT and intracellular cytokine staining for interferon-γ production after re-stimulation with individual peptides. For further characterization of the epitopes, in silico and in vitro human leukocyte antigen (HLA) binding studies and fine mapping assays were performed. Results: We detected one or more EXP1-specific CD4+ T cell responses (mean: 1.09, range 0–5) in 47% (21/45) of our patients. Responses were directed against 15 of the 31 EXP1 peptides. Peptides EXP1-P13 (aa60-74) and P15 (aa70-85) were detected by 18% (n = 8) and 27% (n = 12) of the 45 patients screened. The optimal length, as well as the corresponding most likely HLA-restriction, of each of these two peptides was assessed. Interestingly, we also identified one CD4+ T cell response against peptide EXP1-P15 in a patient who was infected with P. vivax but not falciparum. Conclusions: This first detailed characterization of novel EXP1-specific T cell epitopes provides important information for future analysis with major histocompatibility complex-multimer technology as well as for immunomonitoring and vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Heide
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nils H Wildner
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christin Ackermann
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Melanie Wittner
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Marget
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States.,Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Thomas Jacobs
- Protozoa Immunology, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
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28
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Landahl J, Bockmann JH, Scheurich C, Ackermann C, Matzat V, Heide J, Nuurei T, D'Antonio G, von Felden J, Sette A, Peine S, Lohse AW, Luetgehetmann M, Marget M, Sidney J, Schulze Zur Wiesch J. Detection of a Broad Range of Low-Level Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II-Restricted, Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV)-Specific T-Cell Responses Regardless of Clinical Status. J Infect Dis 2019; 219:568-577. [PMID: 30247653 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiy549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2018] [Accepted: 09/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background This study aimed to comprehensively define the breadth and specificity of the hepatitis delta virus (HDV)-specific T-cell response in patients at different stages of chronic coinfection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). Methods Following in vitro stimulation with an overlapping set of 21 HDV-specific 20mer peptides and exogenous interleukin 2, HDV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses of 32 HDV-infected patients were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunospot analysis and intracellular cytokine staining for interferon γ production at the single-peptide level. Additionally, HLA-binding studies were performed both in silico and in vitro. Results We were able to detect ≥1 T-cell response in >50% our patients. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between the breadth of the response in patients positive and those negative for HDV by PCR. HDV-specific T-cell responses focused on 3 distinct HDV-specific epitopes that were each detected in 12%-21% of patients-2 HLA class II-restricted epitopes (amino acids 11-30 and 41-60) and 1 major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted epitope (amino acids 191-210). In in vitro HLA-binding assays, the 2 CD4+ T-cell specificities (amino acids 11-30 and 41-60) showed promiscuous binding to multiple HLA-DR molecules. Conclusions This comprehensive characterization of HDV T-cell epitopes provides important information that will facilitate further studies of HDV immunopathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Landahl
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jan Hendrik Bockmann
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research Partner Site, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Christin Ackermann
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Verena Matzat
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Janna Heide
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research Partner Site, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Tungalag Nuurei
- Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Gianluca D'Antonio
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Johann von Felden
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - Sven Peine
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Ansgar W Lohse
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research Partner Site, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Marc Luetgehetmann
- Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research Partner Site, Hamburg, Germany
| | | | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, California
| | - Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch
- I. Department of Medicine, Section Infectious Diseases, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research Partner Site, Hamburg, Germany
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29
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Dawood RM, Moustafa RI, Abdelhafez TH, El-Shenawy R, El-Abd Y, Bader El Din NG, Dubuisson J, El Awady MK. A multiepitope peptide vaccine against HCV stimulates neutralizing humoral and persistent cellular responses in mice. BMC Infect Dis 2019; 19:932. [PMID: 31690267 PMCID: PMC6833294 DOI: 10.1186/s12879-019-4571-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2019] [Accepted: 10/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although DAAs hold promise to significantly reduce rates of chronic HCV infections, its eradication still requires development of an effective vaccine. Prolonged T cell responses and cross neutralizing antibodies are ideal for vaccination against the infection. We aimed to design and synthesize a 6 multi epitope peptide vaccine candidate and provide evidence for production of extended cellular and neutralizing Abs in mice. METHODS Six peptides derived from conserved epitopes in E1, E2 (n = 2),NS4B, NS5A and NS5B were designed, synthesized in a multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) form and administered w/o adjuvant to BALB/c mice as HCVp6-MAP at doses ranging from 800 ng to 16 μg. Humoral responses to structural epitopes were assayed by ELISA at different times after injection. ELISpot assay was used to evaluate IFN ɣ producing CD4+/ CD8+ T- lymphocytes at extended durations i.e. > 20 weeks. Viral neutralization by mice sera was tested for genotypes 2a (JFH1) and a chimeric 2a/4a virus (ED43/JFH1) in HCVcc culture. RESULTS HCVp6-MAP confers potent viral neutralization and specific cellular responses at > 1600 ng/ animal for at least 20 weeks. CONCLUSION We report on a promising anti HCV vaccine for future studies on permissive hosts and in clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Reham M Dawood
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt.
| | - Rehab I Moustafa
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019 - UMR 8204 - CIIL- Centre d'Infection et d'Immunité de Lille, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Tawfeek H Abdelhafez
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
| | - Reem El-Shenawy
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
| | - Yasmine El-Abd
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
| | - Noha G Bader El Din
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
| | - Jean Dubuisson
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Inserm, CHU Lille, Institut Pasteur de Lille, U1019 - UMR 8204 - CIIL- Centre d'Infection et d'Immunité de Lille, F-59000, Lille, France
| | - Mostafa K El Awady
- Micrbial Biotechnology Department, National Research Center, 33 Tahrir street, Dokki, Cairo, 12622, Egypt
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30
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Huang J, Xu R, Wang M, Liao Q, Huang K, Shan Z, You Q, Li C, Rong X, Fu Y. Association of HLA-DQB1*03:01 and DRB1*11:01 with spontaneous clearance of hepatitis C virus in Chinese Li ethnicity, an ethnic group genetically distinct from Chinese Han ethnicity and infected with unique HCV subtype. J Med Virol 2019; 91:1830-1836. [PMID: 31254396 DOI: 10.1002/jmv.25531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Accepted: 06/21/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Specific human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and class II alleles have been associated with spontaneous clearance or persistent infection of hepatitis C virus (HCV), which seemed to be restricted by the host's ethnicity and viral genotype. Recently we reported a high prevalence and spontaneous clearance rate of HCV in a cohort of Chinese Li ethnicity who were infected with new variants of HCV genotype 6. In this study, we found that the distribution of HLA class I and class II alleles in HCV infected individuals of Chinese Li ethnicity (n = 143) was distinct from that of Chinese Han ethnicity which was reported in our previous study. HLA-DRB1*11:01 and DQB1*03:01 were more prevalent in Chinese Li subjects who cleared HCV spontaneously than those who were chronically infected (P = .036 and P = .024, respectively), which were consistent with our previous report regarding the Chinese Han population. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that DQB1*03:01 (odds ratio = 3.899, P = .017), but not DRB1*11:01, associated with HCV spontaneous clearance, independent of age, sex, and IFNL3 genotype. Because DQB1*03:01 and DRB1*11:01 were tightly linked because of linkage disequilibrium, our results clearly supported the associations of these two alleles with HCV spontaneous clearance in Chinese Li as well as Han ethnicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jieting Huang
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Ru Xu
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Min Wang
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Qiao Liao
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Ke Huang
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhengang Shan
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Qingzhu You
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, School of Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Chengyao Li
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, School of Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Xia Rong
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, School of Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Yongshui Fu
- Guangzhou Blood Center, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- The Key Medical Laboratory of Guangzhou, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, School of Biotechnology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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31
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HCV p7 as a novel vaccine-target inducing multifunctional CD4 + and CD8 + T-cells targeting liver cells expressing the viral antigen. Sci Rep 2019; 9:14085. [PMID: 31575882 PMCID: PMC6773770 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50365-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite recent treatment advances for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a vaccine is urgently needed for global control of this important liver pathogen. The lack of robust immunocompetent HCV infection models makes it challenging to identify correlates of protection and test vaccine efficacy. However, vigorous CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses are detected in patients that spontaneously resolve acute infection, whereas dysfunctional T-cell responses are a hallmark of chronic infection. The HCV p7 protein, forming ion-channels essential for viral assembly and release, has not previously been pursued as a vaccine antigen. Herein, we demonstrated that HCV p7 derived from genotype 1a and 1b sequences are highly immunogenic in mice when employed as overlapping peptides formulated as nanoparticles with the cross-priming adjuvant, CAF09. This approach induced multifunctional cytokine producing CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells targeting regions of p7 that are subject to immune pressure during HCV infection in chimpanzees and humans. Employing a surrogate in vivo challenge model of liver cells co-expressing HCV-p7 and GFP, we found that vaccinated mice cleared transgene expressing cells. This study affirms the potential of a T-cell inducing nanoparticle vaccine platform to target the liver and introduces HCV p7 as a potential target for HCV vaccine explorations.
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32
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Dawood RM, Salum GM, Abdelhafez TH, El Shenawy R, Ibrahim NE, El Awady MK. Safety and tolerability of mice to repeated subcutaneous injections of a peptide mix as a potential vaccine against HCV infection. Hum Antibodies 2019; 27:105-110. [PMID: 30594921 DOI: 10.3233/hab-180354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS In this study, the safety and tolerability of new candidate HCV vaccine named Cenv6 were screened in mice. Cenv6 peptide is composed of 6 synthetic HCV peptides (3 structural and 3 nonstructural peptides). METHODS Forty eight mice were enrolled in this study, 12 controls and 36 mice (the thirty-six mice were categorized into 3 groups according to administered doses (3 monthly doses of 800 ng, 1600 ng, and 16 μg/25 gm mouse body weight (bw))). Hematological, biochemical and histopathological changes were appraised. RESULTS Our data indicated that the doses of 800 ng and 1600 ng of Cenv6 per 25 gm mouse body weight were safe as compared to the dose 16 μg/25 gm bw (10 times more than the potential therapeutic dose) for all examined tissues while the 16 μg Cenv6 dose provoked histopathological changes in kidneys, liver and lungs. CONCLUSIONS The extravagant histopathological changes in different organs have exiled the 16 μg dose out of acceptable range and validated that Cenv6 is safe and tolerable at the two lower doses (800 and 1600 ng/25 gm bw).
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Wolski D, Lauer GM. Hepatitis C Virus as a Unique Human Model Disease to Define Differences in the Transcriptional Landscape of T Cells in Acute versus Chronic Infection. Viruses 2019; 11:v11080683. [PMID: 31357397 PMCID: PMC6723887 DOI: 10.3390/v11080683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 07/21/2019] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The hepatitis C virus is unique among chronic viral infections in that an acute outcome with complete viral elimination is observed in a minority of infected patients. This unique feature allows direct comparison of successful immune responses with those that fail in the setting of the same human infection. Here we review how this scenario can be used to achieve better understanding of transcriptional regulation of T-cell differentiation. Specifically, we discuss results from a study comparing transcriptional profiles of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific CD8 T-cells during early HCV infection between patients that do and do not control and eliminate HCV. Identification of early gene expression differences in key T-cell differentiation molecules as well as clearly distinct transcriptional networks related to cell metabolism and nucleosomal regulation reveal novel insights into the development of exhausted and memory T-cells. With additional transcriptional studies of HCV-specific CD4 and CD8 T-cells in different stages of infection currently underway, we expect HCV infection to become a valuable model disease to study human immunity to viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Wolski
- Liver Center at the Gastrointestinal Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Georg M Lauer
- Liver Center at the Gastrointestinal Unit, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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Merat SJ, Bru C, van de Berg D, Molenkamp R, Tarr AW, Koekkoek S, Kootstra NA, Prins M, Ball JK, Bakker AQ, de Jong MD, Spits H, Beaumont T, Schinkel J. Cross-genotype AR3-specific neutralizing antibodies confer long-term protection in injecting drug users after HCV clearance. J Hepatol 2019; 71:14-24. [PMID: 30797052 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2019.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2018] [Revised: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND & AIMS In order to design an effective vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, it is necessary to understand immune protection. A number of broadly reactive neutralizing antibodies have been isolated from B cells of HCV-infected patients. However, it remains unclear whether B cells producing such antibodies contribute to HCV clearance and long-term immune protection against HCV. METHODS We analysed the B cell repertoire of 13 injecting drug users from the Amsterdam Cohort Study, who were followed up for a median of 17.5 years after primary infection. Individuals were classified into 2 groups based on the outcome of HCV infection: 5 who became chronically infected either after primary infection or after reinfection, and 8 who were HCV RNA negative following spontaneous clearance of ≥1 HCV infection(s). From each individual, 10,000 CD27+IgG+B cells, collected 0.75 year after HCV infection, were cultured to characterize the antibody repertoire. RESULTS Using a multiplex flow cytometry-based assay to study the antibody binding to E1E2 from genotype 1 to 6, we found that a high frequency of cross-genotype antibodies was associated with spontaneous clearance of 1 or multiple infections (p = 0.03). Epitope specificity of these cross-genotype antibodies was determined by alanine mutant scanning in 4 individuals who were HCV RNA negative following spontaneous clearance of 1 or multiple infections. Interestingly, the cross-genotype antibodies were mainly antigenic region 3 (AR3)-specific and showed cross-neutralizing activity against HCV. In addition to AR3 antibodies, 3 individuals developed antibodies recognizing antigenic region 4, of which 1 monoclonal antibody showed cross-neutralizing capacity. CONCLUSIONS Together, these data suggest that a strong B cell response producing cross-genotype and neutralizing antibodies, especially targeting AR3, contributes to HCV clearance and long-term immune protection against HCV. LAY SUMMARY Although effective treatments against hepatitis C virus (HCV) are available, 500,000 people die from liver disease caused by HCV each year and approximately 1.75 million people are newly infected. This could be prevented by a vaccine. To design a vaccine against HCV, more insight into the role of antibodies in the protection against HCV infection is needed. In a cohort of injecting drug users, we found that antibodies interfering with virus cell entry, and recognizing multiple HCV genotypes, conferred long-term protection against chronic HCV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Camille Bru
- AIMM Therapeutics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Richard Molenkamp
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Alexander W Tarr
- School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; NIHR Nottingham BRC, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Sylvie Koekkoek
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Neeltje A Kootstra
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Maria Prins
- Public Health Service of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Infectious Diseases, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jonathan K Ball
- School of Life Sciences, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK; NIHR Nottingham BRC, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | | | - Menno D de Jong
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | | | - Janke Schinkel
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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Simultaneous Analysis of HCV-Specific CD4 + and CD8 + T Cells by Multicolor Flow Cytometry. Methods Mol Biol 2019. [PMID: 30593639 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8976-8_25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
Abstract
CD4 T cell responses are key to effective control of HCV infection. However, their precise mechanisms of action and the molecular programs leading to effective T help versus CD4 T cell failure remain elusive. Direct visualization of HCV-specific CD4 T cells using HLA class II tetramers holds the promise to better define the function and phenotype of these cells and to isolate them for further molecular analysis. Here we describe how to utilize peptide-MHC (pMHC) class II tetramers in multicolor flow cytometry to define the expression of molecules on the surface and within HCV-specific CD4 T cells, how to analyze HCV-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells in the same tube, and how to sort live HCV-specific CD4 T cells as single cells or T cell populations for further analysis by RNAseq or other methods.
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Masavuli MG, Wijesundara DK, Underwood A, Christiansen D, Earnest-Silveira L, Bull R, Torresi J, Gowans EJ, Grubor-Bauk B. A Hepatitis C Virus DNA Vaccine Encoding a Secreted, Oligomerized Form of Envelope Proteins Is Highly Immunogenic and Elicits Neutralizing Antibodies in Vaccinated Mice. Front Immunol 2019; 10:1145. [PMID: 31178869 PMCID: PMC6543710 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.01145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) persistently infects approximately 71 million people globally. To prevent infection a vaccine which elicits neutralizing antibodies against the virus envelope proteins (E1/E2) which are required for entry into host cells is desirable. DNA vaccines are cost-effective to manufacture globally and despite recent landmark studies highlighting the therapeutic efficacy of DNA vaccines in humans against cervical cancer, DNA vaccines encoding E1/E2 developed thus far are poorly immunogenic. We now report a novel and highly immunogenic DNA vaccination strategy that incorporates secreted E1 and E2 (sE1 and sE2) into oligomers by fusion with the oligomerization domain of the C4b-binding protein, IMX313P. The FDA approved plasmid, pVax, was used to encode sE1, sE2, or sE1E2 with or without IMX313P, and intradermal prime-boost vaccination studies in BALB/c mice showed that vaccines encoding IMX313P were the most effective in eliciting humoral and cell-mediated immunity against the envelope proteins. Further boosting with recombinant E1E2 proteins but not DNA nor virus-like particles (VLPs) expressing E1E2 increased the immunogenicity of the DNA prime-boost regimen. Nevertheless, the antibodies generated by the homologous DNA prime-boost vaccinations more effectively inhibited the binding of VLPs to target cells and neutralized transduction with HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) derived from different genotypes including genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. This report provides the first evidence that IMX313P can be used as an adjuvant for E1/E2-based DNA vaccines and represents a translatable approach for the development of a HCV DNA vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Makutiro Ghislain Masavuli
- Virology Laboratory, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, Discipline of Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Danushka K Wijesundara
- Virology Laboratory, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, Discipline of Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Alexander Underwood
- Faculty of Medicine, The Kirby Institute, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Dale Christiansen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Linda Earnest-Silveira
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Rowena Bull
- Faculty of Medicine, The Kirby Institute, School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Joseph Torresi
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Eric J Gowans
- Virology Laboratory, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, Discipline of Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Branka Grubor-Bauk
- Virology Laboratory, Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Medicine, Discipline of Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
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Irshad M, Gupta P, Irshad K. Immunopathogenesis of Liver Injury During Hepatitis C Virus Infection. Viral Immunol 2019; 32:112-120. [PMID: 30817236 DOI: 10.1089/vim.2018.0124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The present report describes current concepts about the mechanism of liver cell injury caused by host immune response against hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in human beings. This report is based on the observations from experimental studies and follow-up actions on human liver diseases. The results from different investigations suggest that liver injury depends on the presentation of viral antigen and the level of host immune response raised against HCV-related peptides. Both innate and adaptive immunity are triggered to counter the viral onset. During development of host immunity, the cell-mediated immune response involving CD4+ Th1 cells and CD8+ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) cells were found to play a major role in causing liver damage. The hepatic Innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) subsets are involved in the immune regulation of different liver diseases: viral hepatitis, mechanical liver injury, and fibrosis. Humoral immunity and natural killer (NK) cell action also contributed in liver cell injury by antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). In fact, immunopathogenesis of HCV infection is a complex phenomenon where regulation of immune response at several steps decides the possibility of viral elimination or persistence. Regulation of immune response was noted starting from viral-host interaction to immune reaction cascade engaged in cell damage. The activation or suppression of interferon-stimulated genes, NK cell action, CTL inducement by regulatory T cells (Treg), B cell proliferation, and so on was demonstrated during HCV infection. Involvement of HLA in antigen presentation, as well as types of viral genotypes, also influenced host immune response against HCV peptides. The combined effect of all these effector mechanisms ultimately decides the progression of viral onset to acute or chronic infection. In conclusion, immunopathogenesis of liver injury after HCV infection may be ascribed mainly to host immune response. Second, it is cell-mediated immunity that plays a predominant role in liver cell damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mohammad Irshad
- 1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Priyanka Gupta
- 2 Clinical Biochemistry Division, Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
| | - Khushboo Irshad
- 3 Department of Biochemistry, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
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Lorente E, Martín-Galiano AJ, Barnea E, Barriga A, Palomo C, García-Arriaza J, Mir C, Lauzurica P, Esteban M, Admon A, López D. Proteomics Analysis Reveals That Structural Proteins of the Virion Core and Involved in Gene Expression Are the Main Source for HLA Class II Ligands in Vaccinia Virus-Infected Cells. J Proteome Res 2019; 18:900-911. [PMID: 30629447 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.8b00595] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Protective cellular and humoral immune responses require previous recognition of viral antigenic peptides complexed with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II molecules on the surface of the antigen presenting cells. The HLA class II-restricted immune response is important for the control and the clearance of poxvirus infection including vaccinia virus (VACV), the vaccine used in the worldwide eradication of smallpox. In this study, a mass spectrometry analysis was used to identify VACV ligands bound to HLA-DR and -DP class II molecules present on the surface of VACV-infected cells. Twenty-six naturally processed viral ligands among the tens of thousands of cell peptides bound to HLA class II proteins were identified. These viral ligands arose from 19 parental VACV proteins: A4, A5, A18, A35, A38, B5, B13, D1, D5, D7, D12, D13, E3, E8, H5, I2, I3, J2, and K2. The majority of these VACV proteins yielded one HLA ligand and were generated mainly, but not exclusively, by the classical HLA class II antigen processing pathway. Medium-sized and abundant proteins from the virion core and/or involved in the viral gene expression were the major source of VACV ligands bound to HLA-DR and -DP class II molecules. These findings will help to understand the effectiveness of current poxvirus-based vaccines and will be important in the design of new ones.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Eilon Barnea
- Department of Biology , Technion-Israel Institute of Technology , 32000 Haifa , Israel
| | | | | | - Juan García-Arriaza
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , Centro Nacional de Biotecnología , Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 28049 Madrid , Spain
| | | | | | - Mariano Esteban
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology , Centro Nacional de Biotecnología , Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), 28049 Madrid , Spain
| | - Arie Admon
- Department of Biology , Technion-Israel Institute of Technology , 32000 Haifa , Israel
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Dominguez-Molina B, Ferrando-Martinez S, Tarancon-Diez L, Hernandez-Quero J, Genebat M, Vidal F, Muñoz-Fernandez MA, Leal M, Koup R, Ruiz-Mateos E. Immune Correlates of Natural HIV Elite Control and Simultaneous HCV Clearance-Supercontrollers. Front Immunol 2018; 9:2897. [PMID: 30619267 PMCID: PMC6295470 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
HIV-elite controllers are a minority group of HIV-infected patients with the ability to maintain undetectable HIV viremia for long time periods without antiretroviral treatment. A small group of HIV-controllers are also able to spontaneously clear the hepatitis C virus (HCV) whom we can refer to as "supercontrollers." There are no studies that explore immune correlates looking for the mechanisms implicated in this extraordinary phenomenon. Herein, we have analyzed HCV- and HIV-specific T-cell responses, as well as T, dendritic and NK cell phenotypes. The higher HCV-specific CD4 T-cell polyfunctionality, together with a low activation and exhaustion T-cell phenotype was found in supercontrollers. In addition, the frequency of CD8 CD161high T-cells was related with HIV- and HCV-specific T-cells polyfunctionality. Interesting features regarding NK and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) were found. The study of the supercontroller's immune response, subjects that spontaneously controls both chronic viral infections, could provide further insights into virus-specific responses needed to develop immunotherapeutic strategies in the setting of HIV cure or HCV vaccination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz Dominguez-Molina
- Clinic Unit of Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, Seville, Spain
- Laboratory of Immunovirology, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Sara Ferrando-Martinez
- Immunology Laboratory, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Laura Tarancon-Diez
- Clinic Unit of Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, Seville, Spain
- Laboratory of Immunovirology, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Miguel Genebat
- Laboratory of Immunovirology, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain
| | - Francisco Vidal
- Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII, IISPV, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Mª Angeles Muñoz-Fernandez
- Sección Inmunología, Laboratory InmunoBiología Molecular, Hospital General Universitario “Gregorio Marañón”, Madrid, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Manuel Leal
- Laboratory of Immunovirology, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital/CSIC/University of Seville, Seville, Spain
- Servicio de Medicina Interna, Hospital Viamed, Santa Ángela de la Cruz, Seville, Spain
| | - Richard Koup
- Immunology Laboratory, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Ezequiel Ruiz-Mateos
- Clinic Unit of Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine of Seville, IBiS, Virgen del Rocío University Hospital, Seville, Spain
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40
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Dhanda SK, Karosiene E, Edwards L, Grifoni A, Paul S, Andreatta M, Weiskopf D, Sidney J, Nielsen M, Peters B, Sette A. Predicting HLA CD4 Immunogenicity in Human Populations. Front Immunol 2018; 9:1369. [PMID: 29963059 PMCID: PMC6010533 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Prediction of T cell immunogenicity is a topic of considerable interest, both in terms of basic understanding of the mechanisms of T cells responses and in terms of practical applications. HLA binding affinity is often used to predict T cell epitopes, since HLA binding affinity is a key requisite for human T cell immunogenicity. However, immunogenicity at the population it is complicated by the high level of variability of HLA molecules, potential other factors beyond HLA as well as the frequent lack of HLA typing data. To overcome those issues, we explored an alternative approach to identify the common characteristics able to distinguish immunogenic peptides from non-recognized peptides. Methods Sets of dominant epitopes derived from peer-reviewed published papers were used in conjunction with negative peptides from the same experiments/donors to train neural networks and generate an “immunogenicity score.” We also compared the performance of the immunogenicity score with previously described method for immunogenicity prediction based on HLA class II binding at the population level. Results The immunogenicity score was validated on a series of independent datasets derived from the published literature, representing 57 independent studies where immunogenicity in human populations was assessed by testing overlapping peptides spanning different antigens. Overall, these testing datasets corresponded to over 2,000 peptides and tested in over 1,600 different human donors. The 7-allele method prediction and the immunogenicity score were associated with similar performance [average area under the ROC curve (AUC) values of 0.703 and 0.702, respectively] while the combined methods reached an average AUC of 0.725. This increase in average AUC value is significant compared with the immunogenicity score (p = 0.0135) and a strong trend toward significance is observed when compared to the 7-allele method (p = 0.0938). The new immunogenicity score method is now freely available using CD4 T cell immunogenicity prediction tool on the Immune Epitope Database website (http://tools.iedb.org/CD4episcore). Conclusion The new immunogenicity score predicts CD4 T cell immunogenicity at the population level starting from protein sequences and with no need for HLA typing. Its efficacy has been validated in the context of different antigen sources, ethnicities, and disparate techniques for epitope identification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Kumar Dhanda
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Edita Karosiene
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Lindy Edwards
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Alba Grifoni
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Sinu Paul
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Massimo Andreatta
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Daniela Weiskopf
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Morten Nielsen
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Department of Bio and Health Informatics, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States.,University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States.,University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
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Chauhan V, Singh MP, Ratho RK. Identification of T cell and B cell epitopes against Indian HCV-genotype-3a for vaccine development- An in silico analysis. Biologicals 2018. [PMID: 29519752 DOI: 10.1016/j.biologicals.2018.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infects almost 150 million people and is a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. It has been classified into seven genotypes; the most common genotype affecting Indian population is genotype 3 (60-70%). Currently there is no vaccine for any genotype of HCV. In order to develop peptide based vaccine against HCV, it is important to identify the conservancy in the circulating genotypes, along with the Human Leucocyte Antigen (HLA) alleles in the target population. The present study aims to identify conserved CD4 and CD8 T cells and B cell epitopes against Indian HCV-genotype-3a using an in silico analysis. In the present study, 28 promiscuous CD4 T cell epitopes and some CD8 epitopes were identified. The NS4 region was predicted to be the most antigenic with maximum number of conserved and promiscuous CD4 T cell epitopes and CD8 T cell epitopes having strong and intermediate affinity towards a number of HLA alleles prevalent in Indian population. Additionally, some linear B cell epitopes were also identified, which could generate neutralizing antibodies. In order to ascertain the binding pattern of the identified epitopes with HLA alleles, molecular docking analysis was carried out. The authors suggest further experimental validation to investigate the immunogenicity of the identified epitopes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varun Chauhan
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Punjab 160012, India
| | - Mini P Singh
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Punjab 160012, India.
| | - Radha K Ratho
- Department of Virology, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, Punjab 160012, India
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Singh T, Fakiola M, Oommen J, Singh AP, Singh AK, Smith N, Chakravarty J, Sundar S, Blackwell JM. Epitope-Binding Characteristics for Risk versus Protective DRB1 Alleles for Visceral Leishmaniasis. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2018; 200:2727-2737. [PMID: 29507109 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1701764] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2017] [Accepted: 02/08/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
HLA-DRB1 is the major genetic risk factor for visceral leishmaniasis (VL). We used SNP2HLA to impute HLA-DRB1 alleles and SNPTEST to carry out association analyses in 889 human cases and 977 controls from India. NetMHCIIpan 2.1 was used to map epitopes and binding affinities across 49 Leishmania vaccine candidates, as well as across peptide epitopes captured from dendritic cells treated with crude Leishmania Ag and identified using mass spectrometry and alignment to amino acid sequences of a reference Leishmania genome. Cytokines were measured in peptide-stimulated whole blood from 26 cured VL cases and eight endemic healthy controls. HLA-DRB1*1501 and DRB1*1404/DRB1*1301 were the most significant protective and risk alleles, respectively, with specific residues at aa positions 11 and 13 unique to protective alleles. We observed greater peptide promiscuity in sequence motifs for 9-mer core epitopes predicted to bind to risk (*1404/*1301) compared with protective (*1501) DRB1 alleles. There was a higher frequency of basic amino acids in DRB1*1404/*1301-specific epitopes compared with hydrophobic and polar amino acids in DRB1*1501-specific epitopes at anchor residues pocket 4 and pocket 6, which interact with residues at DRB1 positions 11 and 13. Cured VL patients made variable, but robust, IFN-γ, TNF, and IL-10 responses to 20-mer peptides based on captured epitopes, with peptides based on DRB1*1501-captured epitopes resulting in a higher proportion (odds ratio 2.23, 95% confidence interval 1.17-4.25, p = 0.017) of patients with IFN-γ/IL-10 ratios > 2-fold compared with peptides based on DRB1*1301-captured epitopes. Our data provide insight into the molecular mechanisms underpinning the association of HLA-DRB1 alleles with risk versus protection in VL in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Toolika Singh
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi OS 221 005, India
| | - Michaela Fakiola
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, United Kingdom
| | - Joyce Oommen
- Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008, Australia; and
| | - Akhil Pratap Singh
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi OS 221 005, India
| | - Abhishek K Singh
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi OS 221 005, India
| | - Noel Smith
- Lonza Biologics PLC, Great Abington, Cambridge CB21 6GS, United Kingdom
| | - Jaya Chakravarty
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi OS 221 005, India
| | - Shyam Sundar
- Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi OS 221 005, India
| | - Jenefer M Blackwell
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, United Kingdom; .,Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, Subiaco, Western Australia 6008, Australia; and
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Al-Ayoubi J, Behrendt P, Bremer B, Suneetha PV, Gisa A, Rinker F, Manns MP, Cornberg M, Wedemeyer H, Kraft ARM. Hepatitis E virus ORF 1 induces proliferative and functional T-cell responses in patients with ongoing and resolved hepatitis E. Liver Int 2018; 38:266-277. [PMID: 28718943 DOI: 10.1111/liv.13521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2016] [Accepted: 07/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major cause of acute viral hepatitis with >3 million symptomatic cases per year accounting for 70 000 HEV-related deaths. HEV-specific T-cell responses have been investigated against structural proteins expressed by open reading frames (ORF) 2 and 3. T-cell responses against non-structural HEV proteins encoded by ORF1 are hardly studied. The aim of this study was to determine HEV ORF1-specific T-cell responses in comparison to ORF2/3 in patients exposed to HEV. METHODS HEV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against HEV genotype 3 were investigated in patients with acute and chronic hepatitis E as well as in HEV seropositive and seronegative individuals. HEV-specific T-cell responses were determined by proliferation and intracellular cytokine assay upon stimulation of PBMCs with HEV-specific overlapping peptide pools spanning the entire HEV genome. HEV-antigen was measured using an anti-HEV antigen-specific ELISA. RESULTS Broad HEV ORF1-specific T-cell responses were detected in patients with acute, resolved and chronic hepatitis E without distinct dominant regions. The magnitude and frequency in recognition of ORF1-specific T-cell responses were similar compared to responses against HEV ORF2/3. Longitudinal studies of HEV-specific T-cell responses displayed similar behaviour against structural and non-structural proteins. HEV-antigen levels were inversely correlated with HEV-specific T-cell responses. CONCLUSIONS HEV-specific T-cell responses are detectable against the entire HEV genome including the non-structural proteins. HEV-specific T-cell responses are associated with control of HEV infection. These findings have implications for the design of HEV vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jana Al-Ayoubi
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Patrick Behrendt
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Birgit Bremer
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Anett Gisa
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Franziska Rinker
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Michael P Manns
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Hannover, Germany
| | - Markus Cornberg
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Hannover, Germany
| | - Heiner Wedemeyer
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Hannover, Germany
| | - Anke R M Kraft
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Hannover, Germany
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44
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Wolski D, Foote PK, Chen DY, Lewis-Ximenez LL, Fauvelle C, Aneja J, Walker A, Tonnerre P, Torres-Cornejo A, Kvistad D, Imam S, Waring MT, Tully DC, Allen TM, Chung RT, Timm J, Haining WN, Kim AY, Baumert TF, Lauer GM. Early Transcriptional Divergence Marks Virus-Specific Primary Human CD8 + T Cells in Chronic versus Acute Infection. Immunity 2017; 47:648-663.e8. [PMID: 29045899 PMCID: PMC5708133 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2017.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2017] [Revised: 06/13/2017] [Accepted: 09/13/2017] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
Distinct molecular pathways govern the differentiation of CD8+ effector T cells into memory or exhausted T cells during acute and chronic viral infection, but these are not well studied in humans. Here, we employed an integrative systems immunology approach to identify transcriptional commonalities and differences between virus-specific CD8+ T cells from patients with persistent and spontaneously resolving hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection during the acute phase. We observed dysregulation of metabolic processes during early persistent infection that was linked to changes in expression of genes related to nucleosomal regulation of transcription, T cell differentiation, and the inflammatory response and correlated with subject age, sex, and the presence of HCV-specific CD4+ T cell populations. These early changes in HCV-specific CD8+ T cell transcription preceded the overt establishment of T cell exhaustion, making this signature a prime target in the search for the regulatory origins of T cell dysfunction in chronic viral infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Wolski
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Inserm, U1110, Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Strasbourg 67000, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 67081, France
| | - Peter K Foote
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Diana Y Chen
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Lia L Lewis-Ximenez
- Laboratory of Viral Hepatitis, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040, Brazil
| | - Catherine Fauvelle
- Inserm, U1110, Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Strasbourg 67000, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 67081, France
| | - Jasneet Aneja
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Andreas Walker
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf 40225, Germany
| | - Pierre Tonnerre
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Almudena Torres-Cornejo
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Daniel Kvistad
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Sabrina Imam
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Michael T Waring
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA
| | - Damien C Tully
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Todd M Allen
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Raymond T Chung
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Jörg Timm
- Institute for Virology, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf 40225, Germany
| | - W Nicholas Haining
- Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Arthur Y Kim
- Division of Infectious Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Thomas F Baumert
- Inserm, U1110, Institut de Recherche sur les Maladies Virales et Hépatiques, Strasbourg 67000, France; Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg 67081, France; Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire, Pôle Hépato-digestif, Nouvel Hôpital Civil, Strasbourg 67000, France
| | - Georg M Lauer
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
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45
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Merat SJ, van de Berg D, Bru C, Yasuda E, Breij E, Kootstra N, Prins M, Molenkamp R, Bakker AQ, de Jong MD, Spits H, Schinkel J, Beaumont T. Multiplex flow cytometry-based assay to study the breadth of antibody responses against E1E2 glycoproteins of hepatitis C virus. J Immunol Methods 2017; 454:15-26. [PMID: 28855105 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2017.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Revised: 07/25/2017] [Accepted: 07/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major global public health problem. Early induction of cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies during acute infection correlates with the spontaneous clearance of HCV. Understanding the antibody response in multiple subjects in large-scale studies would greatly benefit vaccine development. To determine the breadth of a polyclonal-serum antibody response, and or, the monoclonal antibodies against the different HCV E1E2 genotypes, we developed a quick and high throughput flow cytometry assay using fluorescent cell barcoding to distinguish cells transfected with different E1E2 sequences in a single measurement. HCV-specific antibodies recognizing conformational epitopes were tested for binding to cells transfected with E1E2 from six genotypes. In this assay, 1500 samples can be analyzed for specific binding to 6 different HCV E1E2 sequences within 8h. Plasma of HCV infected subjects were tested in our assay allowing us to determine the breadth of their antibody response. In summary, we developed a quick and high throughput assay to study the specificity of an antibody response against multiple HCV E1E2 sequences simultaneously. This assay can also be used to facilitate the discovery of novel antibodies, and because other flavi- and picornaviruses have similar intracellular assembly mechanisms, this approach can be used to study the antibody response against such viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina J Merat
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Camille Bru
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Etsuko Yasuda
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Esther Breij
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Neeltje Kootstra
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Sanquin Research, Landsteiner Laboratory, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunity Amsterdam, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maria Prins
- Department of Infectious Diseases Research and Prevention, Cluster of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Department of infectious diseases, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Richard Molenkamp
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Arjen Q Bakker
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Menno D de Jong
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Hergen Spits
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Janke Schinkel
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tim Beaumont
- AIMM Therapeutics, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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46
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Tan WG, Zubkova I, Kachko A, Wells F, Adler H, Sutter G, Major ME. Qualitative differences in cellular immunogenicity elicited by hepatitis C virus T-Cell vaccines employing prime-boost regimens. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0181578. [PMID: 28732046 PMCID: PMC5521799 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0181578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Accepted: 07/03/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
T-cell based vaccines have been considered as attractive candidates for prevention of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. In this study we compared the magnitude and phenotypic characteristics of CD8+ T-cells induced by three commonly used viral vectors, Adenovirus-5 (Ad5), Vaccinia virus (VV) and Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) expressing the HCV NS3/4A protein. C57/BL6 mice were primed with DNA expressing NS3/4A and boosted with each of the viral vectors in individual groups of mice. We then tracked the vaccine-induced CD8+ T-cell responses using pentamer binding and cytokine production analysis. Overall, our data indicate that the memory cells induced by Ad5 were inferior to those induced by VV or MVA. We found that Ad5 boosting resulted in rapid expansion and significantly higher frequencies of NS3-specific T-cells compared to VV and MVA boosting. However, the functional profiles, assessed through analysis of the memory cell marker CD127 and the anti-apoptotic molecule Bcl-2 in the blood, spleen, and liver; and measurements of interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and interleukin-2 production indicated significantly lower frequencies of long-lived memory T-cells following Ad5 boosting compared to VV and MVA. This same set of analyses suggested that the memory cells induced following boosting with MVA were superior to those induced by both Ad5 and VV. This superiority of the MVA-induced CD8+ T-cells was confirmed following surrogate challenge of mice with a recombinant mouse herpes virus expressing the HCV NS3 protein. Higher levels of NS3-specific CD8+ T-cells displaying the functional markers CD69, Ki67 and Granzyme B were found in the spleens of mice boosted with MVA compared to VV and Ad5, both alone and in combination. These data suggest that MVA may be a more successful viral vector for induction of effective CD8+ T-cell responses against hepatitis C virus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wendy G. Tan
- Laboratory of Hepatitis Viruses, Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD United States of America
| | - Iryna Zubkova
- Laboratory of Hepatitis Viruses, Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD United States of America
| | - Alla Kachko
- Laboratory of Hepatitis Viruses, Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD United States of America
| | - Frances Wells
- Laboratory of Hepatitis Viruses, Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD United States of America
| | - Heiko Adler
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center, Research Unit Lung Repair and Regeneration, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Gerd Sutter
- Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, LMU University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Marian E. Major
- Laboratory of Hepatitis Viruses, Division of Viral Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD United States of America
- * E-mail:
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47
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Broadening CD4 + and CD8 + T Cell Responses against Hepatitis C Virus by Vaccination with NS3 Overlapping Peptide Panels in Cross-Priming Liposomes. J Virol 2017; 91:JVI.00130-17. [PMID: 28446674 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00130-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the introduction of effective drugs to treat patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, a vaccine would be the only means to substantially reduce the worldwide disease burden. An incomplete understanding of how HCV interacts with its human host and evades immune surveillance has hampered vaccine development. It is generally accepted that in infected individuals, a narrow repertoire of exhausted T cells is a hallmark of persistent infection, whereas broad, vigorous CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses are associated with control of acute hepatitis C. We employed a vaccine approach based on a mixture of peptides (pepmix) spanning the entire sequence of HCV nonstructural protein 3 (NS3) in cross-priming cationic liposomes (CAF09) to facilitate a versatile presentation of all possible T cell epitopes, regardless of the HLA background of the vaccine recipient. Here, we demonstrate that vaccination of mice with NS3 pepmix broadens the repertoire of epitope-specific T cells compared to the corresponding recombinant protein (rNS3). Moreover, vaccination with rNS3 induced only CD4+ T cells, whereas the NS3 pepmix induced a far more vigorous CD4+ T cell response and was as potent a CD8+ T cell inducer as an adenovirus-vectored vaccine expressing NS3. Importantly, the cellular responses are dominated by multifunctional T cells, such as gamma interferon-positive (IFN-γ+) tumor necrosis factor alpha-positive (TNF-α+) coproducers, and displayed cytotoxic capacity in mice. In conclusion, we present a novel vaccine approach against HCV, inducing a broadened T cell response targeting both immunodominant and potential subdominant epitopes, which may be key elements to counter T cell exhaustion and prevent chronicity.IMPORTANCE With at least 700,000 annual deaths, development of a vaccine against hepatitis C virus (HCV) has high priority, but the tremendous ability of the virus to dodge the human immune system poses great challenges. Furthermore, many chronic infections, including HCV infection, have a remarkable ability to drive initially strong CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses against dominant epitopes toward an exhausted, dysfunctional state. Thus, new and innovative vaccine approaches to control HCV should be evaluated. Here, we report on a novel peptide-based nanoparticle vaccine strategy (NS3 pepmix) aimed at generating T cell immunity against potential subdominant T cell epitopes that are not efficiently targeted by vaccination with full-length recombinant protein (rNS3) or infection with HCV. As proof of concept, we found that NS3 pepmix excels in broadening the repertoire of epitope-specific, multifunctional, and cytotoxic CD4+ and CD8+ T cells compared to vaccination with rNS3, which generated only CD4+ T cell responses.
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48
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Torres-Cornejo A, Lauer GM. Hurdles to the Development of Effective HBV Immunotherapies and HCV Vaccines. Pathog Immun 2017; 2:102-125. [PMID: 28664194 PMCID: PMC5486412 DOI: 10.20411/pai.v2i1.201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic infections with HBV and HCV continue to be major public health problems, with hundreds of millions of people infected worldwide; this is despite the availability of both an effective prophylactic HBV vaccine for more than 3 decades and potent direct antivirals for HBV and, more recently, HCV infection. Consequently, development of HBV immunotherapies and prophylactic HCV vaccines remains extremely urgent, but limited funding and significant gaps in our understanding of the correlates of immune protection pose serious hurdles for the development of novel immune-based interventions. Here we discuss immunological questions related to HBV and HCV, some shared and some pertinent to only 1 of the viruses, that should be addressed for the rational design of HBV immunotherapies and HCV vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Almudena Torres-Cornejo
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Georg M. Lauer
- Gastrointestinal Unit and Liver Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
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49
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Muraro E, Merlo A, Martorelli D, Cangemi M, Dalla Santa S, Dolcetti R, Rosato A. Fighting Viral Infections and Virus-Driven Tumors with Cytotoxic CD4 + T Cells. Front Immunol 2017; 8:197. [PMID: 28289418 PMCID: PMC5327441 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2017.00197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2016] [Accepted: 02/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
CD4+ T cells have been and are still largely regarded as the orchestrators of immune responses, being able to differentiate into distinct T helper cell populations based on differentiation signals, transcription factor expression, cytokine secretion, and specific functions. Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence indicates that CD4+ T cells can also exert a direct effector activity, which depends on intrinsic cytotoxic properties acquired and carried out along with the evolution of several pathogenic infections. The relevant role of CD4+ T cell lytic features in the control of such infectious conditions also leads to their exploitation as a new immunotherapeutic approach. This review aims at summarizing currently available data about functional and therapeutic relevance of cytotoxic CD4+ T cells in the context of viral infections and virus-driven tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Muraro
- Immunopathology and Cancer Biomarkers, Traslational Research Department, IRCCS, C.R.O. National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Pordenone, Italy
| | - Anna Merlo
- Department of Immunology and Blood Transfusions, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy
| | - Debora Martorelli
- Immunopathology and Cancer Biomarkers, Traslational Research Department, IRCCS, C.R.O. National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Pordenone, Italy
| | - Michela Cangemi
- Immunopathology and Cancer Biomarkers, Traslational Research Department, IRCCS, C.R.O. National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Pordenone, Italy
| | | | - Riccardo Dolcetti
- Immunopathology and Cancer Biomarkers, Traslational Research Department, IRCCS, C.R.O. National Cancer Institute, Aviano, Pordenone, Italy
- Translational Research Institute, University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Antonio Rosato
- Istituto Oncologico Veneto IOV-IRCCS, Padova, Italy
- Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, Oncology and Immunology Section, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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50
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Merat SJ, Molenkamp R, Wagner K, Koekkoek SM, van de Berg D, Yasuda E, Böhne M, Claassen YB, Grady BP, Prins M, Bakker AQ, de Jong MD, Spits H, Schinkel J, Beaumont T. Hepatitis C virus Broadly Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies Isolated 25 Years after Spontaneous Clearance. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0165047. [PMID: 27776169 PMCID: PMC5077102 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2016] [Accepted: 09/24/2016] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is world-wide a major cause of liver related morbidity and mortality. No vaccine is available to prevent HCV infection. To design an effective vaccine, understanding immunity against HCV is necessary. The memory B cell repertoire was characterized from an intravenous drug user who spontaneously cleared HCV infection 25 years ago. CD27+IgG+ memory B cells were immortalized using BCL6 and Bcl-xL. These immortalized B cells were used to study antibody-mediated immunity against the HCV E1E2 glycoproteins. Five E1E2 broadly reactive antibodies were isolated: 3 antibodies showed potent neutralization of genotype 1 to 4 using HCV pseudotyped particles, whereas the other 2 antibodies neutralized genotype 1, 2 and 3 or 1 and 2 only. All antibodies recognized non-linear epitopes on E2. Finally, except for antibody AT12-011, which recognized an epitope consisting of antigenic domain C /AR2 and AR5, all other four antibodies recognized epitope II and domain B. These data show that a subject, who spontaneously cleared HCV infection 25 years ago, still has circulating memory B cells that are able to secrete broadly neutralizing antibodies. Presence of such memory B cells strengthens the argument for undertaking the development of an HCV vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard Molenkamp
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Section of Clinical Virology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Koen Wagner
- AIMM Therapeutics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sylvie M. Koekkoek
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Section of Clinical Virology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | | | | | | | - Bart P. Grady
- Department of Infectious Diseases Research and Prevention, Cluster of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Maria Prins
- Department of Infectious Diseases Research and Prevention, Cluster of Infectious Diseases, Public Health Service of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of infectious diseases, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Menno D. de Jong
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Section of Clinical Virology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | | | - Janke Schinkel
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Section of Clinical Virology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Tim Beaumont
- AIMM Therapeutics, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- * E-mail:
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