1
|
Rosati M, Terpos E, Homan P, Bergamaschi C, Karaliota S, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I, Devasundaram S, Bear J, Burns R, Bagratuni T, Trougakos IP, Dimopoulos MA, Pavlakis GN, Felber BK. Rapid transient and longer-lasting innate cytokine changes associated with adaptive immunity after repeated SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccinations. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1292568. [PMID: 38090597 PMCID: PMC10711274 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1292568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Cytokines and chemokines play an important role in shaping innate and adaptive immunity in response to infection and vaccination. Systems serology identified immunological parameters predictive of beneficial response to the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine in COVID-19 infection-naïve volunteers, COVID-19 convalescent patients and transplant patients with hematological malignancies. Here, we examined the dynamics of the serum cytokine/chemokine responses after the 3rd BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination in a cohort of COVID-19 infection-naïve volunteers. Methods We measured serum cytokine and chemokine responses after the 3rd dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizer/BioNtech) vaccine in COVID-19 infection-naïve individuals by a chemiluminescent assay and ELISA. Anti-Spike binding antibodies were measured by ELISA. Anti-Spike neutralizing antibodies were measured by a pseudotype assay. Results Comparison to responses found after the 1st and 2nd vaccinations showed persistence of the coordinated responses of several cytokine/chemokines including the previously identified rapid and transient IL-15, IFN-γ, CXCL10/IP-10, TNF-α, IL-6 signature. In contrast to the transient (24hrs) effect of the IL-15 signature, an inflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokine signature (CCL2/MCP-1, CCL3/MIP-1α, CCL4/MIP-1β, CXCL8/IL-8, IL-1Ra) remained at higher levels up to one month after the 2nd and 3rd booster vaccinations, indicative of a state of longer-lasting innate immune change. We also identified a systemic transient increase of CXCL13 only after the 3rd vaccination, supporting stronger germinal center activity and the higher anti-Spike antibody responses. Changes of the IL-15 signature, and the inflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokine profile correlated with neutralizing antibody levels also after the 3rd vaccination supporting their role as immune biomarkers for effective development of vaccine-induced humoral responses. Conclusion These data revealed that repeated SARS-Cov-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination induces both rapid transient as well as longer-lasting systemic serum cytokine changes associated with innate and adaptive immune responses. Clinical trial registration Clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT04743388.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Rosati
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Evangelos Terpos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Philip Homan
- Center for Cancer Research Collaborative Bioinformatics Resource, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Cristina Bergamaschi
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Sevasti Karaliota
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Ioannis Ntanasis-Stathopoulos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Santhi Devasundaram
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Jenifer Bear
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Robert Burns
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Tina Bagratuni
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Ioannis P. Trougakos
- Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Meletios A. Dimopoulos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - George N. Pavlakis
- Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Barbara K. Felber
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Devasundaram S, Terpos E, Rosati M, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I, Bear J, Burns R, Skourti S, Malandrakis P, Trougakos IP, Dimopoulos MA, Pavlakis GN, Felber BK. XBB.1.5 neutralizing antibodies upon bivalent COVID-19 vaccination are similar to XBB but lower than BQ.1.1. Am J Hematol 2023; 98:E123-E126. [PMID: 36810791 PMCID: PMC10116518 DOI: 10.1002/ajh.26887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Santhi Devasundaram
- Human Pathogenesis Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Evangelos Terpos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Margherita Rosati
- Human Pathogenesis Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Ioannis Ntanasis-Stathopoulos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Jenifer Bear
- Human Pathogenesis Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Robert Burns
- Human Pathogenesis Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Stamatia Skourti
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Panagiotis Malandrakis
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Ioannis P Trougakos
- Department of Cell Biology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | | | - George N. Pavlakis
- Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| | - Barbara K. Felber
- Human Pathogenesis Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Bergamaschi C, Pagoni M, Rosati M, Angel M, Tzannou I, Vlachou M, Darmani I, Ullah A, Bear J, Devasundaram S, Burns R, Baltadakis I, Gigantes S, Dimopoulos MA, Pavlakis GN, Terpos E, Felber BK. Reduced Antibodies and Innate Cytokine Changes in SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccinated Transplant Patients With Hematological Malignancies. Front Immunol 2022; 13:899972. [PMID: 35693807 PMCID: PMC9174567 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.899972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunocompromised individuals including patients with hematological malignancies constitute a population at high risk of developing severe disease upon SARS-CoV-2 infection. Protection afforded by vaccination is frequently low and the biology leading to altered vaccine efficacy is not fully understood. A patient cohort who had received bone marrow transplantation or CAR-T cells was studied following a 2-dose BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination and compared to healthy vaccine recipients. Anti-Spike antibody and systemic innate responses were compared in the two vaccine cohorts. The patients had significantly lower SARS-CoV-2 Spike antibodies to the Wuhan strain, with proportional lower cross-recognition of Beta, Delta, and Omicron Spike-RBD proteins. Both cohorts neutralized the wildtype WA1 and Delta but not Omicron. Vaccination elicited an innate cytokine signature featuring IFN-γ, IL-15 and IP-10/CXCL10, but most patients showed a diminished systemic cytokine response. In patients who failed to develop antibodies, the innate systemic response was dominated by IL-8 and MIP-1α with significant attenuation in the IFN-γ, IL-15 and IP-10/CXCL10 signature response. Changes in IFN-γ and IP-10/CXCL10 at priming vaccination and IFN-γ, IL-15, IL-7 and IL-10 upon booster vaccination correlated with the Spike antibody magnitude and were predictive of successful antibody development. Overall, the patients showed heterogeneous adaptive and innate responses with lower humoral and reduced innate cytokine responses to vaccination compared to naïve vaccine recipients. The pattern of responses described offer novel prognostic approaches for potentiating the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination in transplant patients with hematological malignancies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Bergamaschi
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Maria Pagoni
- Department of Hematology & Lymphomas and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Margherita Rosati
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Matthew Angel
- Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States.,Center for Cancer Research Collaborative Bioinformatics Resource, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Ifigeneia Tzannou
- Department of Hematology & Lymphomas and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Ismini Darmani
- Department of Hematology & Lymphomas and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Amirah Ullah
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Jenifer Bear
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Santhi Devasundaram
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Robert Burns
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Ioannis Baltadakis
- Department of Hematology & Lymphomas and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | - Stavros Gigantes
- Department of Hematology & Lymphomas and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece
| | | | - George N Pavlakis
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Evangelos Terpos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Barbara K Felber
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Rosati M, Agarwal M, Hu X, Devasundaram S, Stellas D, Chowdhury B, Bear J, Burns R, Donohue D, Pessaint L, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Terpos E, Dimopoulos MA, Wlodawer A, Mullins JI, Venzon DJ, Pavlakis GN, Felber BK. Control of SARS-CoV-2 infection after Spike DNA or Spike DNA+Protein co-immunization in rhesus macaques. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009701. [PMID: 34551020 PMCID: PMC8489704 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The speed of development, versatility and efficacy of mRNA-based vaccines have been amply demonstrated in the case of SARS-CoV-2. DNA vaccines represent an important alternative since they induce both humoral and cellular immune responses in animal models and in human trials. We tested the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of DNA-based vaccine regimens expressing different prefusion-stabilized Wuhan-Hu-1 SARS-CoV-2 Spike antigens upon intramuscular injection followed by electroporation in rhesus macaques. Different Spike DNA vaccine regimens induced antibodies that potently neutralized SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and elicited robust T cell responses. The antibodies recognized and potently neutralized a panel of different Spike variants including Alpha, Delta, Epsilon, Eta and A.23.1, but to a lesser extent Beta and Gamma. The DNA-only vaccine regimens were compared to a regimen that included co-immunization of Spike DNA and protein in the same anatomical site, the latter of which showed significant higher antibody responses. All vaccine regimens led to control of SARS-CoV-2 intranasal/intratracheal challenge and absence of virus dissemination to the lower respiratory tract. Vaccine-induced binding and neutralizing antibody titers and antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis inversely correlated with transient virus levels in the nasal mucosa. Importantly, the Spike DNA+Protein co-immunization regimen induced the highest binding and neutralizing antibodies and showed the strongest control against SARS-CoV-2 challenge in rhesus macaques. Anti-Spike neutralizing antibodies provide strong protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal models, and correlate with protection in humans, supporting the notion that induction of strong humoral immunity is key to protection. We show induction of robust antibody and T cell responses by different Spike DNA-based vaccine regimens able to effectively mediate protection and to control SARS-CoV-2 infection in the rhesus macaque model. This study provides the opportunity to compare vaccines able to induce different humoral and cellular immune responses in an effort to develop durable immunity against the SARS-CoV-2. A vaccine regimen comprising simultaneous co-immunization of DNA and Protein at the same anatomical site showed best neutralizing abilities and was more effective than DNA alone in inducing protective immune responses and controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection. Thus, an expansion of the DNA vaccine regimen to include co-immunization with Spike protein may be of advantage also for SARS-CoV-2.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Rosati
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Mahesh Agarwal
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Xintao Hu
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Santhi Devasundaram
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Dimitris Stellas
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Bhabadeb Chowdhury
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jenifer Bear
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Robert Burns
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Duncan Donohue
- MS Applied Information and Management Sciences, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | | | - Hanne Andersen
- BIOQUAL, Inc.; Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Mark G. Lewis
- BIOQUAL, Inc.; Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Evangelos Terpos
- Department of Clinical Therapeutics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Alexander Wlodawer
- Center for Structural Biology, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - James I. Mullins
- Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - David J. Venzon
- Biostatistics and Data Management Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - George N. Pavlakis
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Barbara K. Felber
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Garnica O, Das K, Devasundaram S, Dhandayuthapani S. Enhanced delivery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens to antigen presenting cells using RVG peptide. Tuberculosis (Edinb) 2019; 116S:S34-S41. [PMID: 31064713 DOI: 10.1016/j.tube.2019.04.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2018] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Among the various strategies to improve vaccines against infectious diseases, targeting of antigens to dendritic cells (DCs), which are professional antigen presenting cells (APCs), has received increased attention in recent years. Here, we investigated whether a synthetic peptide region named RVG, originated from Rabies Virus Glycoprotein that binds to the α-7 subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AchR-α7) of APCs, could be used for the delivery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) peptide antigens to DCs and macrophages. Mouse bone marrow derived DCs (BMDCs) and human THP-1 macrophages stimulated with RVG fused peptide epitopes 85B241 and 85B96 (represent Ag85B241-256 and Ag85B96-111, respectively) from antigen 85B (Ag85B) of Mtb showed enhanced antigen presentation as compared to unfused peptide epitopes and BCG. Further, BMDCs stimulated with RVG fused 85B241 showed higher levels of IL-12 positive cells. Consistent with in vitro data, splenocytes of mice immunized with RVG-85B241 showed increased number of antigen specific IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α producing cells in relation to splenocytes from mice immunized with 85B241 alone. These results suggest that RVG may be a promising tool to develop effective alternate vaccines against tuberculosis (TB).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Omar Garnica
- Center of Emphasis in Infectious Diseases and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79905, USA
| | - Kishore Das
- Center of Emphasis in Infectious Diseases and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79905, USA
| | - Santhi Devasundaram
- Center of Emphasis in Infectious Diseases and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79905, USA
| | - Subramanian Dhandayuthapani
- Center of Emphasis in Infectious Diseases and Department of Biomedical Sciences, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79905, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79905, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Pathakumari B, Devasundaram S, Maddineni P, Raja A. Rv2204c, Rv0753c and Rv0009 antigens specific T cell responses in latent and active TB – a flow cytometry-based analysis. Int J Med Microbiol 2018; 308:297-305. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmm.2017.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2017] [Revised: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
|
7
|
Watson DC, Moysi E, Valentin A, Bergamaschi C, Devasundaram S, Fortis SP, Bear J, Chertova E, Bess J, Sowder R, Venzon DJ, Deleage C, Estes JD, Lifson JD, Petrovas C, Felber BK, Pavlakis GN. Treatment with native heterodimeric IL-15 increases cytotoxic lymphocytes and reduces SHIV RNA in lymph nodes. PLoS Pathog 2018; 14:e1006902. [PMID: 29474450 PMCID: PMC5825155 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1006902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
B cell follicles in secondary lymphoid tissues represent an immune privileged sanctuary for AIDS viruses, in part because cytotoxic CD8+ T cells are mostly excluded from entering the follicles that harbor infected T follicular helper (TFH) cells. We studied the effects of native heterodimeric IL-15 (hetIL-15) treatment on uninfected rhesus macaques and on macaques that had spontaneously controlled SHIV infection to low levels of chronic viremia. hetIL-15 increased effector CD8+ T lymphocytes with high granzyme B content in blood, mucosal sites and lymph nodes, including virus-specific MHC-peptide tetramer+ CD8+ cells in LN. Following hetIL-15 treatment, multiplexed quantitative image analysis (histo-cytometry) of LN revealed increased numbers of granzyme B+ T cells in B cell follicles and SHIV RNA was decreased in plasma and in LN. Based on these properties, hetIL-15 shows promise as a potential component in combination immunotherapy regimens to target AIDS virus sanctuaries and reduce long-term viral reservoirs in HIV-1 infected individuals. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02452268.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dionysios C. Watson
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Eirini Moysi
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Antonio Valentin
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Cristina Bergamaschi
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section; Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Santhi Devasundaram
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section; Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Sotirios P. Fortis
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jenifer Bear
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section; Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Elena Chertova
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Julian Bess
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Ray Sowder
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - David J. Venzon
- Biostatistics and Data Management Section, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Claire Deleage
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jacob D. Estes
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Jeffrey D. Lifson
- AIDS and Cancer Virus Program, Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc., Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Constantinos Petrovas
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Barbara K. Felber
- Human Retrovirus Pathogenesis Section; Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - George N. Pavlakis
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Pavlakis G, Watson D, Moysi E, Valentin A, Bergamaschi C, Devasundaram S, Fortis S, Bear J, Chertova E, Bess J, Sowder R, Venzon D, Deleage C, Estes J, Lifson J, Petrovas C, Felber B. Treatment with native heterodimeric IL-15 increases cytotoxic lymphocytes in lymph nodes and reduces SHIV RNA. J Virus Erad 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/s2055-6640(20)30562-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
|
9
|
Pathakumari B, Devasundaram S, Raja A. Altered expression of antigen-specific memory and regulatory T-cell subsets differentiate latent and active tuberculosis. Immunology 2017; 153:325-336. [PMID: 28881482 DOI: 10.1111/imm.12833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 08/31/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Although one-third of the world population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, only 5-10% of the infected individuals will develop active tuberculosis (TB) disease and the rest will remain infected with no symptoms, known as latent TB infection (LTBI). Identifying biomarkers that differentiate latent and active TB disease enables effective TB control, as early detection, treatment of active TB and preventive treatment of individuals with LTBI are crucial steps involved in TB control. Here, we have evaluated the frequency of antigen-specific memory and regulatory T (Treg) cells in 15 healthy household contacts (HHC) and 15 pulmonary TB patients (PTB) to identify biomarkers for differential diagnosis of LTBI and active TB. Among all the antigens tested in the present study, early secretory antigenic target-6 (ESAT-6) -specific CD4+ and CD8+ central memory (Tcm) cells showed 93% positivity in HHC and 20% positivity in PTB. The novel test antigens Rv0753c and Rv0009 both displayed 80% and 20% positivity in HHC and PTB, respectively. In contrast to Tcm cells, effector memory T (Tem) cells showed a higher response in PTB than HHC; both ESAT-6 and Rv0009 showed similar positivity of 80% in PTB and 33% in HHC. PTB patients have a higher proportion of circulating antigen-reactive Treg cells (CD4+ CD25+ FoxP3+ ) than LTBI. Rv2204c-specific Treg cells showed maximum positivity of 73% in PTB and 20% in HHC. Collectively, our data conclude that ESAT-6-specific Tcm cells and Rv2204c-specific Treg cells might be useful biomarkers to discriminate LTBI from active TB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Balaji Pathakumari
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), Chennai, India
| | - Santhi Devasundaram
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), Chennai, India
| | - Alamelu Raja
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), Chennai, India
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Devasundaram S, Raja A. Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase-Lpd (Rv0462)-specific T cell recall responses are higher in healthy household contacts of TB: a novel immunodominant antigen from M. tuberculosis. J Leukoc Biol 2017; 102:135-151. [PMID: 28428201 DOI: 10.1189/jlb.4a0916-067rr] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2016] [Revised: 03/28/2017] [Accepted: 03/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The partial effectiveness against pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), displayed by the existing tuberculosis (TB) vaccine, bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), highlights the need for novel vaccines to replace or improve BCG. In TB immunology, antigen-specific cellular immune response is frequently considered indispensable. Latency-associated antigens are intriguing as targets for TB vaccine development. The mycobacterial protein, dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (Lpd; Rv0462), the third enzyme of the pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex, facilitates Mycobacterium tuberculosis to resist host reactive nitrogen intermediates. Multicolor flow cytometry analysis of whole-blood cultures showed higher Lpd-specific Th1 recall response (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2; P = 0.0006) and memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (CCR7+ CD45RA- and CCR7- CD45RA-) in healthy household contacts (HHC) of TB (P < 0.0001), which is comparable with or higher than the standard antigens, ESAT-6 and CFP-10. The frequency of Lpd-specific multifunctional T cells was higher in HHC compared with PTB patients. However, there is no significant statistical correlation. Regulatory T cell (Treg) analysis of HHCs and active TB patients demonstrated very low Lpd-specific CD4+ Tregs relative to ESAT-6 and CFP-10. Our study demonstrates that the Lpd antigen induces a strong cellular immune response in healthy mycobacteria-infected individuals. In consideration of this population having demonstrated immunologic protection against active TB disease development, our data are encouraging about the possible use of Lpd as a target for further TB subunit vaccine development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Santhi Devasundaram
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, India
| | - Alamelu Raja
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, India
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Devasundaram S, Gopalan A, Das SD, Raja A. Proteomics Analysis of Three Different Strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis under In vitro Hypoxia and Evaluation of Hypoxia Associated Antigen's Specific Memory T Cells in Healthy Household Contacts. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:1275. [PMID: 27667981 PMCID: PMC5017210 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
In vitro mimicking conditions are thought to reflect the environment experienced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis inside the host granuloma. The majority of in vitro dormancy experimental models use laboratory-adapted strains H37Rv or Erdman instead of prevalent clinical strains involved during disease outbreaks. Thus, we included the most prevalent clinical strains (S7 and S10) of M. tuberculosis from south India in addition to H37Rv for our in vitro oxygen depletion (hypoxia) experimental model. Cytosolic proteins were prepared from hypoxic cultures, resolved by two-dimensional electrophoresis and protein spots were characterized by mass spectrometry. In total, 49 spots were characterized as over-expressed or newly emergent between the three strains. Two antigens (ESAT-6, Lpd) out of the 49 characterized spots were readily available in recombinant form in our lab. Hence, these two genes were overexpressed, purified and used for in vitro stimulation of whole blood collected from healthy household contacts (HHC) and active pulmonary tuberculosis patients (PTB). Multicolor flow cytometry analysis showed high levels of antigen specific CD4(+) central memory T cells in the circulation of HHC compared to PTB (p < 0.005 for ESAT-6 and p < 0.0005 for Lpd). This shows proteins that are predicted to be up regulated during in vitro hypoxia in most prevalent clinical strains would indicate possible potential immunogens. In vitro hypoxia experiments with most prevalent clinical strains would also elucidate the probable true representative antigens involved in adaptive mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Santhi Devasundaram
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR) Chennai, India
| | - Akilandeswari Gopalan
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR) Chennai, India
| | - Sulochana D Das
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR) Chennai, India
| | - Alamelu Raja
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR) Chennai, India
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Devasundaram S, Raja A. Variable transcriptional adaptation between the laboratory (H37Rv) and clinical strains (S7 and S10) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis under hypoxia. Infect Genet Evol 2016; 40:21-28. [PMID: 26780642 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2016.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2015] [Revised: 11/12/2015] [Accepted: 01/07/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Tuberculosis continues to be a major public health problem in many parts of the world, despite intensified efforts taken to control the disease. The remarkable success of M. tuberculosis as a pathogen is largely due to its ability to persist within the host for long periods. To develop the effective intervention strategies, understanding the biology of persistence is highly required. Accumulating evidences showed oxygen deprivation (hypoxia) as a potential stimulus for triggering the transition of M. tuberculosis to a non-replicating persistent state analogous to latency in vivo. To date, in vitro hypoxia experimental models used the laboratory adapted isolate H37Rv and very little is known about the behavior of clinical isolates that are involved during disease outbreaks. Hence, we compared the transcription profiles of H37Rv and two south Indian clinical isolates (S7 and S10) under hypoxia to find differences in gene expression pattern. The main objective of this current work is to find "differentially regulated genes" (genes that are down regulated in H37Rv but upregulated in both the clinical isolates) under hypoxia. Microarray results showed, a total of 502 genes were down regulated in H37Rv under hypoxia and 10 out of 502 genes were upregulated in both the clinical isolates. Thus, giving less importance to down regulated genes based on H37Rv model strain might exclude the true representative gene candidates in clinical isolates. Our study suggests the use of most prevalent clinical isolates for in vitro experimental model to minimize the variation in understanding the adaptation mechanisms of the strains.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Santhi Devasundaram
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR) (Formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), No.1, Mayor Sathiyamoorthy Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031, India
| | - Alamelu Raja
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR) (Formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), No.1, Mayor Sathiyamoorthy Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031, India.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Devasundaram S, Khan I, Kumar N, Das S, Raja A. The influence of reduced oxygen availability on gene expression in laboratory (H37Rv) and clinical strains (S7 and S10) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J Biotechnol 2015; 210:70-80. [PMID: 26001906 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2015.04.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2015] [Revised: 04/16/2015] [Accepted: 04/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis has the ability to persist within the host in a dormant stage. One important condition believed to contribute to dormancy is reduced access to oxygen known as hypoxia. However, the response of M. tuberculosis to such hypoxia condition is not fully characterized. Virtually all dormant models against tuberculosis tested in animals used laboratory strain H37Rv or Erdman strain. But major outbreaks of tuberculosis (TB) occur with the strains that have widely different genotypes and phenotypes compared to H37Rv. In this study, we used a custom oligonucleotide microarray to determine the overall transcriptional response of laboratory strain (H37Rv) and most prevalent clinical strains (S7 and S10) of M. tuberculosis from South India to hypoxia. Analysis of microarray results revealed that a total of 1161 genes were differentially regulated (≥1.5 fold change) in H37Rv, among them 659 genes upregulated and 502 genes down regulated. Microarray data of clinical isolates showed that a total of 790 genes were differentially regulated in S7 among which 453 genes were upregulated and 337 down regulated. Interestingly, numerous genes were also differentially regulated in S10 (total 2805 genes) of which 1463 genes upregulated and 1342 genes down regulated during reduced oxygen condition (Wayne's model). One hundred and thirty-four genes were found common and upregulated among all three strains (H37Rv, S7, and S10) and can be targeted for drug/vaccine development against TB.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Santhi Devasundaram
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), (Formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), No. 1, Mayor Sathiyamoorthy Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031, India
| | - Imran Khan
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics Biological Sciences Building, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
| | - Neeraj Kumar
- Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development and Genetics Biological Sciences Building, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India
| | - Sulochana Das
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), (Formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), No. 1, Mayor Sathiyamoorthy Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031, India
| | - Alamelu Raja
- Department of Immunology, National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (ICMR), (Formerly Tuberculosis Research Centre), No. 1, Mayor Sathiyamoorthy Road, Chetpet, Chennai 600 031, India.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Devasundaram S, Deenadayalan A, Raja A. In silicoanalysis of potential human T Cell antigens fromMycobacterium tuberculosisfor the development of subunit vaccines against tuberculosis. Immunol Invest 2014; 43:137-59. [DOI: 10.3109/08820139.2013.857353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
|