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Gidwani SV, Brahmbhatt D, Zomback A, Bassie M, Martinez J, Zhuang J, Schulze J, McLellan JS, Mariani R, Alff P, Frasca D, Blomberg BB, Marshall CP, Yondola MA. Engineered dityrosine-bonding of the RSV prefusion F protein imparts stability and potency advantages. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2202. [PMID: 38485927 PMCID: PMC10940300 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46295-8] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 03/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Viral fusion proteins facilitate cellular infection by fusing viral and cellular membranes, which involves dramatic transitions from their pre- to postfusion conformations. These proteins are among the most protective viral immunogens, but they are metastable which often makes them intractable as subunit vaccine targets. Adapting a natural enzymatic reaction, we harness the structural rigidity that targeted dityrosine crosslinks impart to covalently stabilize fusion proteins in their native conformations. We show that the prefusion conformation of respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein can be stabilized with two engineered dityrosine crosslinks (DT-preF), markedly improving its stability and shelf-life. Furthermore, it has 11X greater potency as compared with the DS-Cav1 stabilized prefusion F protein in immunogenicity studies and overcomes immunosenescence in mice with simply a high-dose formulation on alum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonal V Gidwani
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | | | - Aaron Zomback
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Mamie Bassie
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | | | - Jian Zhuang
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- Department of Medicine, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Manhasset, NY, USA
| | - John Schulze
- Molecular Structure Facility, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jason S McLellan
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Texas at Austin, College of Natural Sciences, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Roberto Mariani
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- CUNY Kingsborough Community College, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Peter Alff
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA
| | - Daniela Frasca
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Bonnie B Blomberg
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
| | | | - Mark A Yondola
- Calder Biosciences Inc., Brooklyn Army Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
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Kosanovich JL, Eichinger KM, Lipp MA, Gidwani SV, Brahmbhatt D, Yondola MA, Perkins TN, Empey KM. Exacerbated lung inflammation following secondary RSV exposure is CD4+ T cell-dependent and is not mitigated in infant BALB/c mice born to PreF-vaccinated dams. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1206026. [PMID: 37646035 PMCID: PMC10461110 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1206026] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of childhood hospitalizations due to bronchiolitis in children under 5 years of age. Moreover, severe RSV disease requiring hospitalization is associated with the subsequent development of wheezing and asthma. Due to the young age in which viral protection is needed and risk of vaccine enhanced disease following direct infant vaccination, current approaches aim to protect young children through maternal immunization strategies that boost neutralizing maternal antibody (matAb) levels. However, there is a scarcity of studies investigating the influence of maternal immunization on secondary immune responses to RSV in the offspring or whether the subsequent development of wheezing and asthma is mitigated. Toward this goal, our lab developed a murine model of maternal RSV vaccination and repeat RSV exposure to evaluate the changes in immune response and development of exacerbated lung inflammation on secondary RSV exposure in mice born to immunized dams. Despite complete protection following primary RSV exposure, offspring born to pre-fusion F (PreF)-vaccinated dams had exaggerated secondary ILC2 and Th2 responses, characterized by enhanced production of IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13. These enhanced type 2 cellular responses were associated with exaggerated airway eosinophilia and mucus hyperproduction upon re-exposure to RSV. Importantly, depletion of CD4+ T cells led to complete amelioration of the observed type 2 pathology on secondary RSV exposure. These unanticipated results highlight the need for additional studies that look beyond primary protection to better understand how maternal immunization shapes subsequent immune responses to repeat RSV exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica L. Kosanovich
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Katherine M. Eichinger
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Madeline A. Lipp
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | | | | | | | - Timothy N. Perkins
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Kerry M. Empey
- Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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Eichinger KM, Kosanovich JL, Gidwani SV, Zomback A, Lipp MA, Perkins TN, Oury TD, Petrovsky N, Marshall CP, Yondola MA, Empey KM. Prefusion RSV F Immunization Elicits Th2-Mediated Lung Pathology in Mice When Formulated With a Th2 (but Not a Th1/Th2-Balanced) Adjuvant Despite Complete Viral Protection. Front Immunol 2020; 11:1673. [PMID: 32849580 PMCID: PMC7403488 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [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: 05/06/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) remains the most common cause of lower respiratory tract infections in children worldwide. Development of a vaccine has been hindered by the risk of developing enhanced respiratory disease (ERD) upon natural exposure to the virus. Generation of higher quality neutralizing antibodies with stabilized pre-fusion F protein antigens has been proposed as a strategy to prevent ERD. We sought to test whether there was evidence of ERD in naïve BALB/c mice immunized with an unadjuvanted, stabilized pre-fusion F protein, and challenged with RSV line 19. We further sought to determine the extent to which formulation with a Th2-biased (alum) or a more Th1/Th2-balanced (Advax-SM) adjuvant influenced cellular responses and lung pathology. When exposed to RSV, mice immunized with pre-fusion F protein alone (PreF) exhibited increased airway eosinophilia and mucus accumulation. This was further exacerbated by formulation of PreF with Alum (aluminum hydroxide). Conversely, formulation of PreF with a Th1/Th2-balanced adjuvant, Advax-SM, not only suppressed RSV viral replication, but also inhibited airway eosinophilia and mucus accumulation. This was associated with lower numbers of lung innate lymphocyte cells (ILC2s) and CD4+ T cells producing IL-5+ or IL-13+ and increased IFNγ+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, in addition to RSV F-specific CD8+ T cells. These data suggest that in the absence of preimmunity, stabilized PreF antigens may still be associated with aberrant Th2 responses that induce lung pathology in response to RSV infection, and can be prevented by formulation with more Th1/Th2-balanced adjuvants that enhance CD4+ and CD8+ IFNγ+ T cell responses. This may support the use of stabilized PreF antigens with Th1/Th2-balanced adjuvants like, Advax-SM, as safer alternatives to alum in RSV vaccine candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine M Eichinger
- Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.,Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.,Department of Medicine, Division of Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Jessica L Kosanovich
- Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.,Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | | | - Aaron Zomback
- Calder Biosciences, New York City, NY, United States
| | - Madeline A Lipp
- Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Timothy N Perkins
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Tim D Oury
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Nikolai Petrovsky
- Vaxine Pty Ltd., Bedford Park, SA, Australia.,College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia
| | | | | | - Kerry M Empey
- Department of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.,Center for Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.,Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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