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Freyn AW, Atyeo C, Earl PL, Americo JL, Chuang GY, Natarajan H, Frey TR, Gall JG, Moliva JI, Hunegnaw R, Asthagiri Arunkumar G, Ogega CO, Nasir A, Santos G, Levin RH, Meni A, Jorquera PA, Bennett H, Johnson JA, Durney MA, Stewart-Jones G, Hooper JW, Colpitts TM, Alter G, Sullivan NJ, Carfi A, Moss B. An mpox virus mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine confers protection against lethal orthopoxviral challenge. Sci Transl Med 2023; 15:eadg3540. [PMID: 37792954 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adg3540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 08/18/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
Mpox virus (MPXV) caused a global outbreak in 2022. Although smallpox vaccines were rapidly deployed to curb spread and disease among those at highest risk, breakthrough disease was noted after complete immunization. Given the threat of additional zoonotic events and the virus's evolving ability to drive human-to-human transmission, there is an urgent need for an MPXV-specific vaccine that confers protection against evolving MPXV strains and related orthopoxviruses. Here, we demonstrate that an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine encoding a set of four highly conserved MPXV surface proteins involved in virus attachment, entry, and transmission can induce MPXV-specific immunity and heterologous protection against a lethal vaccinia virus (VACV) challenge. Compared with modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), which forms the basis for the current MPXV vaccine, immunization with an mRNA-based MPXV vaccine generated superior neutralizing activity against MPXV and VACV and more efficiently inhibited spread between cells. We also observed greater Fc effector TH1-biased humoral immunity to the four MPXV antigens encoded by the vaccine, as well as to the four VACV homologs. Single MPXV antigen-encoding mRNA vaccines provided partial protection against VACV challenge, whereas multivalent vaccines combining mRNAs encoding two, three, or four MPXV antigens protected against disease-related weight loss and death equal or superior to MVA vaccination. These data demonstrate that an mRNA-based MPXV vaccine confers robust protection against VACV.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Patricia L Earl
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
| | - Jeffrey L Americo
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
| | | | | | | | - Jason G Gall
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
| | - Juan I Moliva
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
| | - Ruth Hunegnaw
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Jay W Hooper
- Virology Division, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, 21702 MD, USA
| | | | | | - Nancy J Sullivan
- Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
| | | | - Bernard Moss
- Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892 MD, USA
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Xu H, Li X, Rousseau BA, Akinyemi IA, Frey TR, Zhou K, Droske LE, Mitchell JA, McIntosh MT, Bhaduri-McIntosh S. IFI16 Partners with KAP1 to Maintain Epstein-Barr Virus Latency. J Virol 2022; 96:e0102822. [PMID: 35969079 PMCID: PMC9472614 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01028-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [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: 06/29/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Herpesviruses establish latency to ensure permanent residence in their hosts. Upon entry into a cell, these viruses are rapidly silenced by the host, thereby limiting the destructive viral lytic phase while allowing the virus to hide from the immune system. Notably, although the establishment of latency by the oncogenic herpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) requires the expression of viral latency genes, latency can be maintained with a negligible expression of viral genes. Indeed, in several herpesviruses, the host DNA sensor IFI16 facilitated latency via H3K9me3 heterochromatinization. This silencing mark is typically imposed by the constitutive heterochromatin machinery (HCM). The HCM, in an antiviral role, also silences the lytic phase of EBV and other herpes viruses. We investigated if IFI16 restricted EBV lytic activation by partnering with the HCM and found that IFI16 interacted with core components of the HCM, including the KRAB-associated protein 1 (KAP1) and the site-specific DNA binding KRAB-ZFP SZF1. This partnership silenced the EBV lytic switch protein ZEBRA, encoded by the BZLF1 gene, thereby favoring viral latency. Indeed, IFI16 contributed to H3K9 trimethylation at lytic genes of all kinetic classes. In defining topology, we found that IFI16 coenriched with KAP1 at the BZLF1 promoter, and while IFI16 and SZF1 were each adjacent to KAP1 in latent cells, IFI16 and SZF1 were not. Importantly, we also found that disruption of latency involved rapid downregulation of IFI16 transcription. These findings revealed a previously unknown partnership between IFI16 and the core HCM that supports EBV latency via antiviral heterochromatic silencing. IMPORTANCE The interferon-gamma inducible protein 16 (IFI16) is a nuclear DNA sensor that mediates antiviral responses by activating the inflammasome, triggering an interferon response, and silencing lytic genes of herpesviruses. The last, which helps maintain latency of the oncoherpesvirus Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), is accomplished via H3K9me3 heterochromatinization through unknown mechanisms. Here, we report that IFI16 physically partners with the core constitutive heterochromatin machinery to silence the key EBV lytic switch protein, thereby ensuring continued viral latency in B lymphocytes. We also find that disruption of latency involves rapid transcriptional downregulation of IFI16. These findings point to hitherto unknown physical and functional partnerships between a well-known antiviral mechanism and the core components of the constitutive heterochromatin machinery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huanzhou Xu
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Xiaofan Li
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Beth A. Rousseau
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Ibukun A. Akinyemi
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Tiffany R. Frey
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Kevin Zhou
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Lauren E. Droske
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Jennifer A. Mitchell
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Michael T. McIntosh
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
| | - Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
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Reinhart NM, Akinyemi IA, Frey TR, Xu H, Agudelo C, Brathwaite J, Burton EM, Burgula S, McIntosh MT, Bhaduri-McIntosh S. The danger molecule HMGB1 cooperates with the NLRP3 inflammasome to sustain expression of the EBV lytic switch protein in Burkitt lymphoma cells. Virology 2021; 566:136-142. [PMID: 34922257 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2021.12.002] [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] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2021] [Revised: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
High mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) is an important chromatin protein and a pro-inflammatory molecule. Though shown to enhance target DNA binding by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) lytic switch protein ZEBRA, whether HMGB1 actually contributes to gammaherpesvirus biology is not known. In investigating the contribution of HMGB1 to the lytic phase of EBV, important for development of EBV-mediated diseases, we find that compared to latently-infected cells, lytic phase Burkitt lymphoma-derived cells and peripheral blood lytic cells during primary EBV infection express high levels of HMGB1. Our experiments place HMGB1 upstream of ZEBRA and reveal that HMGB1, through the NLRP3 inflammasome, sustains the expression of ZEBRA. These findings indicate that in addition to the NLRP3 inflammasome's recently discovered role in turning the EBV lytic switch on, NLRP3 cooperates with the danger molecule HMGB1 to also maintain ZEBRA expression, thereby sustaining the lytic signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nolan M Reinhart
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Ibukun A Akinyemi
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Tiffany R Frey
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Huanzhou Xu
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Carolina Agudelo
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Jozan Brathwaite
- Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Stony Brook University, NY, USA
| | - Eric M Burton
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Sandeepta Burgula
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Stony Brook University, NY, USA
| | - Michael T McIntosh
- Child Health Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
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Frey TR, Akinyemi IA, Burton EM, Bhaduri-McIntosh S, McIntosh MT. An Ancestral Retrovirus Envelope Protein Regulates Persistent Gammaherpesvirus Lifecycles. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:708404. [PMID: 34434177 PMCID: PMC8381357 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.708404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Human gammaherpesviruses Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) persist as life-long infections alternating between latency and lytic replication. Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), via integration into the host genome, represent genetic remnants of ancient retroviral infections. Both show similar epigenetic silencing while dormant, but can reactivate in response to cell signaling cues or triggers that, for gammaherpesviruses, result in productive lytic replication. Given their co-existence with humans and shared epigenetic silencing, we asked if HERV expression might be linked to lytic activation of human gammaherpesviruses. We found ERVW-1 mRNA, encoding the functional HERV-W envelope protein Syncytin-1, along with other repeat class elements, to be elevated upon lytic activation of EBV. Knockdown/knockout of ERVW-1 reduced lytic activation of EBV and KSHV in response to various lytic cycle triggers. In this regard, reduced expression of immediate early proteins ZEBRA and RTA for EBV and KSHV, respectively, places Syncytin-1's influence on lytic activation mechanistically upstream of the latent-to-lytic switch. Conversely, overexpression of Syncytin-1 enhanced lytic activation of EBV and KSHV in response to lytic triggers, though this was not sufficient to induce lytic activation in the absence of such triggers. Syncytin-1 is expressed in replicating B cell blasts and lymphoma-derived B cell lines where it appears to contribute to cell cycle progression. Together, human gammaherpesviruses and B cells appear to have adapted a dependency on Syncytin-1 that facilitates the ability of EBV and KSHV to activate lytic replication from latency, while promoting viral persistence during latency by contributing to B cell proliferation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tiffany R. Frey
- Department of Pediatrics, Child Health Research Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Ibukun A. Akinyemi
- Department of Pediatrics, Child Health Research Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Eric M. Burton
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
| | - Michael T. McIntosh
- Department of Pediatrics, Child Health Research Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States
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Burton EM, Akinyemi IA, Frey TR, Xu H, Li X, Su LJ, Zhi J, McIntosh MT, Bhaduri-McIntosh S. A heterochromatin inducing protein differentially recognizes self versus foreign genomes. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009447. [PMID: 33730092 PMCID: PMC8007004 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [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: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Krüppel-associated box-domain zinc finger protein (KRAB-ZFP) transcriptional repressors recruit TRIM28/KAP1 to heterochromatinize the mammalian genome while also guarding the host by silencing invading foreign genomes. However, how a KRAB-ZFP recognizes target sequences in the natural context of its own or foreign genomes is unclear. Our studies on B-lymphocytes permanently harboring the cancer-causing Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have shown that SZF1, a KRAB-ZFP, binds to several lytic/replicative phase genes to silence them, thereby promoting the latent/quiescent phase of the virus. As a result, unless SZF1 and its binding partners are displaced from target regions on the viral genome, EBV remains dormant, i.e. refractory to lytic phase-inducing triggers. As SZF1 also heterochromatinizes the cellular genome, we performed in situ footprint mapping on both viral and host genomes in physically separated B-lymphocytes bearing latent or replicative/active EBV genomes. By analyzing footprints, we learned that SZF1 recognizes the host genome through a repeat sequence-bearing motif near centromeres. Remarkably, SZF1 does not use this motif to recognize the EBV genome. Instead, it uses distinct binding sites that lack obvious similarities to each other or the above motif, to silence the viral genome. Virus mutagenesis studies show that these distinct binding sites are not only key to maintaining the established latent phase but also silencing the lytic phase in newly-infected cells, thus enabling the virus to establish latency and transform cells. Notably, these binding sites on the viral genome, when also present on the human genome, are not used by SZF1 to silence host genes during latency. This differential approach towards target site recognition may reflect a strategy by which the host silences and regulates genomes of persistent invaders without jeopardizing its own homeostasis. Heterochromatin marks silenced portions of the human genome. Heterochromatin also serves as a defense strategy to silence foreign genomes. Yet, how the heterochromatin inducing KRAB-ZFP-TRIM28 machinery recognizes target sites on the native genome, whether self or foreign, is unclear. Using Epstein-Barr virus-infected cells in which a KRAB-ZFP, SZF1, silences lytic/replicative-phase genes of the virus, we performed in situ mapping of ZFP-footprints on cell and viral genomes. We find that while the ZFP uses a repeat sequence-bearing motif to target pericentromeric regions, it uses non-consensus sites to target viral genes. These findings point towards i) a mechanism for directing constitutive heterochromatin and ii) a strategy that allows the host to use the same heterochromatin machinery to regulate an invader without deregulating itself.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric M. Burton
- Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Ibukun A. Akinyemi
- Child Health Research Institute, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Tiffany R. Frey
- Child Health Research Institute, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Huanzhou Xu
- Division of Infectious Disease, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Xiaofan Li
- Division of Infectious Disease, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Lai Jing Su
- Child Health Research Institute, Dept. of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
| | - Jizu Zhi
- Dept of Pathology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, United States of America
| | - Michael T. McIntosh
- Child Health Research Institute, Depts. of Pediatrics and of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MTM); (SB-M)
| | - Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh
- Division of Infectious Disease, Depts. of Pediatrics and of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States of America
- * E-mail: (MTM); (SB-M)
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