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Yll-Pico M, Park Y, Martinez J, Iniguez A, Kha M, Kim T, Medrano L, Nguyen VH, Kaltcheva T, Dempsey S, Chiuppesi F, Wussow F, Diamond DJ. Highly stable and immunogenic CMV T cell vaccine candidate developed using a synthetic MVA platform. NPJ Vaccines 2024; 9:68. [PMID: 38555379 PMCID: PMC10981716 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-024-00859-3] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2023] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common infectious cause of complications post-transplantation, while a CMV vaccine for transplant recipients has yet to be licensed. Triplex, a multiantigen Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA)-vectored CMV vaccine candidate based on the immunodominant antigens phosphoprotein 65 (pp65) and immediate-early 1 and 2 (IE1/2), is in an advanced stage of clinical development. However, its limited genetic and expression stability restricts its potential for large-scale production. Using a recently developed fully synthetic MVA (sMVA) platform, we developed a new generation Triplex vaccine candidate, T10-F10, with different sequence modifications for enhanced vaccine stability. T10-F10 demonstrated genetic and expression stability during extensive virus passaging. In addition, we show that T10-F10 confers comparable immunogenicity to the original Triplex vaccine to elicit antigen-specific T cell responses in HLA-transgenic mice. These results demonstrate improvements in translational vaccine properties of an sMVA-based CMV vaccine candidate designed as a therapeutic treatment for transplant recipients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcal Yll-Pico
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
| | - Yoonsuh Park
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Joy Martinez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Angelina Iniguez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Taehyun Kim
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Leonard Medrano
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Vu H Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Teodora Kaltcheva
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Shannon Dempsey
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Don J Diamond
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
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Chiuppesi F, Zaia JA, Gutierrez-Franco MA, Ortega-Francisco S, Ly M, Kha M, Kim T, Dempsey S, Kar S, Grifoni A, Sette A, Wussow F, Diamond DJ. Synthetic modified vaccinia Ankara vaccines confer cross-reactive and protective immunity against mpox virus. Commun Med (Lond) 2024; 4:19. [PMID: 38366141 PMCID: PMC10873322 DOI: 10.1038/s43856-024-00443-9] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although the mpox global health emergency caused by mpox virus (MPXV) clade IIb.1 has ended, mpox cases are still reported due to low vaccination coverage and waning immunity. COH04S1 is a clinically evaluated, multiantigen COVID-19 vaccine candidate built on a fully synthetic platform of the highly attenuated modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector, representing the only FDA-approved smallpox/mpox vaccine JYNNEOS. Given the potential threat of MPXV resurgence and need for vaccine alternatives, we aimed to assess the capacity COH04S1 and its synthetic MVA (sMVA) backbone to confer MPXV-specific immunity. METHODS We evaluated orthopoxvirus-specific and MPXV cross-reactive immune responses in samples collected during a Phase 1 clinical trial of COH04S1 and in non-human primates (NHP) vaccinated with COH04S1 or its sMVA backbone. MPXV cross-reactive immune responses in COH04S1-vaccinated healthy adults were compared to responses measured in healthy subjects vaccinated with JYNNEOS. Additionally, we evaluated the protective efficacy of COH04S1 and sMVA against mpox in mpox-susceptible CAST/EiJ mice. RESULTS COH04S1-vaccinated individuals develop robust orthopoxvirus-specific humoral and cellular responses, including cross-reactive antibodies to MPXV-specific virion proteins as well as MPXV cross-neutralizing antibodies in 45% of the subjects. In addition, NHP vaccinated with COH04S1 or sMVA show similar MPXV cross-reactive antibody responses. Moreover, MPXV cross-reactive humoral responses elicited by COH04S1 are comparable to those measured in JYNNEOS-vaccinated subjects. Finally, we show that mice vaccinated with COH04S1 or sMVA are protected from lung infection following challenge with MPXV clade IIb.1. CONCLUSIONS These results demonstrate the capacity of sMVA vaccines to elicit cross-reactive and protective orthopox-specific immunity against MPXV, suggesting that COH04S1 and sMVA could be developed as bivalent or monovalent mpox vaccine alternatives against MPXV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
| | - John A Zaia
- Center for Gene Therapy, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Miguel-Angel Gutierrez-Franco
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Sandra Ortega-Francisco
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Minh Ly
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Taehyun Kim
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Shannon Dempsey
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | | | - Alba Grifoni
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Don J Diamond
- Department of Hematology and HCT and Hematologic Malignancies Research Institute, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
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Wussow F, Kha M, Kim T, Ly M, Yll-Pico M, Kar S, Lewis MG, Chiuppesi F, Diamond DJ. Synthetic multiantigen MVA vaccine COH04S1 and variant-specific derivatives protect Syrian hamsters from SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants. NPJ Vaccines 2023; 8:41. [PMID: 36928589 PMCID: PMC10018591 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00640-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants continue to disrupt COVID-19 vaccine efficacy through multiple immune mechanisms including neutralizing antibody evasion. We developed COH04S1, a synthetic modified vaccinia Ankara vector that co-expresses Wuhan-Hu-1-based spike and nucleocapsid antigens. COH04S1 demonstrated efficacy against ancestral virus and Beta and Delta variants in animal models and was safe and immunogenic in a Phase 1 clinical trial. Here, we report efficacy of COH04S1 and analogous Omicron BA.1- and Beta-specific vaccines to protect Syrian hamsters from Omicron subvariants. Despite eliciting strain-specific antibody responses, all three vaccines protect hamsters from weight loss, lower respiratory tract infection, and lung pathology following challenge with Omicron BA.1 or BA.2.12.1. While the BA.1-specifc vaccine affords consistently improved efficacy compared to COH04S1 to protect against homologous challenge with BA.1, all three vaccines confer similar protection against heterologous challenge with BA.2.12.1. These results demonstrate efficacy of COH04S1 and variant-specific derivatives to confer cross-protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Taehyun Kim
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Minh Ly
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Marcal Yll-Pico
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | | | | | - Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Don J Diamond
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
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Wussow F, Kha M, Faircloth K, Nguyen VH, Iniguez A, Martinez J, Park Y, Nguyen J, Kar S, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Chiuppesi F, Diamond DJ. COH04S1 and beta sequence-modified vaccine protect hamsters from SARS-CoV-2 variants. iScience 2022; 25:104457. [PMID: 35634578 PMCID: PMC9126022 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104457] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [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: 02/16/2022] [Revised: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 05/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
COVID-19 vaccine efficacy is threatened by emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) with the capacity to evade protective neutralizing antibody responses. We recently developed clinical vaccine candidate COH04S1, a synthetic modified vaccinia Ankara vector (sMVA) co-expressing spike and nucleocapsid antigens based on the Wuhan-Hu-1 reference strain that showed potent efficacy to protect against ancestral SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian hamsters and non-human primates and was safe and immunogenic in healthy volunteers. Here, we demonstrate that intramuscular immunization of Syrian hamsters with COH04S1 and an analogous Beta variant-adapted vaccine candidate (COH04S351) elicits potent cross-reactive antibody responses and protects against weight loss, lower respiratory tract infection, and lung pathology following challenge with major SARS-CoV-2 VOC, including Beta and the highly contagious Delta variant. These results demonstrate efficacy of COH04S1 and a variant-adapted vaccine analog to confer cross-protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging VOC, supporting clinical investigation of these sMVA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Katelyn Faircloth
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Vu H. Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Angelina Iniguez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Joy Martinez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Yoonsuh Park
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Jenny Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | | | | | | | - Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
| | - Don J. Diamond
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA 91010, USA
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5
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Chiuppesi F, Nguyen VH, Park Y, Contreras H, Karpinski V, Faircloth K, Nguyen J, Kha M, Johnson D, Martinez J, Iniguez A, Zhou Q, Kaltcheva T, Frankel P, Kar S, Sharma A, Andersen H, Lewis MG, Shostak Y, Wussow F, Diamond DJ. Synthetic Multiantigen MVA Vaccine COH04S1 Protects Against SARS-CoV-2 in Syrian Hamsters and Non-Human Primates. bioRxiv 2021. [PMID: 34545366 DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.15.460487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Second-generation COVID-19 vaccines could contribute to establish protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 and its emerging variants. We developed COH04S1, a synthetic multiantigen Modified Vaccinia Ankara-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine that co-expresses spike and nucleocapsid antigens. Here, we report COH04S1 vaccine efficacy in animal models. We demonstrate that intramuscular or intranasal vaccination of Syrian hamsters with COH04S1 induces robust Th1-biased antigen-specific humoral immunity and cross-neutralizing antibodies (NAb) and protects against weight loss, lower respiratory tract infection, and lung injury following intranasal SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Moreover, we demonstrate that single-dose or two-dose vaccination of non-human primates with COH04S1 induces robust antigen-specific binding antibodies, NAb, and Th1-biased T cells, protects against both upper and lower respiratory tract infection following intranasal/intratracheal SARS-CoV-2 challenge, and triggers potent post-challenge anamnestic antiviral responses. These results demonstrate COH04S1-mediated vaccine protection in animal models through different vaccination routes and dose regimens, complementing ongoing investigation of this multiantigen SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in clinical trials.
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Ali A, Chiuppesi F, Nguyen M, Hausner MA, Nguyen J, Kha M, Iniguez A, Wussow F, Diamond DJ, Yang OO. Chimeric Antigen Receptors Targeting Human Cytomegalovirus. J Infect Dis 2021; 222:853-862. [PMID: 32285133 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa171] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 02/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a ubiquitous pathogen that causes significant morbidity in some vulnerable populations. Individualized adoptive transfer of ex vivo expanded CMV-specific CD8+ T cells has provided proof-of-concept that immunotherapy can be highly effective, but a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) approach would provide a feasible method for broad application. We created 8 novel CARs using anti-CMV neutralizing antibody sequences, which were transduced via lentiviral vector into primary CD8+ T cells. All CARs were expressed. Activity against CMV-infected target cells was assessed by release of cytokines (interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α), upregulation of surface CD107a, proliferation, cytolysis of infected cells, and suppression of viral replication. While some CARs showed varying functional activity across these assays, 1 CAR based on antibody 21E9 was consistently superior in all measures. These results support development of a CMV-specific CAR for therapeutic use against CMV and potentially other applications harnessing CMV-driven immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayub Ali
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Minh Nguyen
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Mary Ann Hausner
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Jenny Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Angelina Iniguez
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Don J Diamond
- Department of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA
| | - Otto O Yang
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA.,AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles, California, USA
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7
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Chiuppesi F, Salazar MD, Contreras H, Nguyen VH, Martinez J, Park Y, Nguyen J, Kha M, Iniguez A, Zhou Q, Kaltcheva T, Levytskyy R, Ebelt ND, Kang TH, Wu X, Rogers TF, Manuel ER, Shostak Y, Diamond DJ, Wussow F. Development of a multi-antigenic SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate using a synthetic poxvirus platform. Nat Commun 2020; 11:6121. [PMID: 33257686 PMCID: PMC7705736 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19819-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) is a highly attenuated poxvirus vector that is widely used to develop vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. We demonstrate the construction of a vaccine platform based on a unique three-plasmid system to efficiently generate recombinant MVA vectors from chemically synthesized DNA. In response to the ongoing global pandemic caused by SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), we use this vaccine platform to rapidly produce fully synthetic MVA (sMVA) vectors co-expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid antigens, two immunodominant antigens implicated in protective immunity. We show that mice immunized with these sMVA vectors develop robust SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses, including potent neutralizing antibodies. These results demonstrate the potential of a vaccine platform based on synthetic DNA to efficiently generate recombinant MVA vectors and to rapidly develop a multi-antigenic poxvirus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Marcela d'Alincourt Salazar
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Heidi Contreras
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Vu H Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Joy Martinez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Yoonsuh Park
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Jenny Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Angelina Iniguez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Qiao Zhou
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Teodora Kaltcheva
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Roman Levytskyy
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Nancy D Ebelt
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Tae Hyuk Kang
- Integrative Genomics Core, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Xiwei Wu
- Integrative Genomics Core, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Thomas F Rogers
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
- Scripps Research, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, 10550N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Edwin R Manuel
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Yuriy Shostak
- Research Business Development, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA
| | - Don J Diamond
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
| | - Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, 91010, USA.
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8
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Chiuppesi F, Salazar MD, Contreras H, Nguyen V, Martinez J, Park S, Nguyen J, Kha M, Iniguez A, Zhou Q, Kaltcheva T, Levytskyy R, Ebelt N, Kang T, Wu X, Rogers T, Manuel E, Shostak Y, Diamond D, Wussow F. Development of a Multi-Antigenic SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Using a Synthetic Poxvirus Platform. Res Sq 2020:rs.3.rs-40198. [PMID: 32702732 PMCID: PMC7373143 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-40198/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) is a highly attenuated poxvirus vector that is widely used to develop vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. We developed a novel vaccine platform based on a unique three-plasmid system to efficiently generate recombinant MVA vectors from chemically synthesized DNA. In response to the ongoing global pandemic caused by SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), we used this novel vaccine platform to rapidly produce fully synthetic MVA (sMVA) vectors co-expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid antigens, two immunodominant antigens implicated in protective immunity. Mice immunized with these sMVA vectors developed robust SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses, including potent neutralizing antibodies. These results demonstrate the potential of a novel vaccine platform based on synthetic DNA to efficiently generate recombinant MVA vectors and to rapidly develop a multi-antigenic poxvirus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Tae Kang
- Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope
| | - Xiwei Wu
- Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope
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9
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Chiuppesi F, Salazar MD, Contreras H, Nguyen VH, Martinez J, Park S, Nguyen J, Kha M, Iniguez A, Zhou Q, Kaltcheva T, Levytskyy R, Ebelt ND, Kang TH, Wu X, Rogers T, Manuel ER, Shostak Y, Diamond DJ, Wussow F. Development of a Synthetic Poxvirus-Based SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine. bioRxiv 2020:2020.07.01.183236. [PMID: 32637957 PMCID: PMC7337387 DOI: 10.1101/2020.07.01.183236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) is a highly attenuated poxvirus vector that is widely used to develop vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. We developed a novel vaccine platform based on a unique three-plasmid system to efficiently generate recombinant MVA vectors from chemically synthesized DNA. In response to the ongoing global pandemic caused by SARS coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), we used this novel vaccine platform to rapidly produce fully synthetic MVA (sMVA) vectors co-expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike and nucleocapsid antigens, two immunodominant antigens implicated in protective immunity. Mice immunized with these sMVA vectors developed robust SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses, including potent neutralizing antibodies. These results demonstrate the potential of a novel vaccine platform based on synthetic DNA to efficiently generate recombinant MVA vectors and to rapidly develop a multi-antigenic poxvirus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavia Chiuppesi
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | | | - Heidi Contreras
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Vu H Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Joy Martinez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Soojin Park
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Jenny Nguyen
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Mindy Kha
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Angelina Iniguez
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Qiao Zhou
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Teodora Kaltcheva
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Roman Levytskyy
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Nancy D Ebelt
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Tae Hyuk Kang
- Department of Genomic core facility, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Xiwei Wu
- Department of Genomic core facility, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Thomas Rogers
- University of California San Diego, School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093; Scripps Research, Department of Immunology and Microbiology, 10550 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Edwin R Manuel
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Yuriy Shostak
- Research Business Development, City of Hope, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Don J Diamond
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
| | - Felix Wussow
- Department of Hematology and Transplant Center, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte CA 91010, USA
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Mai XK, Kha M, Chow S, Cameron J, O’Barr SA. Modulation of inflammatory responses in heart failure via activation of alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist GTS-21. The Journal of Immunology 2018. [DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.200.supp.108.11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Heart failure (HF) is a prominent health concern amongst the public with prevalence rate being over 5.8 million in the USA. Inflammation and cytokine signaling are two main factors that lead to the pathogenesis of HF because of their effects on the heart and peripheral circulation. The “smoker’s paradox” showed associations between improvements in short-term acute myocardial infarction (MI) and smokers via activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) that can inhibit inflammatory responses in HF. Studies showed that the vagus nerve can modulate these inflammatory responses by activating the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway via stimulation of α7 nAChR. Hence, stimulation of α7 nAChR with specific agonists can be a potential therapeutic target for HF because it can inhibit pro-inflammatory responses. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effects of 3-(2,4-dimethoxybenzylident)-anabaseine (GTS-21), a partial agonist of α7 nAChR, were observed in an in vivo zebrafish model for HF. For four consecutive days, the zebrafishes were pre-treated with GTS-21 (0.113 μM) for 20 minutes per day. On the fourth day after pre-treatment with GTS-21, the zebrafishes were induced with MI by oligo-[2-(2-ethoxy)- ethoxyethyl)-guanidinium-chloride] (PGH) and survival was recorded. Using reverse transcription PCR (rt-PCR) for analysis, results showed that pre-treatment with GTS-21 modified the gene regulatory protein levels and reduced cytokine expression in the myocardium tissue. Other α7 nAChR agonists were investigated for their potential therapeutic effect in inhibiting inflammatory responses, but GTS-21 was more efficacious in inhibiting cytokine expression. Thus, GTS-21 may be used as a novel therapeutic for HF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuyen Kim Mai
- 1Western University of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy
| | - Mindy Kha
- 1Western University of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy
| | - Sheryl Chow
- 1Western University of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy
| | - Joshua Cameron
- 2Western University of Health Sciences, College of Optometry
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Kha M, Chow S, Cameron DJ, O’Barr SA. Alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist GTS-21 influences the inflammatory response in an animal model of heart failure. The Journal of Immunology 2017. [DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.198.supp.221.9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Cardiovascular disease, specifically heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans, and remains to be the number one cause of hospitalization and death globally. Multiple studies have suggested that inflammation plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of this disease. There is a novel link between the vagus nerve and the inflammatory responses, where the vagus nerve can limit inflammation via the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR) in relation to the “cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP)”. Selective pharmacological stimulation of the α7 nAChR may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of inflammatory conditions. We determined the anti-inflammatory potential of 3-(2,4-dimethoxybenzylident)-anabaseine (GTS-21), an α7-selective partial agonist, in an in vivo zebrafish heart failure model. To investigate the possible therapeutic benefit of GTS- 21, we used a chronic exposure system in which animals are pre-treated with GTS-21 for 20 minutes per day for four consecutive days. On day four after a short washout period, heart failure is chemically induced by Oligo-[2-(2- ethoxy)-ethoxyethyl)-guanidinium-chloride] (PGH) and survival is recorded. We show that GTS-21 has a profound anti-inflammatory effect in improving survivability in a concentration dependent manner. Moreover, rtPCR analysis on heart tissue shows that pre-treatment with GTS-21 induces modifications in levels of gene regulatory proteins leading to altered cytokine expression within the myocardium. In all, these data indicate that GTS-21 may be a promising therapeutic as it influences the inflammatory response in heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mindy Kha
- 1Western University of Health Sciences
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