Higher T-Cell Responses Induced by DNA/rAd5 HIV-1 Preventive Vaccine Are Associated With Lower HIV-1 Infection Risk in an Efficacy Trial

Background: : The diversity of the HIV proteome influences the cellular response and development of an effective vaccine, particularly due to the generation of viral variants with mutations located within CD8+ T-cell epitopes. These mutations can affect the recognition of the epitopes, that may result in the selection of HIV variants with mutated epitopes (autologous epitopes) and different CD8+ T-cell functional profiles. Objective:: To determine the phenotype and functionality of CD8+ T-cell from HIV-infected Colombian patients in response to autologous and consensus peptides derived from HIV-1 clade B protease and reverse transcriptase (RT). Methods:: By flow cytometry, we compared the ex vivo CD8+ T-cell responses from HIV-infected patients to autologous and consensus peptides derived from HIV-1 clade B protease and RT, restricted by HLA-B*35, HLA-B*44 and HLA-B*51 alleles. Results:: Although autologous peptides restricted by HLA-B*35 and HLA-B*44 did not show any differences compared with consensus peptides, we observed the induction of a higher polyfunctional profile of CD8+ T-cells by autologous peptides restricted by HLA-B*51, particularly by the production of interferon-γ and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β. The response by different memory CD8+ T-cell populations was comparable between autologous vs. consensus peptides. In addition, the magnitude of the polyfunctional response induced by the HLA-B*51-restricted QRPLVTIRI autologous epitope correlated with low viremia. Conclusion:: Autologous peptides should be considered for the evaluation of HIV-specific CD8+ Tcell responses and to reveal some relevant epitopes that could be useful for therapeutic strategies aiming to promote polyfunctional CD8+ T-cell responses in a specific population of HIV-infected patients.

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Exploiting knowledge of immune selection in HIV-1 to detect HIV-specific CD8 T-cell responses

Vaccine ◽

10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.06.091 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 28 (37) ◽

pp. 6052-6057 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Coral-Ann M. Almeida ◽

Steven G. Roberts ◽

Rebecca Laird ◽

Elizabeth McKinnon ◽

Imran Ahmad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

Immune Selection ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Hiv 1

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Combination of Immune and Viral Factors Distinguishes Low-Risk versus High-Risk HIV-1 Disease Progression in HLA-B*5701 Subjects

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.01165-12 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 86 (18) ◽

pp. 9802-9816 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Melissa M. Norström ◽

Marcus Buggert ◽

Johanna Tauriainen ◽

Wendy Hartogensis ◽

Mattia C. Prosperi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

High Risk ◽

High Resolution ◽

Disease Progression ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Low Risk ◽

Early Infection ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Cell Counts ◽

Hiv 1

HLA-B*5701 is the host factor most strongly associated with slow HIV-1 disease progression, although rates can vary within this group. Underlying mechanisms are not fully understood but likely involve both immunological and virological dynamics. The present study investigated HIV-1in vivoevolution and epitope-specific CD8+T cell responses in six HLA-B*5701 patients who had not received antiretroviral treatment, monitored from early infection for up to 7 years. The subjects were classified as high-risk progressors (HRPs) or low-risk progressors (LRPs) based on baseline CD4+T cell counts. Dynamics of HIV-1 Gag p24 evolution and multifunctional CD8+T cell responses were evaluated by high-resolution phylogenetic analysis and polychromatic flow cytometry, respectively. In all subjects, substitutions occurred more frequently in flanking regions than in HLA-B*5701-restricted epitopes. In LRPs, p24 sequence diversity was significantly lower; sequences exhibited a higher degree of homoplasy and more constrained mutational patterns than HRPs. The HIV-1 intrahost evolutionary rate was also lower in LRPs and followed a strict molecular clock, suggesting neutral genetic drift rather than positive selection. Additionally, polyfunctional CD8+T cell responses, particularly to TW10 and QW9 epitopes, were more robust in LRPs, who also showed significantly higher interleukin-2 (IL-2) production in early infection. Overall, the findings indicate that HLA-B*5701 patients with higher CD4 counts at baseline have a lower risk of HIV-1 disease progression because of the interplay between specific HLA-linked immune responses and the rate and mode of viral evolution. The study highlights the power of a multidisciplinary approach, integrating high-resolution evolutionary and immunological data, to understand mechanisms underlying HIV-1 pathogenesis.

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Comprehensive Epitope Analysis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1)-Specific T-Cell Responses Directed against the Entire Expressed HIV-1 Genome Demonstrate Broadly Directed Responses, but No Correlation to Viral Load

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.77.3.2081-2092.2003 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 2081-2092 ◽

Cited By ~ 513

Author(s):

M. M. Addo ◽

X. G. Yu ◽

A. Rathod ◽

D. Cohen ◽

R. L. Eldridge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Protein Subunits ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Cellular Immune Responses ◽

Immunodeficiency Virus ◽

Total Magnitude ◽

Cellular Immune ◽

Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Cellular immune responses play a critical role in the control of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1); however, the breadth of these responses at the single-epitope level has not been comprehensively assessed. We therefore screened peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 57 individuals at different stages of HIV-1 infection for virus-specific T-cell responses using a matrix of 504 overlapping peptides spanning all expressed HIV-1 proteins in a gamma interferon-enzyme-linked immunospot (Elispot) assay. HIV-1-specific T-cell responses were detectable in all study subjects, with a median of 14 individual epitopic regions targeted per person (range, 2 to 42), and all 14 HIV-1 protein subunits were recognized. HIV-1 p24-Gag and Nef contained the highest epitope density and were also the most frequently recognized HIV-1 proteins. The total magnitude of the HIV-1-specific response ranged from 280 to 25,860 spot-forming cells (SFC)/106 PBMC (median, 4,245) among all study participants. However, the number of epitopic regions targeted, the protein subunits recognized, and the total magnitude of HIV-1-specific responses varied significantly among the tested individuals, with the strongest and broadest responses detectable in individuals with untreated chronic HIV-1 infection. Neither the breadth nor the magnitude of the total HIV-1-specific CD8+-T-cell responses correlated with plasma viral load. We conclude that a peptide matrix-based Elispot assay allows for rapid, sensitive, specific, and efficient assessment of cellular immune responses directed against the entire expressed HIV-1 genome. These data also suggest that the impact of T-cell responses on control of viral replication cannot be explained by the mere quantification of the magnitude and breadth of the CD8+-T-cell response, even if a comprehensive pan-genome screening approach is applied.

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Fitness-Balanced Escape Determines Resolution of Dynamic Founder Virus Escape Processes in HIV-1 Infection

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.01876-15 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 89 (20) ◽

pp. 10303-10318 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Justine E. Sunshine ◽

Brendan B. Larsen ◽

Brandon Maust ◽

Ellie Casey ◽

Wenje Deng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Viral Evolution ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Fitness Cost ◽

Viral Population ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Founder Virus ◽

Ctl Escape ◽

The Impact ◽

Hiv 1

ABSTRACTTo understand the interplay between host cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses and the mechanisms by which HIV-1 evades them, we studied viral evolutionary patterns associated with host CTL responses in six linked transmission pairs. HIV-1 sequences corresponding to full-length p17 and p24gagwere generated by 454 pyrosequencing for all pairs near the time of transmission, and seroconverting partners were followed for a median of 847 days postinfection. T-cell responses were screened by gamma interferon/interleukin-2 (IFN-γ/IL-2) FluoroSpot using autologous peptide sets reflecting any Gag variant present in at least 5% of sequence reads in the individual's viral population. While we found little evidence for the occurrence of CTL reversions, CTL escape processes were found to be highly dynamic, with multiple epitope variants emerging simultaneously. We found a correlation between epitope entropy and the number of epitope variants per response (r= 0.43;P= 0.05). In cases in which multiple escape mutations developed within a targeted epitope, a variant with no fitness cost became fixed in the viral population. When multiple mutations within an epitope achieved fitness-balanced escape, these escape mutants were each maintained in the viral population. Additional mutations found to confer escape but undetected in viral populations incurred high fitness costs, suggesting that functional constraints limit the available sites tolerable to escape mutations. These results further our understanding of the impact of CTL escape and reversion from the founder virus in HIV infection and contribute to the identification of immunogenic Gag regions most vulnerable to a targeted T-cell attack.IMPORTANCERapid diversification of the viral population is a hallmark of HIV-1 infection, and understanding the selective forces driving the emergence of viral variants can provide critical insight into the interplay between host immune responses and viral evolution. We used deep sequencing to comprehensively follow viral evolution over time in six linked HIV transmission pairs. We then mapped T-cell responses to explore if mutations arose due to adaption to the host and found that escape processes were often highly dynamic, with multiple mutations arising within targeted epitopes. When we explored the impact of these mutations on replicative capacity, we found that dynamic escape processes only resolve with the selection of mutations that conferred escape with no fitness cost to the virus. These results provide further understanding of the complicated viral-host interactions that occur during early HIV-1 infection and may help inform the design of future vaccine immunogens.

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Novel Recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG, Ovine Atadenovirus, and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara Vaccines Combine To Induce Robust Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Specific CD4 and CD8 T-Cell Responses in Rhesus Macaques

Journal of Virology ◽

10.1128/jvi.02607-09 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 84 (12) ◽

pp. 5898-5908 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Maximillian Rosario ◽

Richard Hopkins ◽

John Fulkerson ◽

Nicola Borthwick ◽

Máire F. Quigley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Vaccinia Virus ◽

Mycobacterium Bovis ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Rhesus Macaques ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara ◽

Hiv 1

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), which elicits a degree of protective immunity against tuberculosis, is the most widely used vaccine in the world. Due to its persistence and immunogenicity, BCG has been proposed as a vector for vaccines against other infections, including HIV-1. BCG has a very good safety record, although it can cause disseminated disease in immunocompromised individuals. Here, we constructed a recombinant BCG vector expressing HIV-1 clade A-derived immunogen HIVA using the recently described safer and more immunogenic BCG strain AERAS-401 as the parental mycobacterium. Using routine ex vivo T-cell assays, BCG.HIVA401 as a stand-alone vaccine induced undetectable and weak CD8 T-cell responses in BALB/c mice and rhesus macaques, respectively. However, when BCG.HIVA401 was used as a priming component in heterologous vaccination regimens together with recombinant modified vaccinia virus Ankara-vectored MVA.HIVA and ovine atadenovirus-vectored OAdV.HIVA vaccines, robust HIV-1-specific T-cell responses were elicited. These high-frequency T-cell responses were broadly directed and capable of proliferation in response to recall antigen. Furthermore, multiple antigen-specific T-cell clonotypes were efficiently recruited into the memory pool. These desirable features are thought to be associated with good control of HIV-1 infection. In addition, strong and persistent T-cell responses specific for the BCG-derived purified protein derivative (PPD) antigen were induced. This work is the first demonstration of immunogenicity for two novel vaccine vectors and the corresponding candidate HIV-1 vaccines BCG.HIVA401 and OAdV.HIVA in nonhuman primates. These results strongly support their further exploration.

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