scholarly journals Increased Protein Degradation Improves Influenza Virus Nucleoprotein-Specific CD8+T Cell ActivationIn Vitrobut Not in C57BL/6 Mice

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (22) ◽  
pp. 10209-10219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arwen F. Altenburg ◽  
Carolien E. van de Sandt ◽  
Stella E. van Trierum ◽  
Heidi L. M. De Gruyter ◽  
Peter R. W. A. van Run ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDue to antigenic drift of influenza viruses, seasonal influenza vaccines need to be updated annually. These vaccines are based on predictions of strains likely to circulate in the next season. However, vaccine efficacy is greatly reduced in the case of a mismatch between circulating and vaccine strains. Furthermore, novel antigenically distinct influenza viruses are introduced into the human population from animal reservoirs occasionally and may cause pandemic outbreaks. To dampen the impact of seasonal and pandemic influenza, vaccines that induce broadly protective and long-lasting immunity are preferred. Because influenza virus-specific CD8+T cells are directed mainly against relatively conserved internal proteins, like nucleoprotein (NP), they are highly cross-reactive and afford protection against infection with antigenically distinct influenza virus strains, so-called heterosubtypic immunity. Here, we used modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) as a vaccine vector for the induction of influenza virus NP-specific CD8+T cells. To optimize the induction of CD8+T cell responses, we made several modifications to NP, aiming at retaining the protein in the cytosol or targeting it to the proteasome. We hypothesized that these strategies would increase antigen processing and presentation and thus improve the induction of CD8+T cell responses. We showed that NP with increased degradation rates improved CD8+T cell activationin vitroif the amount of antigen was limited or if CD8+T cells were of low functional avidity. However, after immunization of C57BL/6 mice, no differences were detected between modified NP and wild-type NP (NPwt), since NPwt already induced optimal CD8+T cell responses.IMPORTANCEDue to the continuous antigenic drift of seasonal influenza viruses and the threat of a novel pandemic, there is a great need for the development of novel influenza vaccines that offer broadly protective immunity against multiple subtypes. CD8+T cells can provide immunity against multiple subtypes of influenza viruses by the recognition of relatively conserved internal antigens. In this study, we aimed at optimizing the CD8+T cell response to influenza A virus by making modifications to influenza A virus nucleoprotein (NP) expressed from the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vaccine vector. These modifications resulted in increased antigen degradation, thereby producing elevated levels of peptides that can be presented on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules to CD8+T cells. Although we were unable to increase the NP-specific immune response in the mouse strain used, this approach may have benefits for vaccine development using less-immunogenic proteins.

2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (24) ◽  
pp. 12241-12251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika Assarsson ◽  
Huynh-Hoa Bui ◽  
John Sidney ◽  
Qing Zhang ◽  
Jean Glenn ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Continuing antigenic drift allows influenza viruses to escape antibody-mediated recognition, and as a consequence, the vaccine currently in use needs to be altered annually. Highly conserved epitopes recognized by effector T cells may represent an alternative approach for the generation of a more universal influenza virus vaccine. Relatively few highly conserved epitopes are currently known in humans, and relatively few epitopes have been identified from proteins other than hemagglutinin and nucleoprotein. This prompted us to perform a study aimed at identifying a set of human T-cell epitopes that would provide broad coverage against different virus strains and subtypes. To provide coverage across different ethnicities, seven different HLA supertypes were considered. More than 4,000 peptides were selected from a panel of 23 influenza A virus strains based on predicted high-affinity binding to HLA class I or class II and high conservancy levels. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 44 healthy human blood donors were tested for reactivity against HLA-matched peptides by using gamma interferon enzyme-linked immunospot assays. Interestingly, we found that PB1 was the major target for both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses. The 54 nonredundant epitopes (38 class I and 16 class II) identified herein provided high coverage among different ethnicities, were conserved in the majority of the strains analyzed, and were consistently recognized in multiple individuals. These results enable further functional studies of T-cell responses during influenza virus infection and provide a potential base for the development of a universal influenza vaccine.


2010 ◽  
Vol 84 (7) ◽  
pp. 3312-3319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhui Ge ◽  
Venus Tan ◽  
Paul L. Bollyky ◽  
Nathan E. Standifer ◽  
Eddie A. James ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Very limited evidence has been reported to show human adaptive immune responses to the 2009 pandemic H1N1 swine-origin influenza A virus (S-OIV). We studied 17 S-OIV peptides homologous to immunodominant CD4 T epitopes from hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), nuclear protein (NP), M1 matrix protein (MP), and PB1 of a seasonal H1N1 strain. We concluded that 15 of these 17 S-OIV peptides would induce responses of seasonal influenza virus-specific T cells. Of these, seven S-OIV sequences were identical to seasonal influenza virus sequences, while eight had at least one amino acid that was not conserved. T cells recognizing epitopes derived from these S-OIV antigens could be detected ex vivo. Most of these T cells expressed memory markers, although none of the donors had been exposed to S-OIV. Functional analysis revealed that specific amino acid differences in the sequences of these S-OIV peptides would not affect or partially affect memory T-cell responses. These findings suggest that without protective antibody responses, individuals vaccinated against seasonal influenza A may still benefit from preexisting cross-reactive memory CD4 T cells reducing their susceptibility to S-OIV infection.


Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 126
Author(s):  
Lilin Lai ◽  
Nadine Rouphael ◽  
Yongxian Xu ◽  
Amy C. Sherman ◽  
Srilatha Edupuganti ◽  
...  

The cellular immune responses elicited by an investigational vaccine against an emergent variant of influenza (H3N2v) are not fully understood. Twenty-five subjects, enrolled in an investigational influenza A/H3N2v vaccine study, who received two doses of vaccine 21 days apart, were included in a sub-study of cellular immune responses. H3N2v-specific plasmablasts were determined by ELISpot 8 days after each vaccine dose and H3N2v specific CD4+ T cells were quantified by intracellular cytokine and CD154 (CD40 ligand) staining before vaccination, 8 and 21 days after each vaccine dose. Results: 95% (19/20) and 96% (24/25) subjects had pre-existing H3N2v specific memory B, and T cell responses, respectively. Plasmablast responses at Day 8 after the first vaccine administration were detected against contemporary H3N2 strains and correlated with hemagglutination inhibition HAI (IgG: p = 0.018; IgA: p < 0.001) and Neut (IgG: p = 0.038; IgA: p = 0.021) titers and with memory B cell frequency at baseline (IgA: r = 0.76, p < 0.001; IgG: r = 0.74, p = 0.0001). The CD4+ T cells at Days 8 and 21 expanded after prime vaccination and this expansion correlated strongly with early post-vaccination HAI and Neut titers (p ≤ 0.002). In an adult population, the rapid serological response observed after initial H3N2v vaccination correlates with post-vaccination plasmablasts and CD4+ T cell responses.


2019 ◽  
Vol 221 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arnaud G L’huillier ◽  
Victor H Ferreira ◽  
Cedric Hirzel ◽  
Yoichiro Natori ◽  
Jaclyn Slomovic ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Despite annual immunization, solid organ transplant (SOT) patients remain at increased risk for severe influenza infection because of suboptimal vaccine immunogenicity. We aimed to compare the CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses of the high-dose (HD) and the standard-dose (SD) trivalent inactivated vaccine. Methods We collected peripheral blood mononuclear cells pre- and postimmunization from 60 patients enrolled in a randomized trial of HD versus SD vaccine (30 HD; 30 SD) during the 2016–2017 influenza season. Results The HD vaccine elicited significantly greater monofunctional and polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses against influenza A/H1N1, A/H3N2, and B. For example, median vaccine-elicited influenza-specific polyfunctional CD4+ T cells were higher in recipients of the HD than SD vaccine after stimulation with influenza A/H1N1 (1193 vs 0 per 106 CD4+ T cells; P = .003), A/H3N2 (1154 vs 51; P = .008), and B (1102 vs 0; P = .001). Likewise, vaccine-elicited influenza-specific polyfunctional CD8+ T cells were higher in recipients of the HD than SD vaccine after stimulation with influenza B (367 vs 0; P = .002). Conclusions Our study provides novel evidence that HD vaccine elicits greater cellular responses compared with the SD vaccine in SOT recipients, which provides support to preferentially consider use of HD vaccination in the SOT setting.


2008 ◽  
Vol 82 (19) ◽  
pp. 9629-9638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Vaccari ◽  
Joseph Mattapallil ◽  
Kaimei Song ◽  
Wen-Po Tsai ◽  
Anna Hryniewicz ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Adaptive CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses have been associated with control of human immunodeficiency virus/simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV/SIV) replication. Here, we have designed a study with Indian rhesus macaques to more directly assess the role of CD8 SIV-specific responses in control of viral replication. Macaques were immunized with a DNA prime-modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA)-SIV boost regimen under normal conditions or under conditions of antibody-induced CD4+ T-cell deficiency. Depletion of CD4+ cells was performed in the immunized macaques at the peak of SIV-specific CD4+ T-cell responses following the DNA prime dose. A group of naïve macaques was also treated with the anti-CD4 depleting antibody as a control, and an additional group of macaques immunized under normal conditions was depleted of CD8+ T cells prior to challenge exposure to SIVmac251. Analysis of the quality and quantity of vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells demonstrated that SIV-specific CD8+ T cells generated under conditions of CD4+ T-cell deficiency expressed low levels of Bcl-2 and interleukin-2 (IL-2), and plasma virus levels increased over time. Depletion of CD8+ T cells prior to challenge exposure abrogated vaccine-induced protection as previously shown. These data support the notion that adaptive CD4+ T cells are critical for the generation of effective CD8+ T-cell responses to SIV that, in turn, contribute to protection from AIDS. Importantly, they also suggest that long-term protection from disease will be afforded only by T-cell vaccines for HIV that provide a balanced induction of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses and protect against early depletion of CD4+ T cells postinfection.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yansheng Li ◽  
Mingkai Xu ◽  
Yongqiang Li ◽  
Wu Gu ◽  
Gulinare Halimu ◽  
...  

Influenza pandemics pose public health threats annually for lacking vaccine which provides cross-protection against novel and emerging influenza viruses. Combining conserved antigens that induce cross-protective antibody responses with epitopes that activate cross-protective T cell responses might be an attractive strategy for developing a universal vaccine. In this study, we constructed a recombinant protein named NMHC which consist of influenza viral conserved epitopes and a superantigen fragment. NMHC promoted the maturation of bone marrow-derived dendritic cells and induced CD4+ T cells to differentiate into Th1, Th2, and Th17 subtypes. Mice vaccinated with NMHC produced high levels of immunoglobulins that cross-bound to HA fragments from six influenza virus subtypes with high antibody titers. Anti-NMHC serum showed potent hemagglutinin inhibition effects to highly divergent group 1 (H1 subtype) and group 2 (H3 subtype) influenza virus strains. Furthermore, purified anti-NMHC antibodies bound to multiple HAs with high affinities. NMHC vaccination effectively protected mice from infection and lung damage when exposed to two subtypes of H1N1 influenza virus. Moreover, NMHC vaccination elicited CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses that cleared the virus from infected tissues and prevented virus spread. In conclusion, this study provides proof of concept that NMHC vaccination triggers B and T cell immune responses against multiple influenza virus infections. Therefore, NMHC might be a candidate universal broad-spectrum vaccine for the prevention and treatment of multiple influenza viruses.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e0259829
Author(s):  
Heni Muflihah ◽  
Manuela Flórido ◽  
Leon C. W. Lin ◽  
Yingju Xia ◽  
James A. Triccas ◽  
...  

The current Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine provides inconsistent protection against pulmonary infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Immunity induced by subcutaneous immunization with BCG wanes and does not promote early recruitment of T cell to the lungs after M. tuberculosis infection. Delivery of Tuberculosis (TB) vaccines to the lungs may increase and prolong immunity at the primary site of M. tuberculosis infection. Pulmonary immunization with recombinant influenza A viruses (rIAVs) expressing an immune-dominant M. tuberculosis CD4+ T cell epitope (PR8-p25 and X31-p25) stimulates protective immunity against lung TB infection. Here, we investigated the potential use of rIAVs to improve the efficacy of BCG using simultaneous immunization (SIM) and prime-boost strategies. SIM with parenteral BCG and intranasal PR8-p25 resulted in equivalent protection to BCG alone against early, acute and chronic M. tuberculosis infection. Boosting BCG with rIAVs increased the frequency of IFN-γ-secreting specific T cells (p<0.001) and polyfunctional CD4+ T cells (p<0.05) in the lungs compared to the BCG alone, however, this did not result in a significant increase in protection against M. tuberculosis compared to BCG alone. Therefore, sequential pulmonary immunization with these rIAVs after BCG increased M. tuberculosis-specific memory T cell responses in the lung, but not protection against M. tuberculosis infection.


Vaccines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher E. Lopez ◽  
Kevin L. Legge

Influenza virus infections represent a serious public health threat and account for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide due to seasonal epidemics and periodic pandemics. Despite being an important countermeasure to combat influenza virus and being highly efficacious when matched to circulating influenza viruses, current preventative strategies of vaccination against influenza virus often provide incomplete protection due the continuous antigenic drift/shift of circulating strains of influenza virus. Prevention and control of influenza virus infection with vaccines is dependent on the host immune response induced by vaccination and the various vaccine platforms induce different components of the local and systemic immune response. This review focuses on the immune basis of current (inactivated influenza vaccines (IIV) and live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIV)) as well as novel vaccine platforms against influenza virus. Particular emphasis will be placed on how each platform induces cross-protection against heterologous influenza viruses, as well as how this immunity compares to and contrasts from the “gold standard” of immunity generated by natural influenza virus infection.


2009 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 1847-1855 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott N. Mueller ◽  
William A. Langley ◽  
Elena Carnero ◽  
Adolfo García-Sastre ◽  
Rafi Ahmed

ABSTRACT The generation of vaccines that induce long-lived protective immunity against influenza virus infections remains a challenging goal. Ideally, vaccines should elicit effective humoral and cellular immunity to protect an individual from infection or disease. Cross-reactive T- and B-cell responses that are elicited by live virus infections may provide such broad protection. Optimal induction of T-cell responses involves the action of type I interferons (IFN-I). Influenza virus expressed nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) functions as an inhibitor of IFN-I and promotes viral growth. We wanted to examine the priming of CD8+ T-cell responses to influenza virus in the absence of this inhibition of IFN-I production. We generated recombinant mouse-adapted influenza A/PR/8/34 viruses with NS1 truncations and/or deletions that also express the gp33-41 epitope from lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Intranasal infection of mice with the attenuated viruses primed long-lived T- and B-cell responses despite significantly reduced viral replication in the lungs compared to wild-type virus. Antigen-specific CD8+ T cells expanded upon rechallenge and generated increased protective memory T-cell populations after boosting. These results show that live attenuated influenza viruses expressing truncated NS1 proteins can prime protective immunity and may have implications for the design of novel modified live influenza virus vaccines.


2019 ◽  
Vol 93 (21) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yik Chun Wong ◽  
Sarah Croft ◽  
Stewart A. Smith ◽  
Leon C. W. Lin ◽  
Tania Cukalac ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A variety of strains of vaccinia virus (VACV) have been used as recombinant vaccine vectors with the aim of inducing robust CD8+ T cell immunity. While much of the pioneering work was done with virulent strains, such as Western Reserve (WR), attenuated strains such as modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) are more realistic vectors for clinical use. To unify this literature, side-by-side comparisons of virus strains are required. Here, we compare the form of antigen that supports optimal CD8+ T cell responses for VACV strains WR and MVA using equivalent constructs. We found that for multiple antigens, minimal antigenic constructs (epitope minigenes) that prime CD8+ T cells via the direct presentation pathway elicited optimal responses from both vectors, which was surprising because this finding contradicts the prevailing view in the literature for MVA. We then went on to explore the discrepancy between current and published data for MVA, finding evidence that the expression locus and in some cases the presence of the viral thymidine kinase may influence the ability of this strain to prime optimal responses from antigens that require direct presentation. This extends our knowledge of the design parameters for VACV vectored vaccines, especially those based on MVA. IMPORTANCE Recombinant vaccines based on vaccinia virus and particularly attenuated strains such as MVA are in human clinical trials, but due to the complexity of these large vectors much remains to be understood about the design parameters that alter their immunogenicity. Previous work had found that MVA vectors should be designed to express stable protein in order to induce robust immunity by CD8+ (cytotoxic) T cells. Here, we found that the primacy of stable antigen is not generalizable to all designs of MVA and may depend where a foreign antigen is inserted into the MVA genome. This unexpected finding suggests that there is an interaction between genome location and the best form of antigen for optimal T cell priming in MVA and thus possibly other vaccine vectors. It also highlights that our understanding of antigen presentation by even the best studied of vaccine vectors remains incomplete.


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