scholarly journals Differential Recognition of Influenza A Viruses by M158–66Epitope-Specific CD8+T Cells Is Determined by Extraepitopic Amino Acid Residues

2015 ◽  
Vol 90 (2) ◽  
pp. 1009-1022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolien E. van de Sandt ◽  
Joost H. C. M. Kreijtz ◽  
Martina M. Geelhoed-Mieras ◽  
Nella J. Nieuwkoop ◽  
Monique I. Spronken ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTNatural influenza A virus infections elicit both virus-specific antibody and CD4+and CD8+T cell responses. Influenza A virus-specific CD8+cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) contribute to clearance of influenza virus infections. Viral CTL epitopes can display variation, allowing influenza A viruses to evade recognition by epitope-specific CTLs. Due to functional constraints, some epitopes, like the immunodominant HLA-A*0201-restricted matrix protein 1 (M158–66) epitope, are highly conserved between influenza A viruses regardless of their subtype or host species of origin. We hypothesized that human influenza A viruses evade recognition of this epitope by impairing antigen processing and presentation by extraepitopic amino acid substitutions. Activation of specific T cells was used as an indication of antigen presentation. Here, we show that the M158–66epitope in the M1 protein derived from human influenza A virus was poorly recognized compared to the M1 protein derived from avian influenza A virus. Furthermore, we demonstrate that naturally occurring variations at extraepitopic amino acid residues affect CD8+T cell recognition of the M158–66epitope. These data indicate that human influenza A viruses can impair recognition by M158–66-specific CTLs while retaining the conserved amino acid sequence of the epitope, which may represent a yet-unknown immune evasion strategy for influenza A viruses. This difference in recognition may have implications for the viral replication kinetics in HLA-A*0201 individuals and spread of influenza A viruses in the human population. The findings may aid the rational design of universal influenza vaccines that aim at the induction of cross-reactive virus-specific CTL responses.IMPORTANCEInfluenza viruses are an important cause of acute respiratory tract infections. Natural influenza A virus infections elicit both humoral and cellular immunity. CD8+cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are directed predominantly against conserved internal proteins and confer cross-protection, even against influenza A viruses of various subtypes. In some CTL epitopes, mutations occur that allow influenza A viruses to evade recognition by CTLs. However, the immunodominant HLA-A*0201-restricted M158–66epitope does not tolerate mutations without loss of viral fitness. Here, we describe naturally occurring variations in amino acid residues outside the M158–66epitope that influence the recognition of the epitope. These results provide novel insights into the epidemiology of influenza A viruses and their pathogenicity and may aid rational design of vaccines that aim at the induction of CTL responses.

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 4127-4132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshikazu Fujimoto ◽  
Hiroshi Ito ◽  
Etsuro Ono ◽  
Yoshihiro Kawaoka ◽  
Toshihiro Ito

ABSTRACTInfluenza A viruses are known to primarily replicate in duck intestine following infection via the oral route, but the specific role of neuraminidase (NA) for the intestinal tropism of influenza A viruses has been unclear. A reassortant virus (Dk78/Eng62N2) did not propagate in ducks infected via the oral route. To generate variant viruses that grow well in ducks via the oral route, we isolated viruses that effectively replicate in intestinal mucosal cells by passaging Dk78/Eng62N2 in duck via rectal-route infection. This procedure led to the isolation of a variant virus from the duck intestine. This virus was propagated using embryonated chicken eggs and inoculated into a duck via the oral route, which led to the isolation of Dk-rec6 from the duck intestine. Experimental infections with mutant viruses generated by using reverse genetics indicated that the paired mutation of residues 356 and 431 in NA was necessary for the viral replication in duck intestine. The NA assay revealed that the activity of Dk78/Eng62N2 almost disappeared after pH 3 treatment, whereas that of Dk-rec6 was maintained. Furthermore, to identify the amino acid residues associated with the low-pH resistance, we measured the activities of mutant NA proteins transiently expressed in 293 cells after pH 3 treatment. All mutant NA proteins that possessed proline at position 431 showed higher activities than NA proteins that possessed glutamine at this position. These findings indicate that the low-pH resistance of NA plays an important role in the ability of influenza A virus to replicate in duck intestine.IMPORTANCENeuraminidase (NA) activity facilitates the release of viruses from cells and, as such, is important for the replicative efficiency of influenza A virus. Ducks are believed to serve as the principal natural reservoir for influenza A virus; however, the key properties of NA for viral infection in duck are not well understood. In this study, we identify amino acid residues in NA that contribute to viral replication in ducks via the natural route of infection and demonstrate that maintenance of NA activity under low-pH conditions is associated with the biological properties of the virus. These findings provide insights into the mechanisms of replication of influenza A virus in ducks.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (15) ◽  
pp. 9926-9932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyoko Shinya ◽  
Masato Hatta ◽  
Shinya Yamada ◽  
Ayato Takada ◽  
Shinji Watanabe ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In 2003, H5N1 avian influenza virus infections were diagnosed in two Hong Kong residents who had visited the Fujian province in mainland China, affording us the opportunity to characterize one of the viral isolates, A/Hong Kong/213/03 (HK213; H5N1). In contrast to H5N1 viruses isolated from humans during the 1997 outbreak in Hong Kong, HK213 retained several features of aquatic bird viruses, including the lack of a deletion in the neuraminidase stalk and the absence of additional oligosaccharide chains at the globular head of the hemagglutinin molecule. It demonstrated weak pathogenicity in mice and ferrets but caused lethal infection in chickens. The original isolate failed to produce disease in ducks but became more pathogenic after five passages. Taken together, these findings portray the HK213 isolate as an aquatic avian influenza A virus without the molecular changes associated with the replication of H5N1 avian viruses in land-based poultry such as chickens. This case challenges the view that adaptation to land-based poultry is a prerequisite for the replication of aquatic avian influenza A viruses in humans.


2009 ◽  
Vol 90 (7) ◽  
pp. 1730-1733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia L. Varich ◽  
Konstantin S. Kochergin-Nikitsky ◽  
Evgeny V. Usachev ◽  
Olga V. Usacheva ◽  
Alexei G. Prilipov ◽  
...  

The locations of amino acid positions relevant to antigenic variation in the nucleoprotein (NP) of influenza virus are not conclusively known. We analysed the antigenic structure of influenza A virus NP by introducing site-specific mutations at amino acid positions presumed to be relevant for the differentiation of strain differences by anti-NP monoclonal antibodies. Mutant proteins were expressed in a prokaryotic system and analysed by performing ELISA with monoclonal antibodies. Four amino acid residues were found to determine four different antibody-binding sites. When mapped in a 3D X-ray model of NP, the four antigenically relevant amino acid positions were found to be located in separate physical sites of the NP molecule.


2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1781-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Scholtissek ◽  
Jürgen Stech ◽  
Scott Krauss ◽  
Robert G. Webster

ABSTRACT To analyze the compatibility of avian influenza A virus hemagglutinins (HAs) and human influenza A virus matrix (M) proteins M1 and M2, we doubly infected Madin-Darby canine kidney cells with amantadine (1-aminoadamantane hydrochloride)-resistant human viruses and amantadine-sensitive avian strains. By using antisera against the human virus HAs and amantadine, we selected reassortants containing the human virus M gene and the avian virus HA gene. In our system, high virus yields and large, well-defined plaques indicated that the avian HAs and the human M gene products could cooperate effectively; low virus yields and small, turbid plaques indicated that cooperation was poor. The M gene products are among the primary components that determine the species specificities of influenza A viruses. Therefore, our system also indicated whether the avian HA genes effectively reassorted into the genome and replaced the HA gene of the prevailing human influenza A viruses. Most of the avian HAs that we tested efficiently cooperated with the M gene products of the early human A/PR/8/34 (H1N1) virus; however, the avian HAs did not effectively cooperate with the most recently isolated human virus that we tested, A/Nanchang/933/95 (H3N2). Cooperation between the avian HAs and the M proteins of the human A/Singapore/57 (H2N2) virus was moderate. These results suggest that the currently prevailing human influenza A viruses might have lost their ability to undergo antigenic shift and therefore are unable to form new pandemic viruses that contain an avian HA, a finding that is of great interest for pandemic planning.


2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (11) ◽  
pp. e00232-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolien E. van de Sandt ◽  
Mark R. Pronk ◽  
Carel A. van Baalen ◽  
Ron A. M. Fouchier ◽  
Guus F. Rimmelzwaan

ABSTRACT Influenza virus-specific CD8+ T lymphocytes (CTLs) contribute to clearance of influenza virus infections and reduce disease severity. Variation at amino acid residues located in or outside CTL epitopes has been shown to affect viral recognition by virus-specific CTLs. In the present study, we investigated the effect of naturally occurring variation at residues outside the conserved immunodominant and HLA*0201-restricted M158-66 epitope, located in the influenza virus M1 protein, on the extent of virus replication in the presence of CTLs specific for the epitope. To this end, we used isogenic viruses with an M1 gene segment derived from either an avian or a human influenza virus, HLA-transgenic human epithelial cells, human T cell clones specific for the M158-66 epitope or a control epitope, and a novel, purposely developed in vitro system to coculture influenza virus-infected cells with T cells. We found that the M gene segment of a human influenza A/H3N2 virus afforded the virus the capacity to replicate better in the presence of M158-66-specific CTLs than the M gene segment of avian viruses. These findings are in concordance with previously observed differential CTL activation, caused by variation at extra-epitopic residues, and may reflect an immune adaptation strategy of human influenza viruses that allows them to cope with potent CTL immunity to the M158-66 epitope in HLA-A*0201-positive individuals, resulting in increased virus replication and shedding and possibly increasing disease severity. IMPORTANCE Influenza viruses are among the leading causes of acute respiratory tract infections. CD8+ T lymphocytes display a high degree of cross-reactivity with influenza A viruses of various subtypes and are considered an important correlate of protection. Unraveling viral immune evasion strategies and identifying signs of immune adaptation are important for defining the role of CD8+ T lymphocytes in affording protection more accurately. Improving our insight into the interaction between influenza viruses and virus-specific CD8+ T lymphocyte immunity may help to advance our understanding of influenza virus epidemiology, aid in risk assessment of potentially pandemic influenza virus strains, and benefit the design of vaccines that induce more broadly protective immunity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Ying Cheng ◽  
Shih-Rang Yang ◽  
Ying-Ting Wang ◽  
Yu-Hsin Lin ◽  
Chi-Ju Chen

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina V. Alymova ◽  
Jonathan A. McCullers ◽  
Ram P. Kamal ◽  
Peter Vogel ◽  
Amanda M. Green ◽  
...  

mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis M. Schwartzman ◽  
Andrea L. Cathcart ◽  
Lindsey M. Pujanauski ◽  
Li Qi ◽  
John C. Kash ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTInfluenza virus infections are a global public health problem, with a significant impact of morbidity and mortality from both annual epidemics and pandemics. The current strategy for preventing annual influenza is to develop a new vaccine each year against specific circulating virus strains. Because these vaccines are unlikely to protect against an antigenically divergent strain or a new pandemic virus with a novel hemagglutinin (HA) subtype, there is a critical need for vaccines that protect against all influenza A viruses, a so-called “universal” vaccine. Here we show that mice were broadly protected against challenge with a wide variety of lethal influenza A virus infections (94% aggregate survival following vaccination) with a virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine cocktail. The vaccine consisted of a mixture of VLPs individually displaying H1, H3, H5, or H7 HAs, and vaccinated mice showed significant protection following challenge with influenza viruses expressing 1918 H1, 1957 H2, and avian H5, H6, H7, H10, and H11 hemagglutinin subtypes. These experiments suggest a promising and practical strategy for developing a broadly protective “universal” influenza vaccine.IMPORTANCEThe rapid and unpredictable nature of influenza A virus evolution requires new vaccines to be produced annually to match circulating strains. Human infections with influenza viruses derived from animals can cause outbreaks that may be associated with high mortality, and such strains may also adapt to humans to cause a future pandemic. Thus, there is a large public health need to create broadly protective, or “universal,” influenza vaccines that could prevent disease from a wide variety of human and animal influenza A viruses. In this study, a noninfectious virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine was shown to offer significant protection against a variety of influenza A viruses in mice, suggesting a practical strategy to develop a universal influenza vaccine.


2019 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fangzhao Chen ◽  
Teng Liu ◽  
Jiagui Xu ◽  
Yingna Huang ◽  
Shuwen Liu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Generally, influenza virus neuraminidase (NA) plays a critical role in the release stage of influenza virus. Recently, it has been found that NA may promote influenza virus to access the target cells. However, the mechanism remain unclear. Here, we reported that peramivir indeed possessed anti-influenza A virus (IAV) activity in the stage of viral entry. Importantly, we verified the critical residues of influenza NA involved in the viral entry. As a result, peramivir as an efficient NA inhibitor could suppress the initiation of IAV infection. Furthermore, mutational analysis showed NA might be associated with viral entry via amino acids residues R118, E119, D151, R152, W178, I222, E227, E276, R292 and R371. Our results demonstrated NA must contain the key amino acid residues can involve in IAV entry.


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