scholarly journals Distinct patterns of whole blood transcriptional responses are induced in mice following immunisation with adenoviral and poxviral vector vaccines encoding the same antigen

BMC Genomics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Sheerin ◽  
Christina Dold ◽  
Daniel O’Connor ◽  
Andrew J. Pollard ◽  
Christine S. Rollier

Abstract Background Viral vectors, including adenovirus (Ad) and modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA), have gained increasing attention as vaccine platforms in recent years due to their capacity to express antigens from a wide array of pathogens, their rapid induction of humoral and cellular protective immune responses, and their relatively low production costs. In particular, the chimpanzee Ad vector, ChAdOx1, has taken centre stage as a leading COVID-19 vaccine candidate. However, despite mounting data, both clinical and pre-clinical, demonstrating effective induction of adaptive immune responses, the innate immune signals that precede the protective responses that make these vectors attractive vaccine platforms remain poorly understood. Results In this study, a mouse immunisation model was used to evaluate whole blood gene expression changes 24 h after either a single dose or heterologous prime-boost regimen of an Ad and/or MVA vaccine. We demonstrate through comparative analysis of Ad vectors encoding different antigens that a transgene product-specific gene signature can be discerned from the vector-induced transcriptional response. Expression of genes involved in TLR2 stimulation and γδ T cell and natural killer cell activation were induced after a single dose of Ad, while MVA led to greater expression of type I interferon genes. The order of prime-boost combinations was found to influence the magnitude of the gene expression changes, with MVA/Ad eliciting greater transcriptional perturbation than Ad/MVA. Contrasting the two regimens revealed significant enrichment of epigenetic regulation pathways and augmented expression of MHC class I and II molecules associated with MVA/Ad. Conclusion These data demonstrate that the order in which vaccines from heterologous prime-boost regimens are administered leads to distinct transcriptional responses and may shape the immune response induced by such combinations. The characterisation of early vaccine-induce responses strengthens our understanding of viral vector vaccine mechanisms of action ahead of their characterisation in human clinical trials and are a valuable resource to inform the pre-clinical design of appropriate vaccine constructs for emerging infectious diseases.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Talavera-López ◽  
Yaw Bediako ◽  
Jing-wen Lin ◽  
John Joseph Valletta ◽  
Mario Recker ◽  
...  

Abstract Although the spleen is broadly accepted as the major lymphoid organ involved in generating immune responses to the erythrocytic stages of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium, human splenic tissue is not readily available in most cases. As a result, most studies of malaria in humans rely on peripheral blood to assess cellular immune responses to malaria. The suitability of peripheral blood as a proxy for splenic immune responses is however unknown. Here, we have simultaneously analysed the transcriptomes of whole blood and spleen over 12 days of erythrocytic stage Plasmodium chabaudi infection in C57BL/6 mice. Using both unsupervised and directed approaches, we compared gene expression between blood and spleen over the course of infection. Taking advantage of publicly available datasets, we used machine learning approaches to infer cell proportions and cell-specific gene expression signatures from our whole tissue transcriptome data. Our findings demonstrate that spleen and blood are quite dissimilar, sharing only a small amount of transcriptional information between them, with transcriptional differences in both cellular composition and transcriptional activity. These results suggest that while blood transcriptome data may be useful in defining surrogate markers of protection and pathology, they should not be used to predict specific immune responses occurring in lymphoid organs.


Stroke ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz G Adamski ◽  
Yan Li ◽  
Hua Yu ◽  
Erin Wagner ◽  
Sareen Amarjeet ◽  
...  

Background: Alterations in gene expression in the peripheral blood of patients with acute stroke have been demonstrated using microarray technology. Whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were used in prior studies in which panels of genes diagnostic for stroke were developed. We aimed to determine the cellular sources of alterations in gene expression by studying individual leukocyte subsets. Methods: The expression of four genes previously found to be upregulated in ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke (IL1R2, S100A9, ETS2 and F5) was measured in four leukocyte subsets: CD14+ monocytes, CD4+ T cell lymphocytes, CD20+ B cell lymphocytes and PBMCs. These four genes had been reported in at least two of the previously published stroke-related gene panels. Peripheral blood was obtained from six acute stroke patients (all <48 hours from symptom onset) and 6 age, race and sex matched control subjects. Leukocytes were separated from whole blood using density gradient centrifugation and column magnetic bead cell sorting. The purity of separated leukocyte subsets exceeded 90% and was verified with flow cytometry. Messenger RNA was isolated from each leukocyte subset and analyzed by two step RT PCR and qPCR. The expression of the four stroke-related genes was compared to the expression of a housekeeping gene (GAPDH). The relative expression of individual genes and of the 4 gene panel within cellular subsets was compared between stroke patients and control subjects. Results: Individually, IL1R2 and S100A9 were significantly over-expressed in stroke patients with a 10 fold increase for IL1R2 in PBMCs (p<0.05) and a 3 fold increase for S100A9 in the CD4+ T and CD20+ B lymphocyte subsets (p<0.05). When analyzed as a panel of four genes the expression of IL1R2, S100A9, ETS2 and F5 was significantly higher in both the CD4+ T lymphocytes (p<0.05) and CD20+ B lymphocytes (p<0.05) of stroke patients but not in the monocytes or the PBMCs. Conclusion: These results show the potential diagnostic value of selected genes from panels previously found in microarray studies in stroke patients. They also emphasize the value of panel analysis over that of single gene expression and the potential cellular specificity of alterations in gene expression. Analysis of whole blood and PBMCs alone may not reflect important dynamic changes in stroke-related gene expression.


2002 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 972-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Boldrick ◽  
A. A. Alizadeh ◽  
M. Diehn ◽  
S. Dudoit ◽  
C. L. Liu ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahashweta Basu ◽  
Kun Wang ◽  
Eytan Ruppin ◽  
Sridhar Hannenhalli

AbstractComplex diseases are systemic, largely mediated via transcriptional dysregulation in multiple tissues. Thus, knowledge of tissue-specific transcriptome in an individual can provide important information about an individual’s health. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions such as blood, skin, and muscle, an individual’s tissue-specific transcriptome is not accessible through non-invasive means. However, due to shared genetics and regulatory programs between tissues, the transcriptome in blood may be predictive of those in other tissues, at least to some extent. Here, based on GTEx data, we address this question in a rigorous, systematic manner, for the first time. We find that an individual’s whole blood gene expression and splicing profile can predict tissue-specific expression levels in a significant manner (beyond demographic variables) for many genes. On average, across 32 tissues, the expression of about 60% of the genes is predictable from blood expression in a significant manner, with a maximum of 81% of the genes for the musculoskeletal tissue. Remarkably, the tissue-specific expression inferred from the blood transcriptome is almost as good as the actual measured tissue expression in predicting disease state for six different complex disorders, including Hypertension and Type 2 diabetes, substantially surpassing predictors built directly from the blood transcriptome. The code for our pipeline for tissue-specific gene expression prediction – TEEBoT, is provided, enabling others to study its potential translational value in other indications.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea M Gunawan ◽  
Con-Ning Yen ◽  
Brian T Richert ◽  
Allan P Schinckel ◽  
Alan L Grant ◽  
...  

Abstract Feeding ractopamine (RAC), a β-adrenergic agonist (BAA), to pigs increases type IIB muscle fiber type-specific protein and mRNA expression. However, increases in the abundance of these fast-twitch fiber types occur with other forms of muscle hypertrophy and thus BAA-induced changes in myosin heavy chain (MyHC) composition may simply be associated with increased muscle growth known to occur in response to BAA feeding. The objective of this study was to determine whether RAC feeding could change the MyHC gene expression in the absence of maximal muscle growth. Pigs were fed either an adequate diet that supported maximal muscle hypertrophy or a low nutrient diet that limited muscle growth. RAC was included in diets at 0 or 20 mg/kg for 1, 2, or 4 wk. Backfat depth was less (P &lt; 0.05) in pigs fed the low nutrient diet compared with the adequate diet but was not affected by RAC. Loin eye area was greater (P &lt; 0.05) in pigs fed an adequate diet plus RAC at 1 wk but did not differ among remaining pigs. At 2 and 4 wk, however, pigs fed the adequate diet had greater loin eye areas (P &lt; 0.05) than pigs fed the low nutrient diet regardless of RAC feeding. Gene expression of the MyHC isoforms, I, IIA, IIX, and IIB, as well as glycogen synthase, citrate synthase, β 1-adrenergic receptor (AR), and β 2-AR were determined in longissimus dorsi (LD) and red (RST) and white (WST) portions of the semitendinosus muscles. MyHC type I gene expression was not altered by RAC or diet. Feeding RAC decreased (P &lt; 0.01) MyHC type IIA gene expression in all muscles, but to a greater extent in WST and LD. MyHC type IIX gene expression was lower (P &lt; 0.05) in WST and LD muscles in response to RAC but was not altered in RST muscles. RAC increased (P &lt; 0.05) MyHC type IIB gene expression in all muscles, but to a greater extent in RST. β 1-AR gene expression was unaffected by RAC or diet, whereas the expression of the β 2-AR gene was decreased (P &lt; 0.001) by RAC. No significant RAC * diet interactions were observed in gene expression in this study, indicating that RAC altered MyHC and β 2-AR gene expression in porcine skeletal muscles independent of growth.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Cole ◽  
A. Angyal ◽  
R. D. Emes ◽  
T.J. Mitchell ◽  
M.J. Dickman ◽  
...  

AbstractEpigenetic modifications regulate gene expression in the host response to a diverse range of pathogens. The extent and consequences of epigenetic modification during macrophage responses to Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the role of pneumolysin, a key Streptococcus pneumoniae virulence factor, in influencing these responses, are currently unknown. To investigate this, we infected human monocyte derived macrophages (MDMs) with Streptococcus pneumoniae and addressed whether pneumolysin altered the epigenetic landscape and the associated acute macrophage transcriptional response using a combined transcriptomic and proteomic approach. Transcriptomic analysis identified 503 genes that were differentially expressed in a pneumolysin-dependent manner in these samples. Pathway analysis highlighted the involvement of transcriptional responses to core innate responses to pneumococci including modules associated with metabolic pathways activated in response to infection, oxidative stress responses and NFκB, NOD-like receptor and TNF signalling pathways. Quantitative proteomic analysis confirmed pneumolysin-regulated protein expression, early after bacterial challenge, in representative transcriptional modules associated with innate immune responses. In parallel, quantitative mass spectrometry identified global changes in the relative abundance of histone post translational modifications (PTMs) upon pneumococcal challenge. We identified an increase in the relative abundance of H3K4me1, H4K16ac and a decrease in H3K9me2 and H3K79me2 in a PLY-dependent fashion. We confirmed that pneumolysin blunted early transcriptional responses involving TNF-α and IL-6 expression. Vorinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, similarly downregulated TNF production, reprising the pattern observed with pneumolysin. In conclusion, widespread changes in the macrophage transcriptional response are regulated by pneumolysin and are associated with global changes in histone PTMs. Modulating histone PTMs can reverse pneumolysin-associated transcriptional changes influencing innate immune responses, suggesting that epigenetic modification by pneumolysin plays a role in dampening the innate responses to pneumococci.Author summaryPneumolysin is a toxin that contributes to how Streptococcus pneumoniae, the leading cause of pneumonia, causes disease. In this study, the toxin alters gene expression in immune cells called macrophages, one of the first lines of defence against bacteria at sites of infection. Modulation involved multiple immune responses, including generation of chemical signals coordinating responses in immune cells termed cytokines. In addition, changes were observed in histone proteins that are involved in controlling gene expression in the cell. Pneumolysin reduced early production of the cytokine TNF-α and a medicine vorinostat that modifies these ‘epigenetic’ histone modifications had a similar affect, suggesting epigenetic mechanisms contribute to the ability of pneumolysin to reduce immune responses.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. S35-S35
Author(s):  
Srinivas Nallandhighal ◽  
Gregory Park ◽  
Yen-Yi Ho ◽  
Robert Opoka ◽  
Chandy John ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Plasmodium falciparum malaria can rapidly progress to severe disease that can lead to death if left untreated. Severe malaria cases commonly present as severe malarial anemia (SMA), defined in children as hemoglobin (Hb) &lt;5 g/dL with parasitemia, or as cerebral malaria (CM), which manifests as parasitemia with acute neurological deficits and has an inpatient mortality rate of ~20%. The molecular and cellular processes that lead to CM and SMA are unclear. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we compared genome-wide transcription profiles of whole blood obtained from Ugandan children with acute CM (n = 17) or SMA (n = 17) and community children without P. falciparum infection (n = 12) who were enrolled in a parent cohort study of severe malaria. We determined the relationships between gene expression, hematological indices, and plasma biomarkers, including inflammatory cytokines. Results Both CM and SMA demonstrated enrichment of dendritic cell activation, inflammatory/TLR/chemokines, monocyte, and neutrophil modules but depletion of lymphocyte modules. Neurodegenerative disease and neuroinflammation pathways were enriched in CM. Increased Nrf2 pathway gene expression corresponded with increased plasma heme oxygenase-1 and the heme catabolite bilirubin in a manner specific to children with both SMA and sickle cell disease. Reticulocyte-specific gene expression was markedly decreased in CM relative to SMA despite higher Hb levels and appropriate increases in plasma erythropoietin. Viral sensing/interferon regulatory factor (IRF) 2 module (M111) expression and plasma IP-10 levels both negatively correlated with reticulocyte-specific signatures, but only M111 expression independently predicted decreased reticulocyte-specific gene expression after controlling for leukocyte count, Hb level, parasitemia, and clinical syndrome by multiple regression. Conclusion Differences in the blood transcriptome of CM and SMA relate to neurologically relevant pathways and erythropoiesis. Erythropoietic suppression during severe malaria is more pronounced during CM versus SMA and is positively associated with IRF2 blood signatures. Future studies are needed to validate these findings. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Puccetti ◽  
Piera Filomena Fiore ◽  
Andrea Pelosi ◽  
Elisa Tinazzi ◽  
Giuseppe Patuzzo ◽  
...  

Behçet disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory multisystem disease characterized by oral and genital ulcers, uveitis, and skin lesions. Disease etiopathogenesis is still unclear. We aim to elucidate some aspects of BD pathogenesis and to identify specific gene signatures in peripheral blood cells (PBCs) of patients with active disease using novel gene expression and network analysis. 179 genes were modulated in 10 PBCs of BD patients when compared to 10 healthy donors. Among differentially expressed genes the top enriched gene function was immune response, characterized by upregulation of Th17-related genes and type I interferon- (IFN-) inducible genes. Th17 polarization was confirmed by FACS analysis. The transcriptome identified gene classes (vascular damage, blood coagulation, and inflammation) involved in the pathogenesis of the typical features of BD. Following network analysis, the resulting interactome showed 5 highly connected regions (clusters) enriched in T and B cell activation pathways and 2 clusters enriched in type I IFN, JAK/STAT, and TLR signaling pathways, all implicated in autoimmune diseases. We report here the first combined analysis of the transcriptome and interactome in PBCs of BD patients in the active stage of disease. This approach generates useful insights in disease pathogenesis and suggests an autoimmune component in the origin of BD.


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