scholarly journals Structural basis for antibody binding to adenylate cyclase toxin reveals RTX linkers as neutralization-sensitive epitopes

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (9) ◽  
pp. e1009920
Author(s):  
Jory A. Goldsmith ◽  
Andrea M. DiVenere ◽  
Jennifer A. Maynard ◽  
Jason S. McLellan

RTX leukotoxins are a diverse family of prokaryotic virulence factors that are secreted by the type 1 secretion system (T1SS) and target leukocytes to subvert host defenses. T1SS substrates all contain a C-terminal RTX domain that mediates recruitment to the T1SS and drives secretion via a Brownian ratchet mechanism. Neutralizing antibodies against the Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin, an RTX leukotoxin essential for B. pertussis colonization, have been shown to target the RTX domain and prevent binding to the αMβ2 integrin receptor. Knowledge of the mechanisms by which antibodies bind and neutralize RTX leukotoxins is required to inform structure-based design of bacterial vaccines, however, no structural data are available for antibody binding to any T1SS substrate. Here, we determine the crystal structure of an engineered RTX domain fragment containing the αMβ2-binding site bound to two neutralizing antibodies. Notably, the receptor-blocking antibodies bind to the linker regions of RTX blocks I–III, suggesting they are key neutralization-sensitive sites within the RTX domain and are likely involved in binding the αMβ2 receptor. As the engineered RTX fragment contained these key epitopes, we assessed its immunogenicity in mice and showed that it elicits similar neutralizing antibody titers to the full RTX domain. The results from these studies will support the development of bacterial vaccines targeting RTX leukotoxins, as well as next-generation B. pertussis vaccines.

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1980-1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongmei Yan ◽  
Dongyan Wang ◽  
Shuangli Zhu ◽  
Yong Zhang ◽  
Xiaolei Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background An outbreak of an imported Type 1 wild poliovirus from Pakistan occurred in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China in 2011, although the local immunity status of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) was relatively satisfied. Methods Neutralizing antibody titers against the Xinjiang strain and Sabin 1 strain were measured in 237 sera from 3 groups of fully OPV-vaccinated persons and 1 group of infants fully vaccinated with the inactive polio vaccine (IPV). Additionally, 17 sera collected from 1 Xinjiang poliomyelitis case and his 16 contacts were also tested. Genomic sequencing was conducted the Xinjiang strain. Results The antibody titers against the Xinjiang strain in each of 237 sera were significantly lower than those against the Sabin 1 strain. Notably, 40.0% of children in Group 1 were seronegative against the Xinjiang strain, which indicated that they might play an important role in wild poliovirus transmission, although their antibody titers against the Sabin 1 strain varied between 1:8 and 1:512. Meanwhile, serological results of the Xinjiang poliomyelitis case and his contacts also provided evidence that a proportion of OPV-vaccinated children had indeed been involved in the transmission chain of the Xinjiang outbreak. Genomic sequencing indicated that the Xinjiang strain was greatly distinguishable from the Sabin 1 strain in neutralizing antigenic sites. Conclusion The lack of neutralizing antibodies against the Xinjiang strain in persons vaccinated by OPV may be associated with the transmission of Type 1 wild poliovirus in Xinjiang. Using Salk IPV along with OPV might be considered in a wild poliovirus outbreak response, especially in the countries which continued to have persistent wild poliovirus circulation.


Pathogens ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 500
Author(s):  
Yoshikazu Honda-Okubo ◽  
Jeremy Baldwin ◽  
Nikolai Petrovsky

Global immunization campaigns have resulted in a major decline in the global incidence of polio cases, with wild-type poliovirus remaining endemic in only two countries. Live oral polio vaccine (OPV) played a role in the reduction in polio case numbers; however, the risk of OPV developing into circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus makes it unsuitable for eradication programs. Trivalent inactivated polio virus (TIPV) vaccines which contain formalin-inactivated antigens produced from virulent types 1, 2 and 3 reference polio strains grown in Vero monkey kidney cells have been advocated as a replacement for OPV; however, TIPVs have weak immunogenicity and multiple boosts are required before peak neutralizing titers are reached. This study examined whether the incorporation of the novel polysaccharide adjuvant, Advax-CpG, could boost the immunogenicity of two TIPV vaccines, (i) a commercially available polio vaccine (IPOL®, Sanofi Pasteur) and (ii) a new TIPV formulation developed by Statens Serum Institut (SSI). Mice were immunized intramuscularly based on recommended vaccine dosage schedules and serum antibody titers were followed for 12 months post-immunization. Advax-CpG significantly enhanced the long-term immunogenicity of both TIPV vaccines and had at least a 10-fold antigen dose-sparing effect. An exception was the poor ability of the SSI TIPV to induce serotype type 1 neutralizing antibodies. Immunization with monovalent IPVs suggested that the low type 1 response to TIPV may be due to antigen competition when the type 1 antigen was co-formulated with the type 2 and 3 antigens. This study provides valuable insights into the complexity of the formulation of multivalent polio vaccines and supports the further development of adjuvanted antigen-sparing TIPV vaccines in the fight to eradicate polio.


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 284
Author(s):  
Hulda R. Jonsdottir ◽  
Michel Bielecki ◽  
Denise Siegrist ◽  
Thomas W. Buehrer ◽  
Roland Züst ◽  
...  

Neutralizing antibodies are an important part of the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2. It is currently unclear to what extent such antibodies are produced after non-severe disease or asymptomatic infection. We studied a cluster of SARS-CoV-2 infections among a homogeneous population of 332 predominantly male Swiss soldiers and determined the neutralizing antibody response with a serum neutralization assay using a recombinant SARS-CoV-2-GFP. All patients with non-severe COVID-19 showed a swift humoral response within two weeks after the onset of symptoms, which remained stable for the duration of the study. One month after the outbreak, titers in COVID-19 convalescents did not differ from the titers of asymptomatically infected individuals. Furthermore, symptoms of COVID-19 did not correlate with neutralizing antibody titers. Therefore, we conclude that asymptomatic infection can induce the same humoral immunity as non-severe COVID-19 in young adults.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noa Eliakim Raz ◽  
Amos Stemmer ◽  
Yaara Leibovici-Weissman ◽  
Asaf Ness ◽  
Muhammad Awwad ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Age and frailty are strong predictors of COVID-19 mortality. After the second BNT162b2 dose, immunity wanes faster in older (≥65 years) versus younger adults. The durability of response after the third vaccine is unclear. METHODS This prospective cohort study included healthcare workers/family members ≥60 years who received a third BNT162b2 dose. Blood samples were drawn immediately before (T0), 10-19 (T1), and 74-103 (T2) days after the third dose. Antispike IgG titers were determined using a commercial assay, seropositivity was defined as ≥50 AU/mL. Neutralizing antibody titers were determined at T2. Adverse events, COVID-19 infections, and clinical frailty scale (CFS) levels were documented. RESULTS The analysis included 97 participants (median age, 70 years [IQR, 66-74], 61% women, 58% CFS level 2). IgG titers, which increased significantly from T0 to T1 (medians, 440 AU/mL [IQR, 294-923] and 25,429 [14,203-36,114] AU/mL, respectively; P<0.001), decreased significantly by T2, but all remained seropositive (median, 8,306 AU/mL [IQR, 4595-14,701], P<0.001 vs T1). In a multivariable analysis, only time from the first vaccine was significantly associated with lower IgG levels at T2 (P=0.004). At T2, 60 patients were evaluated for neutralizing antibodies; all were seropositive (median, 1,294 antibody titer [IQR, 848-2,072]). Neutralizing antibody and antispike IgG levels were correlated (R=0.6, P<0.001). No major adverse events or COVID-19 infections were reported. CONCLUSIONS Antispike IgG and neutralizing antibodies levels remain adequate 3 months after the third BNT162b2 vaccine in healthy adults ≥60 years, although the decline in IgG is concerning. A third vaccine dose in this population should be top priority.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-An Kung ◽  
Chung-Guei Huang ◽  
Sheng-Yu Huang ◽  
Kuan-Ting Liu ◽  
Peng-Nien Huang ◽  
...  

The World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted the importance of an international standard (IS) for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody titer detection, with the aim of calibrating different diagnostic techniques. In this study, IS was applied to calibrate neutralizing antibody titers (IU/mL) and binding antibody titers (BAU/mL) in response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. Serum samples were collected from participants receiving the Moderna (n = 20) and Pfizer (n = 20) vaccines at three time points: pre-vaccination, after one dose, and after two doses. We obtained geometric mean titers of 1404.16 and 928.75 IU/mL for neutralizing antibodies after two doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, respectively. These values provide an important baseline for vaccine development and the implementation of non-inferiority trials. We also compared three commercially available kits from Roche, Abbott, and MeDiPro for the detection of COVID-19 antibodies based on binding affinity to S1 and/or RBD. Our results demonstrated that antibody titers measured by commercial assays are highly correlated with neutralizing antibody titers calibrated by IS.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth E. McCarthy ◽  
Pamela M. Odorizzi ◽  
Emma Lutz ◽  
Carolyn P. Smullin ◽  
Iliana Tenvooren ◽  
...  

Although the formation of a durable neutralizing antibody response after an acute viral infection is a key component of protective immunity, little is known about why some individuals generate high versus low neutralizing antibody titers to infection or vaccination. Infection with Zika virus (ZIKV) during pregnancy can cause devastating fetal outcomes, and efforts to understand natural immunity to this infection are essential for optimizing vaccine design. In this study, we leveraged the high-dimensional single-cell profiling capacity of mass cytometry (CyTOF) to deeply characterize the cellular immune response to acute and convalescent ZIKV infection in a cohort of blood donors in Puerto Rico incidentally found to be viremic during the 2015-2016 epidemic in the Americas. During acute ZIKV infection, we identified widely coordinated responses across innate and adaptive immune cell lineages. High frequencies of multiple activated innate immune subsets, as well as activated follicular helper CD4+ T cells and proliferating CD27-IgD- B cells, during acute infection were associated with high titers of ZIKV neutralizing antibodies at 6 months post-infection. On the other hand, low titers of ZIKV neutralizing antibodies were associated with immune features that suggested a cytotoxic-skewed immune "set-point." Our study offers insight into the cellular coordination of immune responses and identifies candidate cellular biomarkers that may offer predictive value in vaccine efficacy trials for ZIKV and other acute viral infections aimed at inducing high titers of neutralizing antibodies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amani A. Saleh ◽  
Mohamed A. Saad ◽  
Islam Ryan ◽  
Magdy Amin ◽  
Mohamed I. Shindy ◽  
...  

AbstractThe current worldwide pandemic COVID-19 is causing severe human health problems, with high numbers of mortality rates and huge economic burdens that require an urgent demand for safe, and effective and vaccine development. Our study was the first trail to development and evaluation of safety and immune response to inactivated whole SARS-COV-2 virus vaccine adjuvanted with aluminium hydroxide. We used characterized SARS-COV-2 strain, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 isolates (SARS-CoV-2/human/EGY/Egy-SERVAC/2020) with accession numbers; MT981440; MT981439; MT981441; MT974071; MT974069 and MW250352 at GenBank that isolated from Egyptian patients SARS-CoV-2-positive. Development of the vaccine was carried out in a BSL - 3 facilities and the immunogenicity was determined in mice at two doses (55µg and 100µg per dose). All vaccinated mice were received a booster dose 14 days post first immunization. Our results demonstrated distinct cytopathic effect on the vero cell monolayers induced through SARS-COV-2 propagation and the viral particles were identified as Coronaviridae by transmission electron microscopy. SARS-CoV-2 was identified by RT-PCR performed on the cell culture. Immunogenicity of the developed vaccine indicated the high antigen-binding and neutralizing antibody titers, regardless the dose concentration, with excellent safety profiles.However, no deaths or clinical symptoms in mice groups. The efficacy of the inactivated vaccine formulation was tested by wild virus challenge the vaccinated mice and detection of viral replication in lung tissues. Vaccinated mice recorded complete protection from challenge infection three weeks post second dose. SARS-COV-2 replication was not observed in the lungs of mice following SARS-CoV-2 challenge, regardless of the level of serum neutralizing antibodies. This finding will support the future trials for evaluation an applicable SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate.


2007 ◽  
Vol 81 (12) ◽  
pp. 6187-6196 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Gray ◽  
P. L. Moore ◽  
I. A. Choge ◽  
J. M. Decker ◽  
F. Bibollet-Ruche ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The study of the evolution and specificities of neutralizing antibodies during the course of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection may be important in the discovery of possible targets for vaccine design. In this study, we assessed the autologous and heterologous neutralization responses of 14 HIV-1 subtype C-infected individuals, using envelope clones obtained within the first 2 months postinfection. Our data show that potent but relatively strain-specific neutralizing antibodies develop within 3 to 12 months of HIV-1 infection. The magnitude of this response was associated with shorter V1-to-V5 envelope lengths and fewer glycosylation sites, particularly in the V1-V2 region. Anti-MPER antibodies were detected in 4 of 14 individuals within a year of infection, while antibodies to CD4-induced (CD4i) epitopes developed to high titers in 12 participants, in most cases before the development of autologous neutralizing antibodies. However, neither anti-MPER nor anti-CD4i antibody specificity conferred neutralization breadth. These data provide insights into the kinetics, potency, breadth, and epitope specificity of neutralizing antibody responses in acute HIV-1 subtype C infection.


2005 ◽  
Vol 79 (23) ◽  
pp. 14804-14814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Hammonds ◽  
Xuemin Chen ◽  
Timothy Fouts ◽  
Anthony DeVico ◽  
David Montefiori ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A major challenge for the development of an effective HIV vaccine is to elicit neutralizing antibodies against a broad array of primary isolates. Monomeric gp120-based vaccine approaches have not been successful in inducing this type of response, prompting a number of approaches designed to recreate the native glycoprotein complex that exists on the viral membrane. Gag-Env pseudovirions are noninfectious viruslike particles that recreate the native envelope glycoprotein structure and have the potential to generate neutralizing antibody responses against primary isolates. In this study, an inducible cell line was created in order to generate Gag-Env pseudovirions for examination of neutralizing antibody responses in guinea pigs. Unadjuvanted pseudovirions generated relatively weak anti-gp120 responses, while the use of a block copolymer water-in-oil emulsion or aluminum hydroxide combined with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides resulted in high levels of antibodies that bind to gp120. Sera from immunized animals neutralized a panel of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 primary isolate viruses at titers that were significantly higher than that of the corresponding monomeric gp120 protein. Interpretation of these results was complicated by the occurrence of neutralizing antibodies directed against cellular (non-envelope protein) components of the pseudovirion. However, a major component of the pseudovirion-elicited antibody response was directed specifically against the HIV envelope. These results provide support for the role of pseudovirion-based vaccines in generating neutralizing antibodies against primary isolates of HIV and highlight the potential confounding role of antibodies directed at non-envelope cell surface components.


2007 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 638-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Li ◽  
Bradley Cleveland ◽  
Igor Klots ◽  
Bruce Travis ◽  
Barbra A. Richardson ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Glycans on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope protein play an important role in infection and evasion from host immune responses. To examine the role of specific glycans, we introduced single or multiple mutations into potential N-linked glycosylation sites in hypervariable regions (V1 to V3) of the env gene of HIV type 1 (HIV-1) 89.6. Three mutants tested showed enhanced sensitivity to soluble CD4. Mutant N7 (N197Q) in the carboxy-terminal stem of the V2 loop showed the most pronounced increase in sensitivity to broadly neutralizing antibodies (NtAbs), including those targeting the CD4-binding site (IgG1b12) and the V3 loop (447-52D). This mutant is also sensitive to CD4-induced NtAb 17b in the absence of CD4. Unlike the wild-type (WT) Env, mutant N7 mediates CD4-independent infection in U87-CXCR4 cells. To study the immunogenicity of mutant Env, we immunized pig-tailed macaques with recombinant vaccinia viruses, one expressing SIVmac239 Gag-Pol and the other expressing HIV-1 89.6 Env gp160 in WT or mutant forms. Animals were boosted 14 to 16 months later with simian immunodeficiency virus gag DNA and the cognate gp140 protein before intrarectal challenge with SHIV89.6P-MN. Day-of-challenge sera from animals immunized with mutant N7 Env had significantly higher and broader neutralizing activities than sera from WT Env-immunized animals. Neutralizing activity was observed against SHIV89.6, SHIV89.6P-MN, HIV-1 SF162, and a panel of subtype B primary isolates. Compared to control animals, immunized animals showed significant reduction of plasma viral load and increased survival after challenge, which correlated with prechallenge NtAb titers. These results indicate the potential advantages for glycan modification in vaccine design, although the role of specific glycans requires further examination.


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