The Impact Of Viral Evolution And Frequency Of Variant Epitopes On Primary And Memory Hiv-1-Specific Cd8+ T Cell Responses

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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HIV-1-Specific CD8+T Cell Responses and Viral Evolution in Women and Infants

The Journal of Immunology ◽

10.4049/jimmunol.175.10.6976 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 175 (10) ◽

pp. 6976-6986 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Victor Sanchez-Merino ◽

Siwei Nie ◽

Katherine Luzuriaga

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Viral Evolution ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Hiv 1

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Polyfunctional CD8+ T-Cell Response to Autologous Peptides from Protease and Reverse Transcriptase of HIV-1 Clade B

Current HIV Research ◽

10.2174/1570162x17666191017105910 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 350-359

Author(s):

Liliana Acevedo-Saenz ◽

Federico Perdomo-Celis ◽

Carlos J. Montoya ◽

Paula A. Velilla

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Reverse Transcriptase ◽

Cellular Response ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

T Cell Response ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Clade B ◽

Hiv 1

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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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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Magnitude and Complexity of Rectal Mucosa HIV-1-Specific CD8+ T-Cell Responses during Chronic Infection Reflect Clinical Status

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0003577 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 3 (10) ◽

pp. e3577 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

J. William Critchfield ◽

Delandy H. Young ◽

Timothy L. Hayes ◽

Jerome V. Braun ◽

Juan C. Garcia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Chronic Infection ◽

Clinical Status ◽

Rectal Mucosa ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Hiv 1

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Immunodominance of HIV-1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses in acute HIV-1 infection: at the crossroads of viral and host genetics

Trends in Immunology ◽

10.1016/j.it.2005.01.003 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 166-171 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Mathias Lichterfeld ◽

Xu G. Yu ◽

Sylvie Le Gall ◽

Marcus Altfeld

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

Host Genetics ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Acute Hiv ◽

Hiv 1

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Potent HIV-1-Specific CD8 T Cell Responses Induced in Mice after Priming with a Multiepitopic DNA-TMEP and Boosting with the HIV Vaccine MVA-B

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v10080424 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 424 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Beatriz Perdiguero ◽

Suresh C. Raman ◽

Cristina Sánchez-Corzo ◽

Carlos Oscar S. Sorzano ◽

José Ramón Valverde ◽

...

Keyword(s):

T Cell ◽

Immune Responses ◽

T Cell Responses ◽

Cd8 T Cell ◽

T Cell Response ◽

Effective Vaccine ◽

T Cell Epitopes ◽

Cell Responses ◽

Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara ◽

Hiv 1

An effective vaccine against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) still remains the best solution to provide a sustainable control and/or eradication of the virus. We have previously generated the HIV-1 vaccine modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA)-B, which exhibited good immunogenicity profile in phase I prophylactic and therapeutic clinical trials, but was unable to prevent viral rebound after antiretroviral (ART) removal. To potentiate the immunogenicity of MVA-B, here we described the design and immune responses elicited in mice by a new T cell multi-epitopic B (TMEP-B) immunogen, vectored by DNA, when administered in homologous or heterologous prime/boost regimens in combination with MVA-B. The TMEP-B protein contained conserved regions from Gag, Pol, and Nef proteins including multiple CD4 and CD8 T cell epitopes functionally associated with HIV control. Heterologous DNA-TMEP/MVA-B regimen induced higher HIV-1-specific CD8 T cell responses with broader epitope recognition and higher polyfunctional profile than the homologous DNA-TMEP/DNA-TMEP or the heterologous DNA-GPN/MVA-B combinations. Moreover, higher HIV-1-specific CD4 and Tfh immune responses were also detected using this regimen. After MVA-B boost, the magnitude of the anti-VACV CD8 T cell response was significantly compromised in DNA-TMEP-primed animals. Our results revealed the immunological potential of DNA-TMEP prime/MVA-B boost regimen and supported the application of these combined vectors in HIV-1 prevention and/or therapy.

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