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Roy P, Suthahar SSA, Makings J, Ley K. Identification of apolipoprotein B-reactive CDR3 motifs allows tracking of atherosclerosis-related memory CD4 +T cells in multiple donors. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1302031. [PMID: 38571941 PMCID: PMC10988780 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1302031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Atherosclerosis is a major pathological condition that underlies many cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Its etiology involves breach of tolerance to self, leading to clonal expansion of autoreactive apolipoprotein B (APOB)-reactive CD4+T cells that correlates with clinical CVD. The T-cell receptor (TCR) sequences that mediate activation of APOB-specific CD4+T cells are unknown. Methods In a previous study, we had profiled the hypervariable complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) of CD4+T cells that respond to six immunodominant APOB epitopes in most donors. Here, we comprehensively analyze this dataset of 149,065 APOB-reactive and 199,211 non-reactive control CDR3s from six human leukocyte antigen-typed donors. Results We identified 672 highly expanded (frequency threshold > 1.39E-03) clones that were significantly enriched in the APOB-reactive group as compared to the controls (log10 odds ratio ≥1, Fisher's test p < 0.01). Analysis of 114,755 naïve, 91,001 central memory (TCM) and 29,839 effector memory (TEM) CDR3 sequences from the same donors revealed that APOB+ clones can be traced to the complex repertoire of unenriched blood T cells. The fraction of APOB+ clones that overlapped with memory CDR3s ranged from 2.2% to 46% (average 16.4%). This was significantly higher than their overlap with the naïve pool, which ranged from 0.7% to 2% (average 1.36%). CDR3 motif analysis with the machine learning-based in-silico tool, GLIPHs (grouping of lymphocyte interactions by paratope hotspots), identified 532 APOB+ motifs. Analysis of naïve and memory CDR3 sequences with GLIPH revealed that ~40% (209 of 532) of these APOB+ motifs were enriched in the memory pool. Network analysis with Cytoscape revealed extensive sharing of the memory-affiliated APOB+ motifs across multiple donors. We identified six motifs that were present in TCM and TEM CDR3 sequences from >80% of the donors and were highly enriched in the APOB-reactive TCR repertoire. Discussion The identified APOB-reactive expanded CD4+T cell clones and conserved motifs can be used to annotate and track human atherosclerosis-related autoreactive CD4+T cells and measure their clonal expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Payel Roy
- Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Immunology Center of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
| | | | - Jeffrey Makings
- Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Klaus Ley
- Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Immunology Center of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, United States
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2
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Yang Y, Wei Z, Cia G, Song X, Pucci F, Rooman M, Xue F, Hou Q. MHCII-peptide presentation: an assessment of the state-of-the-art prediction methods. Front Immunol 2024; 15:1293706. [PMID: 38646540 PMCID: PMC11027168 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1293706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex Class II (MHCII) proteins initiate and regulate immune responses by presentation of antigenic peptides to CD4+ T-cells and self-restriction. The interactions between MHCII and peptides determine the specificity of the immune response and are crucial in immunotherapy and cancer vaccine design. With the ever-increasing amount of MHCII-peptide binding data available, many computational approaches have been developed for MHCII-peptide interaction prediction over the last decade. There is thus an urgent need to provide an up-to-date overview and assessment of these newly developed computational methods. To benchmark the prediction performance of these methods, we constructed an independent dataset containing binding and non-binding peptides to 20 human MHCII protein allotypes from the Immune Epitope Database, covering DP, DR and DQ alleles. After collecting 11 known predictors up to January 2022, we evaluated those available through a webserver or standalone packages on this independent dataset. The benchmarking results show that MixMHC2pred and NetMHCIIpan-4.1 achieve the best performance among all predictors. In general, newly developed methods perform better than older ones due to the rapid expansion of data on which they are trained and the development of deep learning algorithms. Our manuscript not only draws a full picture of the state-of-art of MHCII-peptide binding prediction, but also guides researchers in the choice among the different predictors. More importantly, it will inspire biomedical researchers in both academia and industry for the future developments in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaqing Yang
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- National Institute of Health Data Science of China, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Zhonghui Wei
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- National Institute of Health Data Science of China, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Gabriel Cia
- Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Xixi Song
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- National Institute of Health Data Science of China, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Fabrizio Pucci
- Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marianne Rooman
- Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium
- Interuniversity Institute of Bioinformatics in Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Fuzhong Xue
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- National Institute of Health Data Science of China, Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Qingzhen Hou
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, China
- National Institute of Health Data Science of China, Shandong University, Jinan, China
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Gibadullin R, Morris RK, Niu J, Sidney J, Sette A, Gellman SH. Thioamide Analogues of MHC I Antigen Peptides. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:25559-25569. [PMID: 37968794 PMCID: PMC10782604 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c05300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Short, synthetic peptides that are displayed by major histocompatibility complex I (MHC I) can stimulate CD8 T cells in vivo to destroy virus-infected or cancer cells. The development of such peptides as vaccines that provide protective immunity, however, is limited by rapid proteolytic degradation. Introduction of unnatural amino acid residues can suppress MHC I antigen proteolysis, but the modified peptides typically display lower affinity for MHC I and/or diminished ability to activate CD8 T cells relative to native antigen. Here, we report a new strategy for modifying MHC I antigens to enhance resistance to proteolysis while preserving MHC I affinity and T cell activation properties. This approach, replacing backbone amide groups with thioamides, was evaluated in two well-characterized antigens presented by HLA-A2, a common human MHC I. For each antigen, singly modified thioamide analogues retained affinity for HLA-A2 and activated T cells specific for the native antigen, as measured via interferon-γ secretion. In each system, we identified a highly potent triply substituted thioamide antigen ("thio-antigen") that displayed substantial resistance to proteolytic cleavage. Collectively, our results suggest that thio-antigens may represent a general and readily accessible source of potent vaccine candidates that resist degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruslan Gibadullin
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
- Present address: Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Rylie K. Morris
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Jiani Niu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California 92037, United States
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, California 92093, United States
| | - Samuel H. Gellman
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin, 1101 University Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
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Jaton F. Groundwork for AI: Enforcing a benchmark for neoantigen prediction in personalized cancer immunotherapy. SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE 2023; 53:787-810. [PMID: 37650579 PMCID: PMC10543129 DOI: 10.1177/03063127231192857] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
This article expands on recent studies of machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that crucially depend on benchmark datasets, often called 'ground truths.' These ground-truth datasets gather input-data and output-targets, thereby establishing what can be retrieved computationally and evaluated statistically. I explore the case of the Tumor nEoantigen SeLection Alliance (TESLA), a consortium-based ground-truthing project in personalized cancer immunotherapy, where the 'truth' of the targets-immunogenic neoantigens-to be retrieved by the would-be AI algorithms depended on a broad technoscientific network whose setting up implied important organizational and material infrastructures. The study shows that instead of grounding an undisputable 'truth', the TESLA endeavor ended up establishing a contestable reference, the biology of neoantigens and how to measure their immunogenicity having slightly evolved alongside this four-year project. However, even if this controversy played down the scope of the TESLA ground truth, it did not discredit the whole undertaking. The magnitude of the technoscientific efforts that the TESLA project set into motion and the needs it ultimately succeeded in filling for the scientific and industrial community counterbalanced its metrological uncertainties, effectively instituting its contestable representation of 'true' neoantigens within the field of personalized cancer immunotherapy (at least temporarily). More generally, this case study indicates that the enforcement of ground truths, and what it leaves out, is a necessary condition to enable AI technologies in personalized medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Jaton
- Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland
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Witney MJ, Tscharke DC. BMX-A and BMX-S: Accessible cell-free methods to estimate peptide-MHC-I affinity and stability. Mol Immunol 2023; 161:1-10. [PMID: 37478775 DOI: 10.1016/j.molimm.2023.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
The affinity and stability of peptide binding to Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I (MHC-I) molecules are fundamental parameters that underpin the specificity and magnitude of CD8+ T cell responses. These parameters can be estimated in some cases by computational tools, but experimental validation remains valuable, especially for stability. Methods to measure peptide binding can be broadly categorised into either cell-based assays using TAP-deficient cell lines such as RMA/S, or cell-free strategies, such as peptide competition-binding assays and surface plasmon resonance. Cell-based assays are subject to confounding biological activity, including peptide trimming by peptidases and dilution of peptide-loaded MHC-I on the surface of cells through cell division. Current cell-free methods require in-house production and purification of MHC-I. In this study, we present the development of new cell-free assays to estimate the relative affinity and dissociation kinetics of peptide binding to MHC-I. These assays, which we have called BMX-A (relative affinity) and BMX-S (kinetic stability), are reliable, scalable and accessible, in that they use off-the-shelf commercial reagents and standard flow cytometry techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J Witney
- John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - David C Tscharke
- John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
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Sagan SA, Moinfar Z, Moseley CE, Dandekar R, Spencer CM, Verkman AS, Ottersen OP, Sobel RA, Sidney J, Sette A, Anderson MS, Steinman L, Wilson MR, Sabatino JJ, Zamvil SS. T cell deletional tolerance restricts AQP4 but not MOG CNS autoimmunity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2306572120. [PMID: 37463205 PMCID: PMC10372680 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2306572120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Aquaporin-4 (AQP4)-specific Th17 cells are thought to have a central role in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) pathogenesis. When modeling NMO, only AQP4-reactive Th17 cells from AQP4-deficient (AQP4-/-), but not wild-type (WT) mice, caused CNS autoimmunity in recipient WT mice, indicating that a tightly regulated mechanism normally ensures tolerance to AQP4. Here, we found that pathogenic AQP4 T cell epitopes bind MHC II with exceptionally high affinity. Examination of T cell receptor (TCR) α/β usage revealed that AQP4-specific T cells from AQP4-/- mice employed a distinct TCR repertoire and exhibited clonal expansion. Selective thymic AQP4 deficiency did not fully restore AQP4-reactive T cells, demonstrating that thymic negative selection alone did not account for AQP4-specific tolerance in WT mice. Indeed, AQP4-specific Th17 cells caused paralysis in recipient WT or B cell-deficient mice, which was followed by complete recovery that was associated with apoptosis of donor T cells. However, donor AQP4-reactive T cells survived and caused persistent paralysis in recipient mice deficient in both T and B cells or mice lacking T cells only. Thus, AQP4 CNS autoimmunity was limited by T cell-dependent deletion of AQP4-reactive T cells. In contrast, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-specific T cells survived and caused sustained disease in WT mice. These findings underscore the importance of peripheral T cell deletional tolerance to AQP4, which may be relevant to understanding the balance of AQP4-reactive T cells in health and in NMO. T cell tolerance to AQP4, expressed in multiple tissues, is distinct from tolerance to MOG, an autoantigen restricted in its expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sharon A Sagan
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Program in Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Zahra Moinfar
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Program in Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Carson E Moseley
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Program in Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Ravi Dandekar
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Collin M Spencer
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Program in Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Alan S Verkman
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Ole Petter Ottersen
- Division of Anatomy, Department of Molecular Medicine, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo NO-0316, Norway
| | - Raymond A Sobel
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto VA Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA 94305
| | - John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
| | - Mark S Anderson
- Program in Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Diabetes Center, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Lawrence Steinman
- Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
| | - Michael R Wilson
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Joseph J Sabatino
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Scott S Zamvil
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Program in Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143
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7
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Westphal T, Mader M, Karsten H, Cords L, Knapp M, Schulte S, Hermanussen L, Peine S, Ditt V, Grifoni A, Addo MM, Huber S, Sette A, Lütgehetmann M, Pischke S, Kwok WW, Sidney J, Schulze zur Wiesch J. Evidence for broad cross-reactivity of the SARS-CoV-2 NSP12-directed CD4 + T-cell response with pre-primed responses directed against common cold coronaviruses. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1182504. [PMID: 37215095 PMCID: PMC10196118 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1182504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction The nonstructural protein 12 (NSP12) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has a high sequence identity with common cold coronaviruses (CCC). Methods Here, we comprehensively assessed the breadth and specificity of the NSP12-specific T-cell response after in vitro T-cell expansion with 185 overlapping 15-mer peptides covering the entire SARS-CoV-2 NSP12 at single-peptide resolution in a cohort of 27 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Samples of nine uninfected seronegative individuals, as well as five pre-pandemic controls, were also examined to assess potential cross-reactivity with CCCs. Results Surprisingly, there was a comparable breadth of individual NSP12 peptide-specific CD4+ T-cell responses between COVID-19 patients (mean: 12.82 responses; range: 0-25) and seronegative controls including pre-pandemic samples (mean: 12.71 responses; range: 0-21). However, the NSP12-specific T-cell responses detected in acute COVID-19 patients were on average of a higher magnitude. The most frequently detected CD4+ T-cell peptide specificities in COVID-19 patients were aa236-250 (37%) and aa246-260 (44%), whereas the peptide specificities aa686-700 (50%) and aa741-755 (36%), were the most frequently detected in seronegative controls. In CCC-specific peptide-expanded T-cell cultures of seronegative individuals, the corresponding SARS-CoV-2 NSP12 peptide specificities also elicited responses in vitro. However, the NSP12 peptide-specific CD4+ T-cell response repertoire only partially overlapped in patients analyzed longitudinally before and after a SARS-CoV-2 infection. Discussion The results of the current study indicate the presence of pre-primed, cross-reactive CCC-specific T-cell responses targeting conserved regions of SARS-CoV-2, but they also underline the complexity of the analysis and the limited understanding of the role of the SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell response and cross-reactivity with the CCCs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim Westphal
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maria Mader
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Hendrik Karsten
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Leon Cords
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Knapp
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sophia Schulte
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lennart Hermanussen
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sven Peine
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Vanessa Ditt
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alba Grifoni
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Marylyn Martina Addo
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
- Department for Clinical Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Infection Research and Vaccine Development, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Samuel Huber
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Marc Lütgehetmann
- German Center for Infection Research Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
- Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sven Pischke
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
| | - William W. Kwok
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Julian Schulze zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit I, Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
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Chan YW, Tan CH, Heh CH, Tan KY. An immunoinformatic approach to assessing the immunogenic capacity of alpha-neurotoxins in elapid snake venoms. Front Pharmacol 2023; 14:1143437. [PMID: 37153801 PMCID: PMC10155835 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1143437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Most elapid snakes produce venoms that contain alpha-neurotoxins (α-NTXs), which are proteins that cause post-synaptic blockade and paralysis in snakebite envenoming. However, existing elapid antivenoms are known for their low potency in neutralizing the neurotoxic activity of α-NTXs, while the immunological basis has not been elucidated. Methods: In this study, a structure-based major histocompatibility complex II (MHCII) epitope predictor of horse (Equus caballus), complemented with DM-editing determinant screening algorithm was adopted to assess the immunogenicity of α-NTXs in the venoms of major Asiatic elapids (Naja kaouthia, Ophiophagus hannah, Laticauda colubrina, Hydrophis schistosus, Hydrophis curtus). Results: The scoring metric M2R, representing the relative immunogenic performance of respective α-NTXs, showed all α-NTXs have an overall low M2R of <0.3, and most of the predicted binders feature non-optimal P1 anchor residues. The M2R scores correlate strongly (R2 = 0.82) with the potency scores (p-score) generated based on the relative abundances of α-NTXs and the neutralization potency of commercial antivenoms. Discussion: The immunoinformatic analysis indicates that the inferior antigenicity of α-NTXs is not only due to their small molecular size but also the subpar immunogenicity affected by their amino acid composition. Structural modification with conjugation and synthetic epitope as immunogen may potentially enhance the immunogenicity for improved antivenom potency against α-NTXs of elapid snakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Wei Chan
- Protein and Interactomics Laboratory, Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Choo Hock Tan
- Venom Research and Toxicology Laboratory, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Choon Han Heh
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Kae Yi Tan
- Protein and Interactomics Laboratory, Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- *Correspondence: Kae Yi Tan,
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Epitope-Evaluator: An interactive web application to study predicted T-cell epitopes. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0273577. [PMID: 36018887 PMCID: PMC9417011 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0273577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Multiple immunoinformatic tools have been developed to predict T-cell epitopes from protein amino acid sequences for different major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles. These prediction tools output hundreds of potential peptide candidates which require further processing; however, these tools are either not graphical or not friendly for non-programming users. We present Epitope-Evaluator, a web tool developed in the Shiny/R framework to interactively analyze predicted T-cell epitopes. Epitope-Evaluator contains six tools providing the distribution of epitopes across a selected set of MHC alleles, the promiscuity and conservation of epitopes, and their density and location within antigens. Epitope-Evaluator requires as input the fasta file of protein sequences and the output prediction file coming out from any predictor. By choosing different cutoffs and parameters, users can produce several interactive plots and tables that can be downloaded as JPG and text files, respectively. Using Epitope-Evaluator, we found the HLA-B*40, HLA-B*27:05 and HLA-B*07:02 recognized fewer epitopes from the SARS-CoV-2 proteome than other MHC Class I alleles. We also identified shared epitopes between Delta, Omicron, and Wuhan Spike variants as well as variant-specific epitopes. In summary, Epitope-Evaluator removes the programming barrier and provides intuitive tools, allowing a straightforward interpretation and graphical representations that facilitate the selection of candidate epitopes for experimental evaluation. The web server Epitope-Evaluator is available at https://fuxmanlab.shinyapps.io/Epitope-Evaluator/.
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Karsten H, Cords L, Westphal T, Knapp M, Brehm TT, Hermanussen L, Omansen TF, Schmiedel S, Woost R, Ditt V, Peine S, Lütgehetmann M, Huber S, Ackermann C, Wittner M, Addo MM, Sette A, Sidney J, Schulze Zur Wiesch J. High-resolution analysis of individual spike peptide-specific CD4 + T-cell responses in vaccine recipients and COVID-19 patients. Clin Transl Immunology 2022; 11:e1410. [PMID: 35957961 PMCID: PMC9363231 DOI: 10.1002/cti2.1410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Potential differences in the breadth, distribution and magnitude of CD4+ T‐cell responses directed against the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein between vaccinees, COVID‐19 patients and subjects who experienced both ways of immunisation have not been comprehensively compared on a peptide level. Methods Following virus‐specific in vitro cultivation, we determined the T‐cell responses directed against 253 individual overlapping 15‐mer peptides covering the entire SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein using IFN‐γ ELISpot and intracellular cytokine staining. In vitro HLA binding was determined for selected peptides. Results We mapped 955 single peptide‐specific CD4+ T‐cell responses in a cohort of COVID‐19 patients (n = 8), uninfected vaccinees (n = 16) and individuals who experienced both infection and vaccination (n = 11). Patients and vaccinees (two‐time and three‐time vaccinees alike) had a comparable number of CD4+ T‐cell responses (median 26 vs. 29, P = 0.7289). Most of these specificities were conserved in B.1.1.529 and the BA.4 and BA.5 sublineages. The highest magnitude of these in vitro IFN‐γ CD4+ T‐cell responses was observed in COVID‐19 patients (median 0.35%), and three‐time vaccinees showed a higher magnitude than two‐time vaccinees (median 0.091% vs. 0.175%, P < 0.0001). Twelve peptide specificities were each detected in at least 40% of subjects. In vitro HLA binding showed promiscuous presentation by DRB1 molecules for several peptides. Conclusion Both SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and vaccination prime broadly directed T‐cell responses directed against the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein. This comprehensive high‐resolution analysis of spike peptide specificities will be a useful resource for further investigation of spike‐specific T‐cell responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hendrik Karsten
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Leon Cords
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Tim Westphal
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
| | - Maximilian Knapp
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Thomas Theo Brehm
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
| | - Lennart Hermanussen
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Till Frederik Omansen
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,Department of Tropical Medicine Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg Germany
| | - Stefan Schmiedel
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Robin Woost
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Vanessa Ditt
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Sven Peine
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Marc Lütgehetmann
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany.,Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Samuel Huber
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Christin Ackermann
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Melanie Wittner
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
| | - Marylyn Martina Addo
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany.,Department of Tropical Medicine Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine Hamburg Germany
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) La Jolla CA USA
| | - John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) La Jolla CA USA
| | - Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit, 1. Department of Medicine University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems Hamburg Germany
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11
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Bousbaine D, Fisch LI, London M, Bhagchandani P, Rezende de Castro TB, Mimee M, Olesen S, Reis BS, VanInsberghe D, Bortolatto J, Poyet M, Cheloha RW, Sidney J, Ling J, Gupta A, Lu TK, Sette A, Alm EJ, Moon JJ, Victora GD, Mucida D, Ploegh HL, Bilate AM. A conserved Bacteroidetes antigen induces anti-inflammatory intestinal T lymphocytes. Science 2022; 377:660-666. [PMID: 35926021 PMCID: PMC9766740 DOI: 10.1126/science.abg5645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
The microbiome contributes to the development and maturation of the immune system. In response to commensal bacteria, intestinal CD4+ T lymphocytes differentiate into functional subtypes with regulatory or effector functions. The development of small intestine intraepithelial lymphocytes that coexpress CD4 and CD8αα homodimers (CD4IELs) depends on the microbiota. However, the identity of the microbial antigens recognized by CD4+ T cells that can differentiate into CD4IELs remains unknown. We identified β-hexosaminidase, a conserved enzyme across commensals of the Bacteroidetes phylum, as a driver of CD4IEL differentiation. In a mouse model of colitis, β-hexosaminidase-specific lymphocytes protected against intestinal inflammation. Thus, T cells of a single specificity can recognize a variety of abundant commensals and elicit a regulatory immune response at the intestinal mucosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Djenet Bousbaine
- Microbiology Graduate Program, Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA.,Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Laura I Fisch
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mariya London
- Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Preksha Bhagchandani
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Tiago B Rezende de Castro
- Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,Laboratory of Lymphocyte Dynamics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mark Mimee
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Scott Olesen
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bernardo S Reis
- Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - David VanInsberghe
- Microbiology Graduate Program, Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Juliana Bortolatto
- Laboratory of Lymphocyte Dynamics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mathilde Poyet
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Ross W Cheloha
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jingjing Ling
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Aaron Gupta
- Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Timothy K Lu
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Synthetic Biology Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA.,Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Eric J Alm
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - James J Moon
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases and Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gabriel D Victora
- Laboratory of Lymphocyte Dynamics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Daniel Mucida
- Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Rockefeller University, New York NY, USA
| | - Hidde L Ploegh
- Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.,Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Angelina M Bilate
- Center for Microbiome Informatics and Therapeutics, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Laboratory of Mucosal Immunology, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA
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12
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Chen DP, McInnis EA, Wu EY, Stember KG, Hogan SL, Hu Y, Henderson CD, Blazek LN, Mallal S, Karosiene E, Peters B, Sidney J, James EA, Kwok WW, Jennette JC, Ciavatta DJ, Falk RJ, Free ME. Immunological Interaction of HLA-DPB1 and Proteinase 3 in ANCA Vasculitis is Associated with Clinical Disease Activity. J Am Soc Nephrol 2022; 33:1517-1527. [PMID: 35672132 PMCID: PMC9342628 DOI: 10.1681/asn.2021081142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 05/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND PR3-ANCA vasculitis has a genetic association with HLA-DPB1. We explored immunologic and clinical features related to the interaction of HLA-DPB1*04:01 with a strongly binding PR3 peptide epitope (PR3225-239). METHODS Patients with ANCA vasculitis with active disease and disease in remission were followed longitudinally. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients and healthy controls with HLA-DPB1*04:01 were tested for HLA-DPB1*04:01 expression and interaction with a PR3 peptide identified via in silico and in vitro assays. Tetramers (HLA/peptide multimers) identified autoreactive T cells in vitro. RESULTS: The HLA-DPB1*04:01 genotype was associated with risk of relapse in PR3-ANCA (HR for relapse 2.06; 95% CI, 1.01 to 4.20) but not in myeloperoxidase (MPO)-ANCA or the combined cohort. In silico predictions of HLA and PR3 peptide interactions demonstrated strong affinity between ATRLFPDFFTRVALY (PR3225-239) and HLA-DPB1*04:01 that was confirmed by in vitro competitive binding studies. The interaction was tested in ex vivo flow cytometry studies of labeled peptide and HLA-DPB1*04:01-expressing cells. We demonstrated PR3225-239 specific autoreactive T cells using synthetic HLA multimers (tetramers). Patients in long-term remission off therapy had autoantigenic peptide and HLA interaction comparable to that of healthy volunteers. CONCLUSIONS The risk allele HLA-DPB1*04:01 has been associated with PR3-ANCA, but its immunopathologic role was unclear. These studies demonstrate that HLA-DPB1*04:01 and PR3225-239 initiate an immune response. Autoreactive T cells specifically recognized PR3225-239 presented by HLA-DPB1*04:01. Although larger studies should validate these findings, the pathobiology may explain the observed increased risk of relapse in our cohort. Moreover, lack of HLA and autoantigen interaction observed during long-term remission signals immunologic nonresponsiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dhruti P. Chen
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Elizabeth A. McInnis
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Eveline Y. Wu
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Katherine G. Stember
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Susan L. Hogan
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Yichun Hu
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Candace D. Henderson
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Lauren N. Blazek
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Simon Mallal
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Edita Karosiene
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California
| | - Eddie A. James
- Translational Research Program, Benaroya Research Institute, Seattle, Washington
| | - William W. Kwok
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - J. Charles Jennette
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Dominic J. Ciavatta
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Ronald J. Falk
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Department of Pediatrics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Meghan E. Free
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina Kidney Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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13
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Kubiniok P, Marcu A, Bichmann L, Kuchenbecker L, Schuster H, Hamelin DJ, Duquette JD, Kovalchik KA, Wessling L, Kohlbacher O, Rammensee HG, Neidert MC, Sirois I, Caron E. Understanding the constitutive presentation of MHC class I immunopeptidomes in primary tissues. iScience 2022; 25:103768. [PMID: 35141507 PMCID: PMC8810409 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.103768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the molecular principles that govern the composition of the MHC-I immunopeptidome across different primary tissues is fundamentally important to predict how T cells respond in different contexts in vivo. Here, we performed a global analysis of the MHC-I immunopeptidome from 29 to 19 primary human and mouse tissues, respectively. First, we observed that different HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C allotypes do not contribute evenly to the global composition of the MHC-I immunopeptidome across multiple human tissues. Second, we found that tissue-specific and housekeeping MHC-I peptides share very distinct properties. Third, we discovered that proteins that are evolutionarily hyperconserved represent the primary source of the MHC-I immunopeptidome at the organism-wide scale. Fourth, we uncovered new components of the antigen processing and presentation network, including the carboxypeptidases CPE, CNDP1/2, and CPVL. Together, this study opens up new avenues toward a system-wide understanding of antigen presentation in vivo across mammalian species. Tissue-specific and housekeeping MHC class I peptides share distinct properties HLA-A, HLA-B, and HLA-C allotypes contribute very unevenly to the pool of class I peptides MHC-I immunopeptidomes are represented by evolutionarily conserved proteins An extended antigen processing and presentation pathway is uncovered
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Kubiniok
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - Ana Marcu
- Department of Immunology, Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180), “Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies”, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Leon Bichmann
- Department of Immunology, Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Applied Bioinformatics, Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Leon Kuchenbecker
- Applied Bioinformatics, Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Heiko Schuster
- Immatics Biotechnologies GmbH, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - David J. Hamelin
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | | | | | - Laura Wessling
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - Oliver Kohlbacher
- Applied Bioinformatics, Department of Computer Science, University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Biomolecular Interactions, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence Machine Learning in the Sciences (EXC 2064), University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Translational Bioinformatics, University Hospital Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Hans-Georg Rammensee
- Department of Immunology, Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- Cluster of Excellence iFIT (EXC 2180), “Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies”, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- DKFZ Partner Site Tübingen, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), 72076 Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Marian C. Neidert
- Clinical Neuroscience Center and Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital and University of Zürich, 8057&8091 Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Isabelle Sirois
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
| | - Etienne Caron
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montreal, QC H3T 1C5, Canada
- Department of Pathology and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, QC H3T 1J4, Canada
- Corresponding author
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14
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Bugada LF, Smith MR, Wen F. Rapid Identification of MHCII-Binding Peptides Through Microsphere-Assisted Peptide Screening (MAPS). Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2574:233-250. [PMID: 36087205 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2712-9_11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
CD4+ T cells play a vital role in the immune response, and their function requires T cell receptor (TCR) recognition of peptide epitopes presented in complex with MHC class II (MHCII) molecules. Consequently, rapidly identifying peptides that bind MHCII is critical to understanding and treating infectious disease, cancer, autoimmunity, allergy, and transplant rejection. Computational methods provide a fast, ultrahigh-throughput approach to predict MHCII-binding peptides but lack the accuracy of experimental methods. In contrast, experimental methods offer accurate, quantitative results at the expense of speed. To address the gap between these two approaches, we developed a high-throughput, semiquantitative experimental screening strategy termed microsphere-assisted peptide screening (MAPS). Here, we use the Zika virus envelope protein as an example to demonstrate the rapid identification of MHCII-binding peptides from a single pathogenic protein using MAPS. This process involves several key steps including peptide library design, peptide exchange into MHCII, peptide-MHCII loading onto microspheres, flow cytometry screening, and data analysis to identify peptides that bind to one or more MHCII alleles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke F Bugada
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Mason R Smith
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Fei Wen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
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15
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Ribeiro SP, De Moura Mattaraia VG, Almeida RR, Valentine EJG, Sales NS, Ferreira LCS, Sa-Rocha LC, Jacintho LC, Santana VC, Sidney J, Sette A, Rosa DS, Kalil J, Cunha-Neto E. A promiscuous T cell epitope-based HIV vaccine providing redundant population coverage of the HLA class II elicits broad, polyfunctional T cell responses in nonhuman primates. Vaccine 2021; 40:239-246. [PMID: 34961636 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.11.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 11/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Over the last few decades, several emerging or reemerging viral diseases with no readily available vaccines have ravaged the world. A platform to fastly generate vaccines inducing potent and durable neutralizing antibody and T cell responses is sorely needed. Bioinformatically identified epitope-based vaccines can focus on immunodominant T cell epitopes and induce more potent immune responses than a whole antigen vaccine and may be deployed more rapidly and less costly than whole-gene vaccines. Increasing evidence has shown the importance of the CD4+ T cell response in protection against HIV and other viral infections. The previously described DNA vaccine HIVBr18 encodes 18 conserved, promiscuous epitopes binding to multiple HLA-DR-binding HIV epitopes amply recognized by HIV-1-infected patients. HIVBr18 elicited broad, polyfunctional, and durable CD4+and CD8+ T cell responses in BALB/c and mice transgenic to HLA class II alleles, showing cross-species promiscuity. To fully delineate the promiscuity of the HLA class II vaccine epitopes, we assessed their binding to 34 human class II (HLA-DR, DQ, and -DP) molecules, and immunized nonhuman primates. Results ascertained redundant 100% coverage of the human population for multiple peptides. We then immunized Rhesus macaques with HIVBr18 under in vivo electroporation. The immunization induced strong, predominantly polyfunctional CD4+ T cell responses in all animals to 13 out of the 18 epitopes; T cells from each animal recognized 7-11 epitopes. Our results provide a preliminary proof of concept that immunization with a vaccine encoding epitopes with high and redundant coverage of the human population can elicit potent T cell responses to multiple epitopes, across species and MHC barriers. This approach may facilitate the rapid deployment of immunogens eliciting cellular immunity against emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Pereira Ribeiro
- Emory University, Atlanta, USA; Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60/University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Rafael Ribeiro Almeida
- Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60/University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Natiely Silva Sales
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luís Carlos S Ferreira
- Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Lucas Cauê Jacintho
- Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60/University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vinicius Canato Santana
- Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60/University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), LA Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Daniela Santoro Rosa
- Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP/EPM), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jorge Kalil
- Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60/University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Edecio Cunha-Neto
- Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60/University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology - iii-INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Laboratory of Immunology, Heart Institute, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil.
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16
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Naito T, Okada Y. HLA imputation and its application to genetic and molecular fine-mapping of the MHC region in autoimmune diseases. Semin Immunopathol 2021; 44:15-28. [PMID: 34786601 PMCID: PMC8837514 DOI: 10.1007/s00281-021-00901-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Variations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes in the major histocompatibility complex region (MHC) significantly affect the risk of various diseases, especially autoimmune diseases. Fine-mapping of causal variants in this region was challenging due to the difficulty in sequencing and its inapplicability to large cohorts. Thus, HLA imputation, a method to infer HLA types from regional single nucleotide polymorphisms, has been developed and has successfully contributed to MHC fine-mapping of various diseases. Different HLA imputation methods have been developed, each with its own advantages, and recent methods have been improved in terms of accuracy and computational performance. Additionally, advances in HLA reference panels by next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled higher resolution and a more reliable imputation, allowing a finer-grained evaluation of the association between sequence variations and disease risk. Risk-associated variants in the MHC region would affect disease susceptibility through complicated mechanisms including alterations in peripheral responses and central thymic selection of T cells. The cooperation of reliable HLA imputation methods, informative fine-mapping, and experimental validation of the functional significance of MHC variations would be essential for further understanding of the role of the MHC in the immunopathology of autoimmune diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tatsuhiko Naito
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Osaka, Suita, 565-0871, Japan.
- Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Yukinori Okada
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-2 Yamadaoka, Osaka, Suita, 565-0871, Japan
- Laboratory of Statistical Immunology, Immunology Frontier Research Center (WPI-IFReC), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- Integrated Frontier Research for Medical Science Division, Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives, Osaka University, Suita, Japan
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17
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Identification and Characterization of Rift Valley Fever Virus-Specific T Cells Reveals a Dependence on CD40/CD40L Interactions for Prevention of Encephalitis. J Virol 2021; 95:e0150621. [PMID: 34495703 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01506-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an arbovirus found throughout Africa. It causes disease that is typically mild and self-limiting; however, some infected individuals experience severe manifestations, including hepatitis, encephalitis, or even death. Reports of RVFV encephalitis are notable among immunosuppressed individuals, suggesting a role for adaptive immunity in preventing this severe complication. This phenomenon has been modeled in C57BL/6 mice depleted of CD4 T cells prior to infection with DelNSs RVFV (RVFV containing a deletion of nonstructural protein NSs), resulting in late-onset encephalitis accompanied by high levels of viral RNA in the brain in 30% of animals. In this study, we sought to define the specific type(s) of CD4 T cells that mediate protection from RVFV encephalitis. The viral epitopes targeted by CD4 and CD8 T cells were defined in C57BL/6 mice, and tetramers for both CD4 and CD8 T cells were generated. RVFV-specific CD8 T cells were expanded and of a cytotoxic and proliferating phenotype in the liver following infection. RVFV-specific CD4 T cells were identified in the liver and spleen following infection and phenotyped as largely Th1 or Tfh subtypes. Knockout mice lacking various aspects of pathways important in Th1 and Tfh development and function were used to demonstrate that T-bet, CD40, CD40L, and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) mediated protection from RVFV encephalitis, while gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) were dispensable. Virus-specific antibody responses correlated with protection from encephalitis in all mouse strains, suggesting that Tfh/B cell interactions modulate clinical outcome in this model. IMPORTANCE The prevention of RVFV encephalitis requires intact adaptive immunity. In this study, we developed reagents to detect RVFV-specific T cells and provide evidence for Tfh cells and CD40/CD40L interactions as critical mediators of this protection.
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18
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Hamelin DJ, Fournelle D, Grenier JC, Schockaert J, Kovalchik KA, Kubiniok P, Mostefai F, Duquette JD, Saab F, Sirois I, Smith MA, Pattijn S, Soudeyns H, Decaluwe H, Hussin J, Caron E. The mutational landscape of SARS-CoV-2 variants diversifies T cell targets in an HLA-supertype-dependent manner. Cell Syst 2021; 13:143-157.e3. [PMID: 34637888 PMCID: PMC8492600 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2021.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Revised: 06/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
The rapid, global dispersion of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of a diverse range of variants. Here, we describe how the mutational landscape of SARS-CoV-2 has shaped HLA-restricted T cell immunity at the population level during the first year of the pandemic. We analyzed a total of 330,246 high-quality SARS-CoV-2 genome assemblies, sampled across 143 countries and all major continents from December 2019 to December 2020 before mass vaccination or the rise of the Delta variant. We observed that proline residues are preferentially removed from the proteome of prevalent mutants, leading to a predicted global loss of SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes in individuals expressing HLA-B alleles of the B7 supertype family; this is largely driven by a dominant C-to-U mutation type at the RNA level. These results indicate that B7-supertype-associated epitopes, including the most immunodominant ones, were more likely to escape CD8+ T cell immunosurveillance during the first year of the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dominique Fournelle
- Montreal Heart Institute, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Jean-Christophe Grenier
- Montreal Heart Institute, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Jana Schockaert
- ImmunXperts, a Nexelis Group Company, 6041 Gosselies, Belgium
| | | | - Peter Kubiniok
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Fatima Mostefai
- Montreal Heart Institute, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Frederic Saab
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Martin A Smith
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Sofie Pattijn
- ImmunXperts, a Nexelis Group Company, 6041 Gosselies, Belgium
| | - Hugo Soudeyns
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Microbiology, Infectiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Hélène Decaluwe
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Julie Hussin
- Montreal Heart Institute, Department of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
| | - Etienne Caron
- CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Montréal, QC, Canada; Department of Pathology and Cellular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
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19
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Choi J, Goulding SP, Conn BP, McGann CD, Dietze JL, Kohler J, Lenkala D, Boudot A, Rothenberg DA, Turcott PJ, Srouji JR, Foley KC, Rooney MS, van Buuren MM, Gaynor RB, Abelin JG, Addona TA, Juneja VR. Systematic discovery and validation of T cell targets directed against oncogenic KRAS mutations. CELL REPORTS METHODS 2021; 1:100084. [PMID: 35474673 PMCID: PMC9017224 DOI: 10.1016/j.crmeth.2021.100084] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 08/04/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Oncogenic mutations in KRAS can be recognized by T cells on specific class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA-I) molecules, leading to tumor control. To date, the discovery of T cell targets from KRAS mutations has relied on occasional T cell responses in patient samples or the use of transgenic mice. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a systematic target discovery and validation pipeline. We evaluate the presentation of mutant KRAS peptides on individual HLA-I molecules using targeted mass spectrometry and identify 13 unpublished KRASG12C/D/R/V mutation/HLA-I pairs and nine previously described pairs. We assess immunogenicity, generating T cell responses to nearly all targets. Using cytotoxicity assays, we demonstrate that KRAS-specific T cells and T cell receptors specifically recognize endogenous KRAS mutations. The discovery and validation of T cell targets from KRAS mutations demonstrate the potential for this pipeline to aid the development of immunotherapies for important cancer targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jaewon Choi
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Scott P. Goulding
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Brandon P. Conn
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | - Jared L. Dietze
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Jessica Kohler
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Divya Lenkala
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Antoine Boudot
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | - Paul J. Turcott
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - John R. Srouji
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Kendra C. Foley
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Michael S. Rooney
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | - Richard B. Gaynor
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | - Terri A. Addona
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Vikram R. Juneja
- BioNTech US Inc., 40 Erie Street, Suite 110, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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20
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Gomez-Perosanz M, Fiyouzi T, Fernandez-Arquero M, Sidney J, Sette A, Reinherz EL, Lafuente EM, Reche PA. Characterization of Conserved and Promiscuous Human Rhinovirus CD4 T Cell Epitopes. Cells 2021; 10:cells10092294. [PMID: 34571943 PMCID: PMC8471592 DOI: 10.3390/cells10092294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Human rhinovirus (RV) is the most common cause of upper respiratory infections and exacerbations of asthma. In this work, we selected 14 peptides (6 from RV A and 8 from RV C) encompassing potential CD4 T cell epitopes. Peptides were selected for being highly conserved in RV A and C serotypes and predicted to bind to multiple human leukocyte antigen class II (HLA II) molecules. We found positive T cell recall responses by interferon gamma (IFNγ)-ELISPOT assays to eight peptides, validating seven of them (three from RV A and four from RV C) as CD4 T cell epitopes through intracellular cytokine staining assays. Additionally, we verified their promiscuous binding to multiple HLA II molecules by quantitative binding assays. According to their experimental HLA II binding profile, the combination of all these seven epitopes could be recognized by >95% of the world population. We actually determined IFNγ responses to a pool encompassing these CD4 T cell epitopes by intracellular cytokine staining, finding positive responses in 29 out of 30 donors. The CD4 T cell epitopes identified in this study could be key to monitor RV infections and to develop peptide-based vaccines against most RV A and C serotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Gomez-Perosanz
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (M.G.-P.); (T.F.); (E.M.L.)
| | - Tara Fiyouzi
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (M.G.-P.); (T.F.); (E.M.L.)
| | | | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; (J.S.); (A.S.)
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; (J.S.); (A.S.)
| | - Ellis L. Reinherz
- Laboratory of Immunobiology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02215, USA;
| | - Esther M. Lafuente
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (M.G.-P.); (T.F.); (E.M.L.)
| | - Pedro A. Reche
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain; (M.G.-P.); (T.F.); (E.M.L.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-913947229
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21
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Heide J, Schulte S, Kohsar M, Brehm TT, Herrmann M, Karsten H, Marget M, Peine S, Johansson AM, Sette A, Lütgehetmann M, Kwok WW, Sidney J, Schulze zur Wiesch J. Broadly directed SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell response includes frequently detected peptide specificities within the membrane and nucleoprotein in patients with acute and resolved COVID-19. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009842. [PMID: 34529740 PMCID: PMC8445433 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The aim of this study was to define the breadth and specificity of dominant SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell epitopes using a comprehensive set of 135 overlapping 15-mer peptides covering the SARS-CoV-2 envelope (E), membrane (M) and nucleoprotein (N) in a cohort of 34 individuals with acute (n = 10) and resolved (n = 24) COVID-19. Following short-term virus-specific in vitro cultivation, the single peptide-specific CD4+ T cell response of each patient was screened using enzyme linked immuno spot assay (ELISpot) and confirmed by single-peptide intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) for interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production. 97% (n = 33) of patients elicited one or more N, M or E-specific CD4+ T cell responses and each patient targeted on average 21.7 (range 0-79) peptide specificities. Overall, we identified 10 N, M or E-specific peptides that showed a response frequency of more than 36% and five of them showed high binding affinity to multiple HLA class II binders in subsequent in vitro HLA binding assays. Three peptides elicited CD4+ T cell responses in more than 55% of all patients, namely Mem_P30 (aa146-160), Mem_P36 (aa176-190), both located within the M protein, and Ncl_P18 (aa86-100) located within the N protein. These peptides were further defined in terms of length and HLA restriction. Based on this epitope and restriction data we developed a novel DRB*11 tetramer (Mem_aa145-164) and examined the ex vivo phenotype of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells in one patient. This detailed characterization of single T cell peptide responses demonstrates that SARS-CoV-2 infection universally primes a broad T cell response directed against multiple specificities located within the N, M and E structural protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Heide
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
| | - Sophia Schulte
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Matin Kohsar
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Thomas Theo Brehm
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
| | - Marissa Herrmann
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
| | - Hendrik Karsten
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Matthias Marget
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Sven Peine
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - Alexandra M. Johansson
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Marc Lütgehetmann
- Institute of Medical Microbiology, Virology and Hygiene, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
| | - William W. Kwok
- Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - John Sidney
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Julian Schulze zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Germany
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22
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Functional HPV-specific PD-1 + stem-like CD8 T cells in head and neck cancer. Nature 2021; 597:279-284. [PMID: 34471285 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03862-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2020] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
T cells are important in tumour immunity but a better understanding is needed of the differentiation of antigen-specific T cells in human cancer1,2. Here we studied CD8 T cells in patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive head and neck cancer and identified several epitopes derived from HPV E2, E5 and E6 proteins that allowed us to analyse virus-specific CD8 T cells using major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I tetramers. HPV-specific CD8 T cells expressed PD-1 and were detectable in the tumour at levels that ranged from 0.1% to 10% of tumour-infiltrating CD8 T lymphocytes (TILs) for a given epitope. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analyses of tetramer-sorted HPV-specific PD-1+ CD8 TILs revealed three transcriptionally distinct subsets. One subset expressed TCF7 and other genes associated with PD-1+ stem-like CD8 T cells that are critical for maintaining T cell responses in conditions of antigen persistence. The second subset expressed more effector molecules, representing a transitory cell population, and the third subset was characterized by a terminally differentiated gene signature. T cell receptor clonotypes were shared between the three subsets and pseudotime analysis suggested a hypothetical differentiation trajectory from stem-like to transitory to terminally differentiated cells. More notably, HPV-specific PD-1+TCF-1+ stem-like TILs proliferated and differentiated into more effector-like cells after in vitro stimulation with the cognate HPV peptide, whereas the more terminally differentiated cells did not proliferate. The presence of functional HPV-specific PD-1+TCF-1+CD45RO+ stem-like CD8 T cells with proliferative capacity shows that the cellular machinery to respond to PD-1 blockade exists in HPV-positive head and neck cancer, supporting the further investigation of PD-1 targeted therapies in this malignancy. Furthermore, HPV therapeutic vaccination efforts have focused on E6 and E7 proteins; our results suggest that E2 and E5 should also be considered for inclusion as vaccine antigens to elicit tumour-reactive CD8 T cell responses of maximal breadth.
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23
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Leary S, Gaudieri S, Parker MD, Chopra A, James I, Pakala S, Alves E, John M, Lindsey BB, Keeley AJ, Rowland-Jones SL, Swanson MS, Ostrov DA, Bubenik JL, Das SR, Sidney J, Sette A, de Silva TI, Phillips E, Mallal S. Generation of a Novel SARS-CoV-2 Sub-genomic RNA Due to the R203K/G204R Variant in Nucleocapsid: Homologous Recombination has Potential to Change SARS-CoV-2 at Both Protein and RNA Level. Pathog Immun 2021; 6:27-49. [PMID: 34541432 PMCID: PMC8439434 DOI: 10.20411/pai.v6i2.460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/31/2021] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Genetic variations across the SARS-CoV-2 genome may influence transmissibility of the virus and the host's anti-viral immune response, in turn affecting the frequency of variants over time. In this study, we examined the adjacent amino acid polymorphisms in the nucleocapsid (R203K/G204R) of SARS-CoV-2 that arose on the background of the spike D614G change and describe how strains harboring these changes became dominant circulating strains globally. METHODS Deep-sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 from public databases and from clinical samples were analyzed to identify and map genetic variants and sub-genomic RNA transcripts across the genome. Results: Sequence analysis suggests that the 3 adjacent nucleotide changes that result in the K203/R204 variant have arisen by homologous recombination from the core sequence of the leader transcription-regulating sequence (TRS) rather than by stepwise mutation. The resulting sequence changes generate a novel sub-genomic RNA transcript for the C-terminal dimerization domain of nucleocapsid. Deep-sequencing data from 981 clinical samples confirmed the presence of the novel TRS-CS-dimerization domain RNA in individuals with the K203/R204 variant. Quantification of sub-genomic RNA indicates that viruses with the K203/R204 variant may also have increased expression of sub-genomic RNA from other open reading frames. CONCLUSIONS The finding that homologous recombination from the TRS may have occurred since the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 in humans, resulting in both coding changes and novel sub-genomic RNA transcripts, suggests this as a mechanism for diversification and adaptation within its new host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shay Leary
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Silvana Gaudieri
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
| | - Matthew D. Parker
- Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre, Sheffield Bioinformatics Core, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Abha Chopra
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Ian James
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Suman Pakala
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
| | - Eric Alves
- School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Mina John
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
- Department of Clinical Immunology, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Benjamin B. Lindsey
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease and The Florey Institute for Host-Pathogen Interactions, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Alexander J. Keeley
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease and The Florey Institute for Host-Pathogen Interactions, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Sarah L. Rowland-Jones
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease and The Florey Institute for Host-Pathogen Interactions, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Maurice S. Swanson
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Center for NeuroGenetics and the Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
| | - David A. Ostrov
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
| | - Jodi L. Bubenik
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Center for NeuroGenetics and the Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
| | - Suman R. Das
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
| | - John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California, United States
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
- School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
- Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre, Sheffield Bioinformatics Core, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Clinical Immunology, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease and The Florey Institute for Host-Pathogen Interactions, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Center for NeuroGenetics and the Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
- Department of Pathology, Immunology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California, United States
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
| | - Thushan I. de Silva
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Department of Infection, Immunity and Cardiovascular Disease and The Florey Institute for Host-Pathogen Interactions, Medical School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth Phillips
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
| | - Simon Mallal
- Institute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, United States
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24
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Generation of a novel SARS-CoV-2 sub-genomic RNA due to the R203K/G204R variant in nucleocapsid: homologous recombination has potential to change SARS-CoV-2 at both protein and RNA level. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2021. [PMID: 33880475 DOI: 10.1101/2020.04.10.029454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Background Genetic variations across the SARS-CoV-2 genome may influence transmissibility of the virus and the host’s anti-viral immune response, in turn affecting the frequency of variants over-time. In this study, we examined the adjacent amino acid polymorphisms in the nucleocapsid (R203K/G204R) of SARS-CoV-2 that arose on the background of the spike D614G change and describe how strains harboring these changes became dominant circulating strains globally. Methods Deep sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 from public databases and from clinical samples were analyzed to identify and map genetic variants and sub-genomic RNA transcripts across the genome. Results Sequence analysis suggests that the three adjacent nucleotide changes that result in the K203/R204 variant have arisen by homologous recombination from the core sequence (CS) of the leader transcription-regulating sequence (TRS) rather than by stepwise mutation. The resulting sequence changes generate a novel sub-genomic RNA transcript for the C-terminal dimerization domain of nucleocapsid. Deep sequencing data from 981 clinical samples confirmed the presence of the novel TRS-CS-dimerization domain RNA in individuals with the K203/R204 variant. Quantification of sub-genomic RNA indicates that viruses with the K203/R204 variant may also have increased expression of sub-genomic RNA from other open reading frames. Conclusions The finding that homologous recombination from the TRS may have occurred since the introduction of SARS-CoV-2 in humans resulting in both coding changes and novel sub-genomic RNA transcripts suggests this as a mechanism for diversification and adaptation within its new host.
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25
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Weingarten-Gabbay S, Klaeger S, Sarkizova S, Pearlman LR, Chen DY, Gallagher KME, Bauer MR, Taylor HB, Dunn WA, Tarr C, Sidney J, Rachimi S, Conway HL, Katsis K, Wang Y, Leistritz-Edwards D, Durkin MR, Tomkins-Tinch CH, Finkel Y, Nachshon A, Gentili M, Rivera KD, Carulli IP, Chea VA, Chandrashekar A, Bozkus CC, Carrington M, Bhardwaj N, Barouch DH, Sette A, Maus MV, Rice CM, Clauser KR, Keskin DB, Pregibon DC, Hacohen N, Carr SA, Abelin JG, Saeed M, Sabeti PC. Profiling SARS-CoV-2 HLA-I peptidome reveals T cell epitopes from out-of-frame ORFs. Cell 2021; 184:3962-3980.e17. [PMID: 34171305 PMCID: PMC8173604 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.05.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2020] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
T cell-mediated immunity plays an important role in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection, but the repertoire of naturally processed and presented viral epitopes on class I human leukocyte antigen (HLA-I) remains uncharacterized. Here, we report the first HLA-I immunopeptidome of SARS-CoV-2 in two cell lines at different times post infection using mass spectrometry. We found HLA-I peptides derived not only from canonical open reading frames (ORFs) but also from internal out-of-frame ORFs in spike and nucleocapsid not captured by current vaccines. Some peptides from out-of-frame ORFs elicited T cell responses in a humanized mouse model and individuals with COVID-19 that exceeded responses to canonical peptides, including some of the strongest epitopes reported to date. Whole-proteome analysis of infected cells revealed that early expressed viral proteins contribute more to HLA-I presentation and immunogenicity. These biological insights, as well as the discovery of out-of-frame ORF epitopes, will facilitate selection of peptides for immune monitoring and vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shira Weingarten-Gabbay
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
| | - Susan Klaeger
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
| | | | - Leah R Pearlman
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Da-Yuan Chen
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kathleen M E Gallagher
- Cellular Immunotherapy Program and Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Matthew R Bauer
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Harvard Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Hannah B Taylor
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | | | | | - John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Suzanna Rachimi
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Hasahn L Conway
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Katelin Katsis
- Cellular Immunotherapy Program and Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA
| | - Yuntong Wang
- Repertoire Immune Medicines, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | | | | | - Christopher H Tomkins-Tinch
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Yaara Finkel
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Aharon Nachshon
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel
| | - Matteo Gentili
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Keith D Rivera
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Isabel P Carulli
- Translational Immunogenomics Laboratory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vipheaviny A Chea
- Translational Immunogenomics Laboratory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Abishek Chandrashekar
- Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Cansu Cimen Bozkus
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Mary Carrington
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nina Bhardwaj
- Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dan H Barouch
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Center for Virology and Vaccine Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Marcela V Maus
- Cellular Immunotherapy Program and Cancer Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA; Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA; Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Charles M Rice
- Laboratory of Virology and Infectious Disease, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Karl R Clauser
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Derin B Keskin
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Translational Immunogenomics Laboratory, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA; Health Informatics Lab, Metropolitan College, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Nir Hacohen
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Center for Cancer Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Steven A Carr
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | | | - Mohsan Saeed
- Department of Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Pardis C Sabeti
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Massachusetts Consortium on Pathogen Readiness, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, USA
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26
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Cheng J, Bendjama K, Rittner K, Malone B. BERTMHC: Improved MHC-peptide class II interaction prediction with transformer and multiple instance learning. Bioinformatics 2021; 37:4172-4179. [PMID: 34096999 PMCID: PMC9502151 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Revised: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Motivation Increasingly comprehensive characterization of cancer-associated genetic alterations has paved the way for the development of highly specific therapeutic vaccines. Predicting precisely the binding and presentation of peptides to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) alleles is an important step toward such therapies. Recent data suggest that presentation of both class I and II epitopes are critical for the induction of a sustained effective immune response. However, the prediction performance for MHC class II has been limited compared to class I. Results We present a transformer neural network model which leverages self-supervised pretraining from a large corpus of protein sequences. We also propose a multiple instance learning (MIL) framework to deconvolve mass spectrometry data where multiple potential MHC alleles may have presented each peptide. We show that pretraining boosted the performance for these tasks. Combining pretraining and the novel MIL approach, our model outperforms state-of-the-art models based on peptide and MHC sequence only for both binding and cell surface presentation predictions. Availability and implementation Our source code is available at https://github.com/s6juncheng/BERTMHC under a noncommercial license. A webserver is available at https://bertmhc.privacy.nlehd.de/ Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Cheng
- NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH Kurfuersten-Anlage 36, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Kaïdre Bendjama
- Transgene, Boulevard Gonthier d'Andernach, 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France
| | - Karola Rittner
- Transgene, Boulevard Gonthier d'Andernach, 67400 Illkirch-Graffenstaden, France
| | - Brandon Malone
- NEC Laboratories Europe GmbH Kurfuersten-Anlage 36, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
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Hsieh LE, Sidney J, Burns JC, Boyle DL, Firestein GS, Altman Y, Sette A, Franco A. IgG Epitopes Processed and Presented by IgG + B Cells Induce Suppression by Human Thymic-Derived Regulatory T Cells. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2021; 206:1194-1203. [PMID: 33579724 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2001009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
We described a human regulatory T cell (Treg) population activated by IgG+ B cells presenting peptides of the heavy C region (Fc) via processing of the surface IgG underlying a model for B cell-Treg cooperation in the human immune regulation. Functionally, Treg inhibited the polarization of naive T cells toward a proinflammatory phenotype in both a cognate and a noncognate fashion. Their fine specificities were similar in healthy donors and patients with rheumatoid arthritis, a systemic autoimmune disease. Four immunodominant Fc peptides bound multiple HLA class II alleles and were recognized by most subjects in the two cohorts. The presentation of Fc peptides that stimulate Treg through the processing of IgG by dendritic cells (DC) occurred in myeloid DC classical DC 1 and classical DC 2. Different routes of Ag processing of the IgG impacted Treg expansion in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-En Hsieh
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Jane C Burns
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
| | - David L Boyle
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; and
| | - Gary S Firestein
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093; and
| | - Yoav Altman
- Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037
| | - Alessandra Franco
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093;
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28
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Willis RA, Ramachandiran V, Shires JC, Bai G, Jeter K, Bell DL, Han L, Kazarian T, Ugwu KC, Laur O, Contreras-Alcantara S, Long DL, Altman JD. Production of Class II MHC Proteins in Lentiviral Vector-Transduced HEK-293T Cells for Tetramer Staining Reagents. Curr Protoc 2021; 1:e36. [PMID: 33539685 PMCID: PMC7880703 DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.36] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Class II major histocompatibility complex peptide (MHC-IIp) multimers are precisely engineered reagents used to detect T cells specific for antigens from pathogens, tumors, and self-proteins. While the related Class I MHC/peptide (MHC-Ip) multimers are usually produced from subunits expressed in E. coli, most Class II MHC alleles cannot be produced in bacteria, and this has contributed to the perception that MHC-IIp reagents are harder to produce. Herein, we present a robust constitutive expression system for soluble biotinylated MHC-IIp proteins that uses stable lentiviral vector-transduced derivatives of HEK-293T cells. The expression design includes allele-specific peptide ligands tethered to the amino-terminus of the MHC-II β chain via a protease-cleavable linker. Following cleavage of the linker, HLA-DM is used to catalyze efficient peptide exchange, enabling high-throughput production of many distinct MHC-IIp complexes from a single production cell line. Peptide exchange is monitored using either of two label-free methods, native isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis or matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry of eluted peptides. Together, these methods produce MHC-IIp complexes that are highly homogeneous and that form the basis for excellent MHC-IIp multimer reagents. © 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Lentivirus production and expression line creation Support Protocol 1: Six-well assay for estimation of production cell line yield Support Protocol 2: Universal ELISA for quantifying proteins with fused leucine zippers and His-tags Basic Protocol 2: Cultures for production of Class II MHC proteins Basic Protocol 3: Purification of Class II MHC proteins by anti-leucine zipper affinity chromatography Alternate Protocol 1: IMAC purification of His-tagged Class II MHC Support Protocol 3: Protein concentration measurements and adjustments Support Protocol 4: Polishing purification by anion-exchange chromatography Support Protocol 5: Estimating biotinylation percentage by streptavidin precipitation Basic Protocol 4: Peptide exchange Basic Protocol 5: Analysis of peptide exchange by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry Alternate Protocol 2: Native isoelectric focusing to validate MHC-II peptide loading Basic Protocol 6: Multimerization Basic Protocol 7: Staining cells with Class II MHC tetramers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard A Willis
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Vasanthi Ramachandiran
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - John C Shires
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Ge Bai
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Kelly Jeter
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Donielle L Bell
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Lixia Han
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Tamara Kazarian
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Kyla C Ugwu
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Oskar Laur
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Emory Custom Cloning Core Facility, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Susana Contreras-Alcantara
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Dale L Long
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - John D Altman
- Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia
- Center for AIDS Research, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
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29
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Identification and Characterization of CD4 + T Cell Epitopes after Shingrix Vaccination. J Virol 2020; 94:JVI.01641-20. [PMID: 32999027 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01641-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 09/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Infections with varicella-zoster virus (VZV) are associated with a range of clinical manifestations. Primary infection with VZV causes chicken pox. The virus remains latent in neurons, and it can reactivate later in life, causing herpes zoster (HZ). Two different vaccines have been developed to prevent HZ; one is based on a live attenuated VZV strain (Zostavax), and the other is based on adjuvanted gE recombinant protein (Shingrix). While Zostavax efficacy wanes with age, Shingrix protection retains its efficacy in elderly subjects (individuals 80 years of age and older). In this context, it is of much interest to understand if there is a role for T cell immunity in the differential clinical outcome and if there is a correlate of protection between T cell immunity and Shingrix efficacy. In this study, we characterized the Shingrix-specific ex vivo CD4 T cell responses in the context of natural exposure and HZ vaccination using pools of predicted epitopes. We show that T cell reactivity following natural infection and Zostavax vaccination dominantly targets nonstructural (NS) proteins, while Shingrix vaccination redirects dominant reactivity to target gE. We mapped the gE-specific responses following Shingrix vaccination to 89 different gE epitopes, 34 of which accounted for 80% of the response. Using antigen presentation assays and single HLA molecule-transfected lines, we experimentally determined HLA restrictions for 94 different donor/peptide combinations. Finally, we used our results as a training set to assess strategies to predict restrictions based on measured or predicted HLA binding and the corresponding HLA types of the responding subjects.IMPORTANCE Understanding the T cell profile associated with the protection observed in elderly vaccinees following Shingrix vaccination is relevant to the general definition of correlates of vaccine efficacy. Our study enables these future studies by clarifying the patterns of immunodominance associated with Shingrix vaccination, as opposed to natural infection or Zostavax vaccination. Identification of epitopes recognized by Shingrix-induced CD4 T cells and their associated HLA restrictions enables the generation of tetrameric staining reagents and, more broadly, the capability to characterize the specificity, magnitude, and phenotype of VZV-specific T cells.
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Gomez-Perosanz M, Sanchez-Trincado JL, Fernandez-Arquero M, Sidney J, Sette A, Lafuente EM, Reche PA. Human rhinovirus-specific CD8 T cell responses target conserved and unusual epitopes. FASEB J 2020; 35:e21208. [PMID: 33230881 PMCID: PMC7753581 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202002165r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 11/04/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Human Rhinovirus (HRV) is a major cause of common cold, bronchiolitis, and exacerbations of chronic pulmonary diseases such as asthma. CD8 T cell responses likely play an important role in the control of HRV infection but, surprisingly, HRV‐specific CD8 T cell epitopes remain yet to be identified. Here, we approached the discovery and characterization of conserved HRV‐specific CD8 T cell epitopes from species A (HRV A) and C (HRV C), the most frequent subtypes in the clinics of various pulmonary diseases. We found IFNγ‐ELISPOT positive responses to 23 conserved HRV‐specific peptides on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 14 HLA I typed subjects. Peptide‐specific IFNγ production by CD8 T cells and binding to the relevant HLA I were confirmed for six HRV A‐specific and three HRV C‐specific CD8 T cell epitopes. In addition, we validated A*02:01‐restricted epitopes by DimerX staining and found out that these peptides mediated cytotoxicity. All these A*02:01‐restricted epitopes were 9‐mers but, interestingly, we also identified and validated an unusually long 16‐mer epitope peptide restricted by A*02:01, HRVC1791‐1806 (GLEPLDLNTSAGFPYV). HRV‐specific CD8 T cell epitopes describe here are expected to elicit CD8 T cell responses in up to 87% of the population and could be key for developing an HRV vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta Gomez-Perosanz
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jose L Sanchez-Trincado
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Esther M Lafuente
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pedro A Reche
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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31
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Critical Review of Existing MHC I Immunopeptidome Isolation Methods. Molecules 2020; 25:molecules25225409. [PMID: 33228004 PMCID: PMC7699222 DOI: 10.3390/molecules25225409] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) plays a crucial role in the development of adaptive immune response in vertebrates. MHC molecules are cell surface protein complexes loaded with short peptides and recognized by the T-cell receptors (TCR). Peptides associated with MHC are named immunopeptidome. The MHC I immunopeptidome is produced by the proteasome degradation of intracellular proteins. The knowledge of the immunopeptidome repertoire facilitates the creation of personalized antitumor or antiviral vaccines. A huge number of publications on the immunopeptidome diversity of different human and mouse biological samples-plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and solid tissues, including tumors-appeared in the scientific journals in the last decade. Significant immunopeptidome identification efficiency was achieved by advances in technology: the immunoprecipitation of MHC and mass spectrometry-based approaches. Researchers optimized common strategies to isolate MHC-associated peptides for individual tasks. They published many protocols with differences in the amount and type of biological sample, amount of antibodies, type and amount of insoluble support, methods of post-fractionation and purification, and approaches to LC-MS/MS identification of immunopeptidome. These parameters have a large impact on the final repertoire of isolated immunopeptidome. In this review, we summarize and compare immunopeptidome isolation techniques with an emphasis on the results obtained.
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32
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Knierman MD, Lannan MB, Spindler LJ, McMillian CL, Konrad RJ, Siegel RW. The Human Leukocyte Antigen Class II Immunopeptidome of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Glycoprotein. Cell Rep 2020; 33:108454. [PMID: 33220791 PMCID: PMC7664343 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2020] [Revised: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Precise elucidation of the antigen sequences for T cell immunosurveillance greatly enhances our ability to understand and modulate humoral responses to viral infection or active immunization. Mass spectrometry is used to identify 526 unique sequences from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike glycoprotein extracellular domain in a complex with human leukocyte antigen class II molecules on antigen-presenting cells from a panel of healthy donors selected to represent a majority of allele usage from this highly polymorphic molecule. The identified sequences span the entire spike protein, and several sequences are isolated from a majority of the sampled donors, indicating promiscuous binding. Importantly, many peptides derived from the receptor binding domain used for cell entry are identified. This work represents a precise and comprehensive immunopeptidomic investigation with the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein and allows detailed analysis of features that may aid vaccine development to end the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Knierman
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Megan B Lannan
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Laura J Spindler
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Carl L McMillian
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Robert J Konrad
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA
| | - Robert W Siegel
- Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN 46285, USA.
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33
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Koşaloğlu-Yalçın Z, Sidney J, Chronister W, Peters B, Sette A. Comparison of HLA ligand elution data and binding predictions reveals varying prediction performance for the multiple motifs recognized by HLA-DQ2.5. Immunology 2020; 162:235-247. [PMID: 33064841 PMCID: PMC7808151 DOI: 10.1111/imm.13279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Revised: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 10/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Binding prediction tools are commonly used to identify peptides presented on MHC class II molecules. Recently, a wealth of data in the form of naturally eluted ligands has become available and discrepancies between ligand elution data and binding predictions have been reported. Quantitative metrics for such comparisons are currently lacking. In this study, we assessed how efficiently MHC class II binding predictions can identify naturally eluted peptides, and investigated instances with discrepancies between the two methods in detail. We found that, in general, MHC class II eluted ligands are predicted to bind to their reported restriction element with high affinity. But, for several studies reporting an increased number of ligands that were not predicted to bind, we found that the reported MHC restriction was ambiguous. Additional analyses determined that most of the ligands predicted to not bind, are predicted to bind other co‐expressed MHC class II molecules. For selected alleles, we addressed discrepancies between elution data and binding predictions by experimental measurements and found that predicted and measured affinities correlate well. For DQA1*05:01/DQB1*02:01 (DQ2.5) however, binding predictions did miss several peptides that were determined experimentally to be binders. For these peptides and several known DQ2.5 binders, we determined key residues for conferring DQ2.5 binding capacity, which revealed that DQ2.5 utilizes two different binding motifs, of which only one is predicted effectively. These findings have important implications for the interpretation of ligand elution data and for the improvement of MHC class II binding predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | | | - Bjoern Peters
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA.,Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA.,Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
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34
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Sidney J, Peters B, Sette A. Epitope prediction and identification- adaptive T cell responses in humans. Semin Immunol 2020; 50:101418. [PMID: 33131981 DOI: 10.1016/j.smim.2020.101418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 10/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Epitopes, in the context of T cell recognition, are short peptides typically derived by antigen processing, and presented on the cell surface bound to MHC molecules (HLA molecules in humans) for TCR scrutiny. The identification of epitopes is a context-dependent process, with consideration given to, for example, the source pathogen and protein, the host organism, and state of the immune reaction (e.g., following natural infection, vaccination, etc.). In the following review, we consider the various approaches used to define T cell epitopes, including both bioinformatic and experimental approaches, and discuss the concepts of immunodominance and immunoprevalence. We also discuss HLA polymorphism and epitope restriction, and the resulting impact on the identification of, and potential population coverage afforded by, epitopes or epitope-based vaccines. Finally, some examples of the practical application of T cell epitope identification are provided, showing how epitopes have been valuable for deriving novel immunological insights in the context of the immune response to various pathogens and allergens.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Sidney
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA.
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35
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Wells DK, van Buuren MM, Dang KK, Hubbard-Lucey VM, Sheehan KCF, Campbell KM, Lamb A, Ward JP, Sidney J, Blazquez AB, Rech AJ, Zaretsky JM, Comin-Anduix B, Ng AHC, Chour W, Yu TV, Rizvi H, Chen JM, Manning P, Steiner GM, Doan XC, Merghoub T, Guinney J, Kolom A, Selinsky C, Ribas A, Hellmann MD, Hacohen N, Sette A, Heath JR, Bhardwaj N, Ramsdell F, Schreiber RD, Schumacher TN, Kvistborg P, Defranoux NA. Key Parameters of Tumor Epitope Immunogenicity Revealed Through a Consortium Approach Improve Neoantigen Prediction. Cell 2020; 183:818-834.e13. [PMID: 33038342 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 240] [Impact Index Per Article: 60.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2020] [Revised: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 09/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Many approaches to identify therapeutically relevant neoantigens couple tumor sequencing with bioinformatic algorithms and inferred rules of tumor epitope immunogenicity. However, there are no reference data to compare these approaches, and the parameters governing tumor epitope immunogenicity remain unclear. Here, we assembled a global consortium wherein each participant predicted immunogenic epitopes from shared tumor sequencing data. 608 epitopes were subsequently assessed for T cell binding in patient-matched samples. By integrating peptide features associated with presentation and recognition, we developed a model of tumor epitope immunogenicity that filtered out 98% of non-immunogenic peptides with a precision above 0.70. Pipelines prioritizing model features had superior performance, and pipeline alterations leveraging them improved prediction performance. These findings were validated in an independent cohort of 310 epitopes prioritized from tumor sequencing data and assessed for T cell binding. This data resource enables identification of parameters underlying effective anti-tumor immunity and is available to the research community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel K Wells
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Marit M van Buuren
- Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; T Cell Immunology, Biopharmaceutical New Technologies (BioNTech) Corporation, BioNTech US, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kristen K Dang
- Computational Oncology, Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | - Kathleen C F Sheehan
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA; The Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Katie M Campbell
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Andrew Lamb
- Computational Oncology, Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Jeffrey P Ward
- Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ana B Blazquez
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Andrew J Rech
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jesse M Zaretsky
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Begonya Comin-Anduix
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - William Chour
- Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
| | - Thomas V Yu
- Computational Oncology, Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Hira Rizvi
- Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research, MSKCC, New York, NY, USA
| | - Jia M Chen
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Patrice Manning
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Xengie C Doan
- Computational Oncology, Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Taha Merghoub
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Medicine, MSKCC, New York, NY, USA; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Justin Guinney
- Computational Oncology, Sage Bionetworks, Seattle, WA, USA; Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Adam Kolom
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Anna-Maria Kellen Clinical Accelerator, Cancer Research Institute, New York, NY, USA
| | - Cheryl Selinsky
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Antoni Ribas
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Division of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, Johnson Comprehensive Cancer Center, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Matthew D Hellmann
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research, MSKCC, New York, NY, USA; Department of Medicine, MSKCC, New York, NY, USA; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Nir Hacohen
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA; Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - James R Heath
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Nina Bhardwaj
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Division of Hematology and Oncology, Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Fred Ramsdell
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Robert D Schreiber
- Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA; The Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky Center for Human Immunology and Immunotherapy Programs, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Ton N Schumacher
- Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, Oncode Institute, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Pia Kvistborg
- Division of Molecular Oncology and Immunology, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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Venkatakrishnan AJ, Kayal N, Anand P, Badley AD, Church GM, Soundararajan V. Benchmarking evolutionary tinkering underlying human-viral molecular mimicry shows multiple host pulmonary-arterial peptides mimicked by SARS-CoV-2. Cell Death Discov 2020; 6:96. [PMID: 33024578 PMCID: PMC7529588 DOI: 10.1038/s41420-020-00321-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The hand of molecular mimicry in shaping SARS-CoV-2 evolution and immune evasion remains to be deciphered. Here, we report 33 distinct 8-mer/9-mer peptides that are identical between SARS-CoV-2 and the human reference proteome. We benchmark this observation against other viral-human 8-mer/9-mer peptide identity, which suggests generally similar extents of molecular mimicry for SARS-CoV-2 and many other human viruses. Interestingly, 20 novel human peptides mimicked by SARS-CoV-2 have not been observed in any previous coronavirus strains (HCoV, SARS-CoV, and MERS). Furthermore, four of the human 8-mer/9-mer peptides mimicked by SARS-CoV-2 map onto HLA-B*40:01, HLA-B*40:02, and HLA-B*35:01 binding peptides from human PAM, ANXA7, PGD, and ALOX5AP proteins. This mimicry of multiple human proteins by SARS-CoV-2 is made salient by single-cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) analysis that shows the targeted genes significantly expressed in human lungs and arteries; tissues implicated in COVID-19 pathogenesis. Finally, HLA-A*03 restricted 8-mer peptides are found to be shared broadly by human and coronaviridae helicases in functional hotspots, with potential implications for nucleic acid unwinding upon initial infection. This study presents the first scan of human peptide mimicry by SARS-CoV-2, and via its benchmarking against human-viral mimicry more broadly, presents a computational framework for follow-up studies to assay how evolutionary tinkering may relate to zoonosis and herd immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Andrew D. Badley
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN USA
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Dimou A, Grewe P, Sidney J, Sette A, Norman PJ, Doebele RC. HLA Class I Binding of Mutant EGFR Peptides in NSCLC Is Associated With Improved Survival. J Thorac Oncol 2020; 16:104-112. [PMID: 32927123 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtho.2020.08.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2019] [Revised: 07/11/2020] [Accepted: 08/30/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Cancer-associated mutations have the potential to generate neoantigens and elicit CD8-positive T-cell-dependent adaptive immune responses. There are currently no reports of CD8-positive T-cells with specificity for neoepitopes generated by EGFR mutations, which are driver oncogenes in a subset of patients with lung cancer. METHODS We used NETMHCpan 4.0 to identify putative protective human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I allotypes that are predicted in silico to bind and present mutant EGFR-generated peptides on the basis of predefined criteria. We associated the presence or absence of these alleles with clinical outcomes in patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas with lung adenocarcinoma. RESULTS We identified 12 HLA class I alleles that fulfilled the predefined criteria for being protective for EGFR p.L858R and six for EGFR p.E746_A750del, the two most common EGFR mutations in lung cancer. We validated the in silico predictions for peptide-HLA allele binding in vitro. A third (12 of 36) of patients with mostly early stage lung adenocarcinoma in The Cancer Genome Atlas with either EGFR p.L858R or EGFR p.E746_A750del had at least one protective allele in their host genomes. More importantly, patients with protective alleles exhibited better disease-free (hazard ratio: 0.20, 95% confidence interval: 0.05-0.78) and overall survival (hazard ratio: 0.13, 95% confidence interval: 0.02-0.64), and this effect was independent of the EGFR mutation type, stage, age, and sex. CONCLUSIONS Our data revealed that clinical outcomes were improved in patients with EGFR mutation-positive lung adenocarcinoma who harbored protective HLA class I alleles. Thus, immunity with specificity for mutant EGFR is possible in a subset of patients with early stage lung cancer and portends a better prognosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anastasios Dimou
- Division of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado; Department of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
| | - Paul Grewe
- Division of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
| | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California
| | - Alessandro Sette
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California; Department of Medicine, University of California in San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Paul J Norman
- Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
| | - Robert C Doebele
- Division of Medical Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, Colorado
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Wendorff M, Garcia Alvarez HM, Østerbye T, ElAbd H, Rosati E, Degenhardt F, Buus S, Franke A, Nielsen M. Unbiased Characterization of Peptide-HLA Class II Interactions Based on Large-Scale Peptide Microarrays; Assessment of the Impact on HLA Class II Ligand and Epitope Prediction. Front Immunol 2020; 11:1705. [PMID: 32903714 PMCID: PMC7438773 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 06/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Human Leukocyte Antigen class II (HLA-II) molecules present peptides to T lymphocytes and play an important role in adaptive immune responses. Characterizing the binding specificity of single HLA-II molecules has profound impacts for understanding cellular immunity, identifying the cause of autoimmune diseases, for immunotherapeutics, and vaccine development. Here, novel high-density peptide microarray technology combined with machine learning techniques were used to address this task at an unprecedented level of high-throughput. Microarrays with over 200,000 defined peptides were assayed with four exemplary HLA-II molecules. Machine learning was applied to mine the signals. The comparison of identified binding motifs, and power for predicting eluted ligands and CD4+ epitope datasets to that obtained using NetMHCIIpan-3.2, confirmed a high quality of the chip readout. These results suggest that the proposed microarray technology offers a novel and unique platform for large-scale unbiased interrogation of peptide binding preferences of HLA-II molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mareike Wendorff
- Genetics & Bioinformatics, Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | | | - Thomas Østerbye
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Hesham ElAbd
- Genetics & Bioinformatics, Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Elisa Rosati
- Genetics & Bioinformatics, Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Frauke Degenhardt
- Genetics & Bioinformatics, Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Søren Buus
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Andre Franke
- Genetics & Bioinformatics, Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Morten Nielsen
- IIBIO, UNSAM-CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
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Wolf D, Gerhardt T, Winkels H, Michel NA, Pramod AB, Ghosheh Y, Brunel S, Buscher K, Miller J, McArdle S, Baas L, Kobiyama K, Vassallo M, Ehinger E, Dileepan T, Ali A, Schell M, Mikulski Z, Sidler D, Kimura T, Sheng X, Horstmann H, Hansen S, Mitre LS, Stachon P, Hilgendorf I, Gaddis DE, Hedrick C, Benedict CA, Peters B, Zirlik A, Sette A, Ley K. Pathogenic Autoimmunity in Atherosclerosis Evolves From Initially Protective Apolipoprotein B 100-Reactive CD4 + T-Regulatory Cells. Circulation 2020; 142:1279-1293. [PMID: 32703007 PMCID: PMC7515473 DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.119.042863] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Throughout the inflammatory response that accompanies atherosclerosis, autoreactive CD4+ T-helper cells accumulate in the atherosclerotic plaque. Apolipoprotein B100 (apoB), the core protein of low-density lipoprotein, is an autoantigen that drives the generation of pathogenic T-helper type 1 (TH1) cells with proinflammatory cytokine secretion. Clinical data suggest the existence of apoB-specific CD4+ T cells with an atheroprotective, regulatory T cell (Treg) phenotype in healthy individuals. Yet, the function of apoB-reactive Tregs and their relationship with pathogenic TH1 cells remain unknown. METHODS To interrogate the function of autoreactive CD4+ T cells in atherosclerosis, we used a novel tetramer of major histocompatibility complex II to track T cells reactive to the mouse self-peptide apo B978-993 (apoB+) at the single-cell level. RESULTS We found that apoB+ T cells build an oligoclonal population in lymph nodes of healthy mice that exhibit a Treg-like transcriptome, although only 21% of all apoB+ T cells expressed the Treg transcription factor FoxP3 (Forkhead Box P3) protein as detected by flow cytometry. In single-cell RNA sequencing, apoB+ T cells formed several clusters with mixed TH signatures that suggested overlapping multilineage phenotypes with pro- and anti-inflammatory transcripts of TH1, T helper cell type 2 (TH2), and T helper cell type 17 (TH17), and of follicular-helper T cells. ApoB+ T cells were increased in mice and humans with atherosclerosis and progressively converted into pathogenic TH1/TH17-like cells with proinflammatory properties and only a residual Treg transcriptome. Plaque T cells that expanded during progression of atherosclerosis consistently showed a mixed TH1/TH17 phenotype in single-cell RNA sequencing. In addition, we observed a loss of FoxP3 in a fraction of apoB+ Tregs in lineage tracing of hyperlipidemic Apoe-/- mice. In adoptive transfer experiments, converting apoB+ Tregs failed to protect from atherosclerosis. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate an unexpected mixed phenotype of apoB-reactive autoimmune T cells in atherosclerosis and suggest an initially protective autoimmune response against apoB with a progressive derangement in clinical disease. These findings identify apoB autoreactive Tregs as a novel cellular target in atherosclerosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dennis Wolf
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA.,Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Teresa Gerhardt
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA.,Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Department of Cardiology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin (Campus Benjamin Franklin), Germany (T.G.)
| | - Holger Winkels
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Nathaly Anto Michel
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Department of Cardiology, Medical University Graz, Austria (N.A.M., A.Z.)
| | - Akula Bala Pramod
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA.,Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla (A.B.P.)
| | - Yanal Ghosheh
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Simon Brunel
- Division of Immune Regulation (S.B., D.S., C.A.B.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Konrad Buscher
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Jacqueline Miller
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Sara McArdle
- Microscopy Core Facility (S.M.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Livia Baas
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Kouji Kobiyama
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Melanie Vassallo
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Erik Ehinger
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | | | - Amal Ali
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Maximilian Schell
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Zbigniew Mikulski
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Daniel Sidler
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Takayuki Kimura
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Xia Sheng
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Hauke Horstmann
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Sophie Hansen
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Lucia Sol Mitre
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Peter Stachon
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Ingo Hilgendorf
- Department of Cardiology/Angiology I, University Heart Center Freiburg-Bad Krozingen, Germany (D.W., T.G., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.).,Medical Faculty, University of Freiburg, Germany (D.W., N.A.M., X.S., H.H., S.H., L.S.M., P.S., I.H.)
| | - Dalia E Gaddis
- Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation (D.E.G., C.H., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Catherine Hedrick
- Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation (D.E.G., C.H., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Chris A Benedict
- Division of Immune Regulation (S.B., D.S., C.A.B.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery (B.P., A.S.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Andreas Zirlik
- Department of Cardiology, Medical University Graz, Austria (N.A.M., A.Z.)
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery (B.P., A.S.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
| | - Klaus Ley
- Laboratory of Inflammation Biology(D.W., T.G., H.W., A.B.P., Y.G., K.B., J.M., L.B., K.K., M.V., E.E., A.A., M.S., T.K., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA.,Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation (D.E.G., C.H., K.L.), La Jolla Institute for Immunology, CA
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40
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Sachs A, Moore E, Kosaloglu-Yalcin Z, Peters B, Sidney J, Rosenberg SA, Robbins PF, Sette A. Impact of Cysteine Residues on MHC Binding Predictions and Recognition by Tumor-Reactive T Cells. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2020; 205:539-549. [PMID: 32571843 PMCID: PMC7413297 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1901173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2019] [Accepted: 05/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The availability of MHC-binding prediction tools has been useful in guiding studies aimed at identifying candidate target Ags to generate reactive T cells and to characterize viral and tumor-reactive T cells. Nevertheless, prediction algorithms appear to function poorly for epitopes containing cysteine (Cys) residues, which can oxidize and form disulfide bonds with other Cys residues under oxidizing conditions, thus potentially interfering with their ability to bind to MHC molecules. Analysis of the results of HLA-A*02:01 class I binding assays carried out in the presence and absence of the reducing agent 2-ME indicated that the predicted affinity for 25% of Cys-containing epitopes was underestimated by a factor of 3 or more. Additional analyses were undertaken to evaluate the responses of human CD8+ tumor-reactive T cells against 10 Cys-containing HLA class I-restricted minimal determinants containing substitutions of α-aminobutyric acid (AABA), a cysteine analogue containing a methyl group in place of the sulfhydryl group present in Cys, for the native Cys residues. Substitutions of AABA for Cys at putative MHC anchor positions often significantly enhanced T cell recognition, whereas substitutions at non-MHC anchor positions were neutral, except for one epitope where this modification abolished T cell recognition. These findings demonstrate the need to evaluate MHC binding and T cell recognition of Cys-containing peptides under conditions that prevent Cys oxidation, and to adjust current prediction binding algorithms for HLA-A*02:01 and potentially additional class I alleles to more accurately rank peptides containing Cys anchor residues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abraham Sachs
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1201
| | - Eugene Moore
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037; and
| | | | - Bjoern Peters
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037; and
| | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037; and
| | - Steven A Rosenberg
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1201
| | - Paul F Robbins
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1201;
| | - Alessandro Sette
- La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037; and
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA 92122
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41
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Abstract
Immunoinformatics is a discipline that applies methods of computer science to study and model the immune system. A fundamental question addressed by immunoinformatics is how to understand the rules of antigen presentation by MHC molecules to T cells, a process that is central to adaptive immune responses to infections and cancer. In the modern era of personalized medicine, the ability to model and predict which antigens can be presented by MHC is key to manipulating the immune system and designing strategies for therapeutic intervention. Since the MHC is both polygenic and extremely polymorphic, each individual possesses a personalized set of MHC molecules with different peptide-binding specificities, and collectively they present a unique individualized peptide imprint of the ongoing protein metabolism. Mapping all MHC allotypes is an enormous undertaking that cannot be achieved without a strong bioinformatics component. Computational tools for the prediction of peptide-MHC binding have thus become essential in most pipelines for T cell epitope discovery and an inescapable component of vaccine and cancer research. Here, we describe the development of several such tools, from pioneering efforts to the current state-of-the-art methods, that have allowed for accurate predictions of peptide binding of all MHC molecules, even including those that have not yet been characterized experimentally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morten Nielsen
- Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, CP 1650 San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Massimo Andreatta
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, CP 1650 San Martin, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California 92037, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Søren Buus
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
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42
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Herst CV, Burkholz S, Sidney J, Sette A, Harris PE, Massey S, Brasel T, Cunha-Neto E, Rosa DS, Chao WCH, Carback R, Hodge T, Wang L, Ciotlos S, Lloyd P, Rubsamen R. An effective CTL peptide vaccine for Ebola Zaire Based on Survivors' CD8+ targeting of a particular nucleocapsid protein epitope with potential implications for COVID-19 vaccine design. Vaccine 2020; 38:4464-4475. [PMID: 32418793 PMCID: PMC7186210 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.04.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 04/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The 2013-2016 West Africa EBOV epidemic was the biggest EBOV outbreak to date. An analysis of virus-specific CD8+ T-cell immunity in 30 survivors showed that 26 of those individuals had a CD8+ response to at least one EBOV protein. The dominant response (25/26 subjects) was specific to the EBOV nucleocapsid protein (NP). It has been suggested that epitopes on the EBOV NP could form an important part of an effective T-cell vaccine for Ebola Zaire. We show that a 9-amino-acid peptide NP44-52 (YQVNNLEEI) located in a conserved region of EBOV NP provides protection against morbidity and mortality after mouse adapted EBOV challenge. A single vaccination in a C57BL/6 mouse using an adjuvanted microsphere peptide vaccine formulation containing NP44-52 is enough to confer immunity in mice. Our work suggests that a peptide vaccine based on CD8+ T-cell immunity in EBOV survivors is conceptually sound and feasible. Nucleocapsid proteins within SARS-CoV-2 contain multiple Class I epitopes with predicted HLA restrictions consistent with broad population coverage. A similar approach to a CTL vaccine design may be possible for that virus.
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MESH Headings
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Animals
- COVID-19
- COVID-19 Vaccines
- Coronavirus Infections/immunology
- Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control
- Disease Models, Animal
- Drug Design
- Ebola Vaccines/chemistry
- Ebola Vaccines/immunology
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/chemistry
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/immunology
- Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola/immunology
- Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola/prevention & control
- Humans
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Nucleocapsid Proteins/chemistry
- Nucleocapsid Proteins/immunology
- Pandemics/prevention & control
- Pneumonia, Viral/immunology
- Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control
- T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic/immunology
- Vaccines, Subunit/chemistry
- Vaccines, Subunit/immunology
- Viral Vaccines/chemistry
- Viral Vaccines/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
- C V Herst
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - S Burkholz
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - J Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - A Sette
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle La Jolla, CA 92037, United States
| | - P E Harris
- Endocrinology Division, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - S Massey
- University of Texas, Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
| | - T Brasel
- University of Texas, Medical Branch, 301 University Blvd, Galveston, TX 77555, United States
| | - E Cunha-Neto
- Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Allergy-LIM60, University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil; Institute for Investigation in Immunology (iii) INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Heart Institute (Incor), School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - D S Rosa
- Institute for Investigation in Immunology (iii) INCT, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP/EPM), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - W C H Chao
- University of Macau, E12 Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
| | - R Carback
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - T Hodge
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - L Wang
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - S Ciotlos
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - P Lloyd
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States
| | - R Rubsamen
- Flow Pharma, Inc., 3451 Vincent Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523, United States; Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114, United States.
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43
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Abstract
Throughout the body, T cells monitor MHC-bound ligands expressed on the surface of essentially all cell types. MHC ligands that trigger a T cell immune response are referred to as T cell epitopes. Identifying such epitopes enables tracking, phenotyping, and stimulating T cells involved in immune responses in infectious disease, allergy, autoimmunity, transplantation, and cancer. The specific T cell epitopes recognized in an individual are determined by genetic factors such as the MHC molecules the individual expresses, in parallel to the individual's environmental exposure history. The complexity and importance of T cell epitope mapping have motivated the development of computational approaches that predict what T cell epitopes are likely to be recognized in a given individual or in a broader population. Such predictions guide experimental epitope mapping studies and enable computational analysis of the immunogenic potential of a given protein sequence region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California 92037, USA; ,
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
| | - Morten Nielsen
- Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark;
- Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas, Universidad Nacional de San Martín, B1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, California 92037, USA; ,
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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44
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Si Y, Zhao F, Beesetty P, Weiskopf D, Li Z, Tian Q, Alegre ML, Sette A, Chong AS, Montgomery CP. Inhibition of protective immunity against Staphylococcus aureus infection by MHC-restricted immunodominance is overcome by vaccination. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaaw7713. [PMID: 32270029 PMCID: PMC7112766 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw7713] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Recurrent Staphylococcus aureus infections are common, despite robust immune responses. S. aureus infection elicited protective antibody and T cell responses in mice that expressed the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) of the H-2d haplotype, but not H-2b, demonstrating that host genetics drives individual variability. Vaccination with a-toxin or leukotoxin E (LukE) elicited similar antibody and T cell responses in mice expressing H-2d or H-2b, but vaccine-elicited responses were inhibited by concomitant infection in H-2d-expressing mice. These findings suggested that competitive binding of microbial peptides to host MHC proteins determines the specificity of the immunodominant response, which was confirmed using LukE-derived peptide-MHC tetramers. A vaccine that elicited T cell and antibody responses protected mice that expressed H-2d or H-2b, demonstrating that vaccination can overcome MHC-restricted immunodominance. Together, these results define how host genetics determine whether immunity elicted by S. aureus is protective and provide a mechanistic roadmap for future vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Youhui Si
- Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Fan Zhao
- Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Pavani Beesetty
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Daniela Weiskopf
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zhaotao Li
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Qiaomu Tian
- Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anita S. Chong
- Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Christopher P. Montgomery
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
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45
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Srivastava R, Coulon PGA, Prakash S, Dhanushkodi NR, Roy S, Nguyen AM, Alomari NI, Mai UT, Amezquita C, Ye C, Maillère B, BenMohamed L. Human Epitopes Identified from Herpes Simplex Virus Tegument Protein VP11/12 (UL46) Recall Multifunctional Effector Memory CD4 + T EM Cells in Asymptomatic Individuals and Protect from Ocular Herpes Infection and Disease in "Humanized" HLA-DR Transgenic Mice. J Virol 2020; 94:e01991-19. [PMID: 31915285 PMCID: PMC7081904 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01991-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
While the role of CD8+ T cells in the control of herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infection and disease is gaining wider acceptance, a direct involvement of effector CD4+ T cells in this protection and the phenotype and function of HSV-specific human CD4+ T cell epitopes remain to be fully elucidated. In the present study, we report that several epitopes from the HSV-1 virion tegument protein (VP11/12) encoded by UL46 are targeted by CD4+ T cells from HSV-seropositive asymptomatic individuals (who, despite being infected, never develop any recurrent herpetic disease). Among these, we identified two immunodominant effector memory CD4+ TEM cell epitopes, amino acids (aa) 129 to 143 of VP11/12 (VP11/12129-143) and VP11/12483-497, using in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches based on the following: (i) a combination of the TEPITOPE algorithm and PepScan library scanning of the entire 718 aa of HSV-1 VP11/12 sequence; (ii) an in silico peptide-protein docking analysis and in vitro binding assay that identify epitopes with high affinity to soluble HLA-DRB1 molecules; and (iii) an ELISpot assay and intracellular detection of gamma interferon (IFN-γ), CD107a/b degranulation, and CD4+ T cell carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester (CFSE) proliferation assays. We demonstrated that native VP11/12129-143 and VP11/12483-497 epitopes presented by HSV-1-infected HLA-DR-positive target cells were recognized mainly by effector memory CD4+ TEM cells while being less targeted by FOXP3+ CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells. Furthermore, immunization of HLA-DR transgenic mice with a mixture of the two immunodominant human VP11/12 CD4+ TEM cell epitopes, but not with cryptic epitopes, induced HSV-specific polyfunctional IFN-γ-producing CD107ab+ CD4+ T cells associated with protective immunity against ocular herpes infection and disease.IMPORTANCE We report that naturally protected HSV-1-seropositive asymptomatic individuals develop a higher frequency of antiviral effector memory CD4+ TEM cells specific to two immunodominant epitopes derived from the HSV-1 tegument protein VP11/12. Immunization of HLA-DR transgenic mice with a mixture of these two immunodominant CD4+ T cell epitopes induced a robust antiviral CD4+ T cell response in the cornea that was associated with protective immunity against ocular herpes. The emerging concept of developing an asymptomatic herpes vaccine that would boost effector memory CD4+ and CD8+ TEM cell responses is discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruchi Srivastava
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Pierre-Gregoire A Coulon
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Swayam Prakash
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Nisha R Dhanushkodi
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Soumyabrata Roy
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Angela M Nguyen
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Nuha I Alomari
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Uyen T Mai
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Cassendra Amezquita
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Caitlin Ye
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
| | - Bernard Maillère
- Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives-Saclay, Université Paris-Saclay, Service d'Ingénierie Moléculaire des Protéines, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Lbachir BenMohamed
- Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
- Institute for Immunology, University of California Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, California, USA
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46
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Smith MR, Bugada LF, Wen F. Rapid microsphere-assisted peptide screening (MAPS) of promiscuous MHCII-binding peptides in Zika virus envelope protein. AIChE J 2020; 66:e16697. [PMID: 33343002 PMCID: PMC7747769 DOI: 10.1002/aic.16697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Despite promising developments in computational tools, peptide-class II MHC (MHCII) binding predictors continue to lag behind their peptide-class I MHC counterparts. Consequently, peptide-MHCII binding is often evaluated experimentally using competitive binding assays, which tend to sacrifice throughput for quantitative binding detail. Here, we developed a high-throughput semiquantitative peptide-MHCII screening strategy termed microsphere-assisted peptide screening (MAPS) that aims to balance the accuracy of competitive binding assays with the throughput of computational tools. Using MAPS, we screened a peptide library from Zika virus envelope (E) protein for binding to four common MHCII alleles (DR1, DR4, DR7, DR15). Interestingly, MAPS revealed a significant overlap between peptides that promiscuously bind multiple MHCII alleles and antibody neutralization sites. This overlap was also observed for rotavirus outer capsid glycoprotein VP7, suggesting a deeper relationship between B cell and CD4+ T cell specificity which can facilitate the design of broadly protective vaccines to Zika and other viruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mason R. Smith
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Luke F. Bugada
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Catalysis Science and Technology Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Fei Wen
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Catalysis Science and Technology Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
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47
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Paul S, Grifoni A, Peters B, Sette A. Major Histocompatibility Complex Binding, Eluted Ligands, and Immunogenicity: Benchmark Testing and Predictions. Front Immunol 2020; 10:3151. [PMID: 32117208 PMCID: PMC7012937 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.03151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Accepted: 12/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Antidrug antibody (ADA) responses impact drug safety, potency, and efficacy. It is generally assumed that ADA responses are associated with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II-restricted CD4+ T-cell reactivity. Although this review does not address ADA responses per se, the analysis presented here is relevant to the topic, because measuring or predicting CD4+ T-cell reactivity is a common strategy to address ADA and immunogenicity concerns. Because human CD4+ T-cell reactivity relies on the recognition of peptides bound to HLA class II, prediction, or measurement of the capacity of different peptides to bind or be natural ligands of HLA class II is used as a predictor of CD4+ T-cell reactivity and ADA development. Thus, three different interconnected variables are commonly utilized in predicting T-cell reactivity: major histocompatibility complex (MHC) binding, capacity to be generated as natural HLA ligands, and T-cell immunogenicity. To provide the scientific community with guidance in the relative merit of different approaches, it is necessary to clearly define what outcomes are being considered. Thus, the accuracy of HLA binding predictions varies as a function of what the outcome predicted is, whether it is binding itself, natural processing, or T-cell immunogenicity. Furthermore, it is necessary that the accuracy of prediction is based on rigorous benchmarking, grounded by fair, objective, transparent, and experimental criteria. In this review, we provide our perspective on how different variables and methodologies predict each of the various outcomes and point out knowledge gaps and areas to be addressed by further experimental work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sinu Paul
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Alba Grifoni
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
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48
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Heide J, Wildner NH, Ackermann C, Wittner M, Marget M, Sette A, Sidney J, Jacobs T, Schulze Zur Wiesch J. Detection of EXP1-Specific CD4+ T Cell Responses Directed Against a Broad Range of Epitopes Including Two Promiscuous MHC Class II Binders During Acute Plasmodium falciparum Malaria. Front Immunol 2020; 10:3037. [PMID: 32038611 PMCID: PMC6993587 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2019.03037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/11/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Background: T cells are thought to play a major role in conferring immunity against malaria. This study aimed to comprehensively define the breadth and specificity of the Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum)-specific CD4+ T cell response directed against the exported protein 1 (EXP1) in a cohort of patients diagnosed with acute malaria. Methods: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 44 patients acutely infected with P. falciparum, and of one patient infected with P. vivax, were stimulated and cultured in vitro with an overlapping set of 31 P. falciparum-specific 13-17-mer peptides covering the entire EXP1 sequence. EXP1-specific T cell responses were analyzed by ELISPOT and intracellular cytokine staining for interferon-γ production after re-stimulation with individual peptides. For further characterization of the epitopes, in silico and in vitro human leukocyte antigen (HLA) binding studies and fine mapping assays were performed. Results: We detected one or more EXP1-specific CD4+ T cell responses (mean: 1.09, range 0–5) in 47% (21/45) of our patients. Responses were directed against 15 of the 31 EXP1 peptides. Peptides EXP1-P13 (aa60-74) and P15 (aa70-85) were detected by 18% (n = 8) and 27% (n = 12) of the 45 patients screened. The optimal length, as well as the corresponding most likely HLA-restriction, of each of these two peptides was assessed. Interestingly, we also identified one CD4+ T cell response against peptide EXP1-P15 in a patient who was infected with P. vivax but not falciparum. Conclusions: This first detailed characterization of novel EXP1-specific T cell epitopes provides important information for future analysis with major histocompatibility complex-multimer technology as well as for immunomonitoring and vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janna Heide
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Nils H Wildner
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christin Ackermann
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Melanie Wittner
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Marget
- Department of Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States.,Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - John Sidney
- Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Immunology, La Jolla, CA, United States
| | - Thomas Jacobs
- Protozoa Immunology, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Julian Schulze Zur Wiesch
- Infectious Diseases Unit, I. Department of Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, Hamburg, Germany
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49
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Guvenel A, Jozwik A, Ascough S, Ung SK, Paterson S, Kalyan M, Gardener Z, Bergstrom E, Kar S, Habibi MS, Paras A, Zhu J, Park M, Dhariwal J, Almond M, Wong EH, Sykes A, Del Rosario J, Trujillo-Torralbo MB, Mallia P, Sidney J, Peters B, Kon OM, Sette A, Johnston SL, Openshaw PJ, Chiu C. Epitope-specific airway-resident CD4+ T cell dynamics during experimental human RSV infection. J Clin Invest 2020; 130:523-538. [PMID: 31815739 PMCID: PMC6934186 DOI: 10.1172/jci131696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 10/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUNDRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an important cause of acute pulmonary disease and one of the last remaining major infections of childhood for which there is no vaccine. CD4+ T cells play a key role in antiviral immunity, but they have been little studied in the human lung.METHODSHealthy adult volunteers were inoculated i.n. with RSV A Memphis 37. CD4+ T cells in blood and the lower airway were analyzed by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. Bronchial soluble mediators were measured using quantitative PCR and MesoScale Discovery. Epitope mapping was performed by IFN-γ ELISpot screening, confirmed by in vitro MHC binding.RESULTSActivated CD4+ T cell frequencies in bronchoalveolar lavage correlated strongly with local C-X-C motif chemokine 10 levels. Thirty-nine epitopes were identified, predominantly toward the 3' end of the viral genome. Five novel MHC II tetramers were made using an immunodominant EFYQSTCSAVSKGYL (F-EFY) epitope restricted to HLA-DR4, -DR9, and -DR11 (combined allelic frequency: 15% in Europeans) and G-DDF restricted to HLA-DPA1*01:03/DPB1*02:01 and -DPA1*01:03/DPB1*04:01 (allelic frequency: 55%). Tetramer labeling revealed enrichment of resident memory CD4+ T (Trm) cells in the lower airway; these Trm cells displayed progressive differentiation, downregulation of costimulatory molecules, and elevated CXCR3 expression as infection evolved.CONCLUSIONSHuman infection challenge provides a unique opportunity to study the breadth of specificity and dynamics of RSV-specific T-cell responses in the target organ, allowing the precise investigation of Trm recognizing novel viral antigens over time. The new tools that we describe enable precise tracking of RSV-specific CD4+ cells, potentially accelerating the development of effective vaccines.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov NCT02755948.FUNDINGMedical Research Council, Wellcome Trust, National Institute for Health Research.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Stephanie Ascough
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Seng Kuong Ung
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Suzanna Paterson
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mohini Kalyan
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Zoe Gardener
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Emma Bergstrom
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Satwik Kar
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | | | - Jie Zhu
- National Heart and Lung Institute and
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - John Sidney
- Centre for Infectious Disease, Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA
| | - Bjoern Peters
- Centre for Infectious Disease, Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA
| | | | - Alessandro Sette
- Centre for Infectious Disease, Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA
- Department of Medicine, UCSD, La Jolla, California, USA
| | | | | | - Christopher Chiu
- Department of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
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50
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Free ME, Stember KG, Hess JJ, McInnis EA, Lardinois O, Hogan SL, Hu Y, Mendoza C, Le AK, Guseman AJ, Pilkinton MA, Bortone DS, Cowens K, Sidney J, Karosiene E, Peters B, James E, Kwok WW, Vincent BG, Mallal SA, Jennette JC, Ciavatta DJ, Falk RJ. Restricted myeloperoxidase epitopes drive the adaptive immune response in MPO-ANCA vasculitis. J Autoimmun 2020; 106:102306. [PMID: 31383567 PMCID: PMC6930338 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaut.2019.102306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Revised: 07/16/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Treatment of autoimmune diseases has relied on broad immunosuppression. Knowledge of specific interactions between human leukocyte antigen (HLA), the autoantigen, and effector immune cells, provides the foundation for antigen-specific therapies. These studies investigated the role of HLA, specific myeloperoxidase (MPO) epitopes, CD4+ T cells, and ANCA specificity in shaping the immune response in patients with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA) vasculitis. METHODS HLA sequence-based typing identified enriched alleles in our patient population (HLA-DPB1*04:01 and HLA-DRB4*01:01), while in silico and in vitro binding studies confirmed binding between HLA and specific MPO epitopes. Class II tetramers with MPO peptides were utilized to detect autoreactive CD4+ T cells. TCR sequencing was performed to determine the clonality of T cell populations. Longitudinal peptide ELISAs assessed the temporal nature of anti-MPO447-461 antibodies. Solvent accessibility combined with chemical modification determined the buried regions of MPO. RESULTS We identified a restricted region of MPO that was recognized by both CD4+ T cells and ANCA. The autoreactive T cell population contained CD4+CD25intermediateCD45RO+ memory T cells and secreted IL-17A. T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing demonstrated that autoreactive CD4+ T cells had significantly less TCR diversity when compared to naïve and memory T cells, indicating clonal expansion. The anti-MPO447-461 autoantibody response was detectable at onset of disease in some patients and correlated with disease activity in others. This region of MPO that is targeted by both T cells and antibodies is not accessible to solvent or chemical modification, indicating these epitopes are buried. CONCLUSIONS These observations reveal interactions between restricted MPO epitopes and the adaptive immune system within ANCA vasculitis that may inform new antigen-specific therapies in autoimmune disease while providing insight into immunopathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meghan E Free
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.
| | - Katherine G Stember
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, CB #7525, Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jacob J Hess
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Elizabeth A McInnis
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Olivier Lardinois
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Susan L Hogan
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Yichun Hu
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Carmen Mendoza
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Andrew K Le
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Alex J Guseman
- UNC Department of Chemistry, CB #3290, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Mark A Pilkinton
- Vanderbilt Center for Translational Immunology and Infectious Diseases, A2200 MCN, 1161 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - Dante S Bortone
- UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, CB #7295, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Kristen Cowens
- UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, CB #7295, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Edita Karosiene
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Bjoern Peters
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, 9420 Athena Circle, La Jolla, CA, 92037, USA
| | - Eddie James
- Benaroya Research Institute, 1201 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
| | - William W Kwok
- Benaroya Research Institute, 1201 Ninth Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98101, USA
| | - Benjamin G Vincent
- UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, CB #7295, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Physician's Office Building, 3rd Floor, 170 Manning Drive, CB #7305, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, CB #7264, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Simon A Mallal
- Vanderbilt Center for Translational Immunology and Infectious Diseases, A2200 MCN, 1161 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - J Charles Jennette
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, CB #7525, Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Dominic J Ciavatta
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Coker Hall, 120 South Road, CB #3280, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Ronald J Falk
- UNC Kidney Center, Department of Medicine, 7024 Burnett-Womack, CB #7155, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA; UNC Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, CB #7525, Brinkhous-Bullitt Building, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
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