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Zhang J, Sun B, Shen W, Wang Z, Liu Y, Sun Y, Zhang J, Liu R, Wang Y, Bai T, Ma Z, Luo C, Qiao X, Zhang X, Yang S, Sun Y, Jiang D, Yang K. In Silico Analyses, Experimental Verification and Application in DNA Vaccines of Ebolavirus GP-Derived pan-MHC-II-Restricted Epitopes. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1620. [PMID: 37897022 PMCID: PMC10610722 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11101620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background and Purpose: Ebola virus (EBOV) is the causative agent of Ebola virus disease (EVD), which causes extremely high mortality and widespread epidemics. The only glycoprotein (GP) on the surface of EBOV particles is the key to mediating viral invasion into host cells. DNA vaccines for EBOV are in development, but their effectiveness is unclear. The lack of immune characteristics resides in antigenic MHC class II reactivity. (2) Methods: We selected MHC-II molecules from four human leukocyte antigen II (HLA-II) superfamilies with 98% population coverage and eight mouse H2-I alleles. IEDB, NetMHCIIpan, SYFPEITHI, and Rankpep were used to screen MHC-II-restricted epitopes with high affinity for EBOV GP. Further immunogenicity and conservation analyses were performed using VaxiJen and BLASTp, respectively. EpiDock was used to simulate molecular docking. Cluster analysis and binding affinity analysis of EBOV GP epitopes and selected MHC-II molecules were performed using data from NetMHCIIpan. The selective GP epitopes were verified by the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay using splenocytes of BALB/c (H2d), C3H, and C57 mice after DNA vaccine pVAX-GPEBO immunization. Subsequently, BALB/c mice were immunized with Protein-GPEBO, plasmid pVAX-GPEBO, and pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO, which encoded EBOV GP. The dominant epitopes of BALB/c (H-2-I-AdEd genotype) mice were verified by the enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay. It is also used to evaluate and explore the advantages of pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO and the reasons behind them. (3) Results: Thirty-one HLA-II-restricted and 68 H2-I-restricted selective epitopes were confirmed to have high affinity, immunogenicity, and conservation. Nineteen selective epitopes have cross-species reactivity with good performance in MHC-II molecular docking. The ELISpot results showed that pVAX-GPEBO could induce a cellular immune response to the synthesized selective peptides. The better immunoprotection of the DNA vaccines pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO coincides with the enhancement of the MHC class II response. (4) Conclusions: Promising MHC-II-restricted candidate epitopes of EBOV GP were identified in humans and mice, which is of great significance for the development and evaluation of Ebola vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junqi Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Baozeng Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- Yingtan Detachment, Jiangxi Corps, Chinese People’s Armed Police Force, Yingtan 335000, China
| | - Wenyang Shen
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Zhenjie Wang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yang Liu
- Institute of AIDS Prevention and Control, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China;
| | - Yubo Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Jiaxing Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Ruibo Liu
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yongkai Wang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Tianyuan Bai
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Zilu Ma
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Cheng Luo
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xupeng Qiao
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Xiyang Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Shuya Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Yuanjie Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
| | - Dongbo Jiang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- Institute of AIDS Prevention and Control, Shaanxi Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Xi’an 710054, China;
| | - Kun Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China; (J.Z.); (B.S.); (W.S.); (Z.W.); (Y.S.); (J.Z.); (R.L.); (Y.W.); (T.B.); (Z.M.); (C.L.); (X.Q.); (X.Z.); (S.Y.); (Y.S.)
- The Key Laboratory of Bio-Hazard Damage and Prevention Medicine, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710032, China
- Department of Rheumatology, Tangdu Hospital, Air-Force Medical University (The Fourth Military Medical University), Xi’an 710038, China
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Aquino VH, Fumagalli MJ, Silva A, de Moura Negrini BV, Rojas A, Guillen Y, Bernal C, Figueiredo LTM. Linear epitope mapping in the E and NS1 proteins of dengue and Zika viruses: Prospection of peptides for vaccines and diagnostics. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0292451. [PMID: 37788262 PMCID: PMC10547212 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The arrival of the Zika virus (ZIKV) in dengue virus (DENV)-endemic areas has posed challenges for both differential diagnosis and vaccine development. Peptides have shown promise in addressing these issues. The aim of this study was to identify the linear epitope profile recognized by serum samples from dengue and Zika patients in the E and NS1 proteins of DENV and ZIKV. This cross-sectional study included individuals of all ages with laboratory-confirmed DENV and ZIKV infections, who were selected through convenience sampling. The serum samples from dengue and Zika patients detected epitopes evenly distributed across the viral proteins in a peptide microarray platform. However, several epitopes were located within "epitope hotspots", characterized by clusters of peptides recognized in more than 30% of the sub-arrays analyzed using individual or pooled serum samples. The serum samples from dengue and Zika patients showed a high level of cross-reactivity with peptides in the DENV and ZIKV proteins. Analysis using an additional peptide microarray platform, which contained peptides selected based on the results of the initial screening, revealed that two DENV and one ZIKV peptide, highly specific to their related viruses, were located within the epitope hotspots; however, they presented low detection rates (32.5, 35.0, and 28.6%, respectively). In addition, two DENV peptides detected at similarly high rates by both dengue and Zika patients were also found within the epitope hotspots. These hotspots contain several immunodominant epitopes that are recognized by a larger number of individuals when compared to 15-amino acid (aa) sequence peptides. Thus, epitope hotspots may have greater potential to serve as antigens in diagnostic tests and vaccine development than peptides composed of only 15 amino acids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor Hugo Aquino
- Immunology Department, Research Institute for Health Sciences, National University of Asuncion, San Lorenzo, Central, Paraguay
- Department of Clinical Analyses, Toxicology and Food Sciences, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marcilio J. Fumagalli
- Virology Research Center, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Angélica Silva
- Virology Research Center, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Alejandra Rojas
- Production Department, Research Institute for Health Sciences, National University of Asuncion, San Lorenzo, Central, Paraguay
| | - Yvalena Guillen
- Production Department, Research Institute for Health Sciences, National University of Asuncion, San Lorenzo, Central, Paraguay
| | - Cynthia Bernal
- Production Department, Research Institute for Health Sciences, National University of Asuncion, San Lorenzo, Central, Paraguay
| | - Luiz Tadeu Moraes Figueiredo
- Virology Research Center, Ribeirao Preto Medical School, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Sun Y, Zhang X, Yang S, Hu C, Pan J, Liu T, Ding J, Han C, Huang Y, Yang K. Preparation of antibodies against TXR1 and construction of a new DNA tumor vaccine. Int Immunopharmacol 2022; 103:108505. [PMID: 34995995 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2021.108505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Taxol-resistance gene 1 (TXR1) is closely correlated with the paclitaxel resistance in the cancer chemotherapy. However, due to the lack of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with strong specificity and high sensitivity, little information is found about TXR1 target-related tumor therapy. METHODS We developed an TXR1 recombinant DNA vaccine by inserting TXR1 DNA sequence into lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1). Adaptive immune responses were assessed by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Enzyme-linked immunospot test (ELISpot), and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) cytotoxicity. RESULTS The pGEX4T-1-TXR1 reconstructed prokaryotic expression plasmid was constructed for producing high-purity TXR1 protein. Subsequently, a total of four mAbs for TXR1 and two PcAbs were successfully constructed and identified. We further found that TXR1 was highly expressed in breast cancer tissue than normal controls. Therefore, we constructed four tumor vectors, pVAX1-LAMP/TXR1, pVAX1-LAMP, pVAX1/TXR1 and pVAX1, for immunization. After three times of immunization, ELISpot data showed that single peptide 6,9,11 could stimulate T cells secreting IFN-γ in pVAX1-LAMP/TXR1 group. Moreover, the number of specific T cells and immune response effects significantly increased comparing to the pVAX1-LAMP control group. In addition, cytotoxicity showed that when the effect to target ratio was 40:l the killing effect of pVAX1-LAMP/TXR1 group was significantly higher than the pVAX1-TXR1 group. CONCLUSION Our results provides new evidence for the TXR1 related tumor immunology and aids the early prevention of cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanjie Sun
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xiyang Zhang
- Military Medical Innovation Center, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Shuya Yang
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Chenchen Hu
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Jingyu Pan
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Tianyue Liu
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Jiaqi Ding
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Chenying Han
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yinan Huang
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Kun Yang
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
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Tsai SJ, Atai NA, Cacciottolo M, Nice J, Salehi A, Guo C, Sedgwick A, Kanagavelu S, Gould SJ. Exosome-mediated mRNA delivery in vivo is safe and can be used to induce SARS-CoV-2 immunity. J Biol Chem 2021; 297:101266. [PMID: 34600888 PMCID: PMC8483990 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Revised: 09/17/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional delivery of mRNA has high clinical potential. Previous studies established that mRNAs can be delivered to cells in vitro and in vivo via RNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Here we describe an alternative approach using exosomes, the only biologically normal nanovesicle. In contrast to LNPs, which elicited pronounced cellular toxicity, exosomes had no adverse effects in vitro or in vivo at any dose tested. Moreover, mRNA-loaded exosomes were characterized by efficient mRNA encapsulation (∼90%), high mRNA content, consistent size, and a polydispersity index under 0.2. Using an mRNA encoding the red light-emitting luciferase Antares2, we observed that mRNA-loaded exosomes were superior to mRNA-loaded LNPs at delivering functional mRNA into human cells in vitro. Injection of Antares2 mRNA-loaded exosomes also led to strong light emission following injection into the vitreous fluid of the eye or into the tissue of skeletal muscle in mice. Furthermore, we show that repeated injection of Antares2 mRNA-loaded exosomes drove sustained luciferase expression across six injections spanning at least 10 weeks, without evidence of signal attenuation or adverse injection site responses. Consistent with these findings, we observed that exosomes loaded with mRNAs encoding immunogenic forms of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike and Nucleocapsid proteins induced long-lasting cellular and humoral responses to both. Taken together, these results demonstrate that exosomes can be used to deliver functional mRNA to and into cells in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shang Jui Tsai
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | - Nadia A Atai
- Capricor Therapeutics, Inc, Beverly Hills, California, USA
| | | | - Justin Nice
- Capricor Therapeutics, Inc, Beverly Hills, California, USA
| | - Arjang Salehi
- Capricor Therapeutics, Inc, Beverly Hills, California, USA
| | - Chenxu Guo
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
| | | | | | - Stephen J Gould
- Department of Biological Chemistry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
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Liu Y, Sun B, Pan J, Feng Y, Ye W, Xu J, Lan M, Sun H, Zhang X, Sun Y, Yang S, Shi J, Zhang F, Cheng L, Jiang D, Yang K. Construction and evaluation of DNA vaccine encoding Ebola virus glycoprotein fused with lysosome-associated membrane protein. Antiviral Res 2021; 193:105141. [PMID: 34274417 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2021.105141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 06/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Ebola virus (EBOV) of the genus Ebolavirus belongs to the family Filoviridae, which cause disease in both humans and non-human primates. Zaire Ebola virus accounts for the highest fatality rate, reaching 90%. Considering that EBOV has a high infection and fatality rate, the development of a highly effective vaccine has become a top public health priority. Glycoprotein (GP) plays a critical role during infection and protective immune responses. Herein, we developed an EBOV GP recombinant DNA vaccine that targets the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II compartment by fusing with lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1). Through lysosome trafficking and antigen presentation transferring, the LAMP1 targeting strategy successfully improved both humoral and cellular EBOV-GP-specific immune responses. After three consecutive immunizations, the serum antibody titers, especially the neutralizing activity of mice immunized with the pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO vaccine were significantly higher than those of the other groups. Antigen-specific T cells showed positive activity against three dominant peptides, EAAVSHLTTLATIST, IGEWAFWETKKNLTR, and ELRTFSILNRKAIDF, with high affinity for MHC class II molecules predicted by IEDB-recommended. Preliminary safety observation denied histological alterations. DNA vaccine candidate pVAX-LAMP/GPEBO shows promise against Ebola epidemic and further evaluation is guaranteed.
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MESH Headings
- Animals
- Antibodies, Neutralizing/blood
- Antibodies, Viral/blood
- BALB 3T3 Cells
- Ebola Vaccines/administration & dosage
- Ebola Vaccines/adverse effects
- Ebola Vaccines/genetics
- Ebola Vaccines/immunology
- Ebolavirus/genetics
- Ebolavirus/immunology
- Female
- Glycoproteins/genetics
- Glycoproteins/immunology
- Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola/immunology
- Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola/prevention & control
- Humans
- Lysosomal Membrane Proteins/genetics
- Lysosomal Membrane Proteins/immunology
- Mice
- Neutralization Tests
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins/genetics
- Recombinant Fusion Proteins/immunology
- Vaccines, DNA/administration & dosage
- Vaccines, DNA/adverse effects
- Vaccines, DNA/immunology
- Vaccines, Synthetic/administration & dosage
- Vaccines, Synthetic/adverse effects
- Vaccines, Synthetic/genetics
- Vaccines, Synthetic/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
- Yang Liu
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Baozeng Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Jingyu Pan
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Yuancai Feng
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Wei Ye
- Department of Microbiology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Jiahao Xu
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Mingfu Lan
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Hao Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Xiyang Zhang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Yuanjie Sun
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Shuya Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Jingqi Shi
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Fanglin Zhang
- Department of Microbiology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Linfeng Cheng
- Department of Microbiology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China
| | - Dongbo Jiang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China.
| | - Kun Yang
- Department of Immunology, Basic Medicine School, Air-Force Medical University (the Fourth Military Medical University), Xi'an, Shaanxi, 86-710032, PR China.
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Rice A, Verma M, Shin A, Zakin L, Sieling P, Tanaka S, Balint J, Dinkins K, Adisetiyo H, Morimoto B, Higashide W, Anders Olson C, Mody S, Spilman P, Gabitzsch E, Safrit JT, Rabizadeh S, Niazi K, Soon-Shiong P. Intranasal plus subcutaneous prime vaccination with a dual antigen COVID-19 vaccine elicits T-cell and antibody responses in mice. Sci Rep 2021; 11:14917. [PMID: 34290317 PMCID: PMC8295250 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94364-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 07/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
We have developed a COVID-19 vaccine, hAd5 S-Fusion + N-ETSD, that expresses SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins with modifications to increase immune responses delivered using a human adenovirus serotype 5 (hAd5) platform. Here, we demonstrate subcutaneous (SC) prime and SC boost vaccination of CD-1 mice with this dual-antigen vaccine elicits T-helper cell 1 (Th1) biased T-cell and humoral responses to both S and N that are greater than those seen with hAd5 S wild type delivering only unmodified S. We then compared SC to intranasal (IN) prime vaccination with SC or IN boosts and show that an IN prime with an IN boost is as effective at generating Th1 biased humoral responses as the other combinations tested, but an SC prime with an IN or SC boost elicits greater T cell responses. Finally, we used a combined SC plus IN (SC + IN) prime with or without a boost and found the SC + IN prime alone to be as effective in generating humoral and T-cell responses as the SC + IN prime with a boost. The finding that SC + IN prime-only delivery has the potential to provide broad immunity-including mucosal immunity-against SARS-CoV-2 supports further testing of this vaccine and delivery approach in animal models of viral challenge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Rice
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Mohit Verma
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Annie Shin
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Lise Zakin
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Peter Sieling
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Shiho Tanaka
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Joseph Balint
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Kyle Dinkins
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Helty Adisetiyo
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Brett Morimoto
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Wendy Higashide
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - C Anders Olson
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Shivani Mody
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | - Patricia Spilman
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | | | - Jeffrey T Safrit
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
| | | | - Kayvan Niazi
- ImmunityBio, Inc., 9920 Jefferson Blvd, Culver City, CA, 90232, USA
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7
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Sharma B, Shahanshah MFH, Gupta S, Gupta V. Recent advances in the diagnosis of COVID-19: a bird's eye view. Expert Rev Mol Diagn 2021; 21:475-491. [PMID: 33423567 PMCID: PMC7938659 DOI: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1874354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic is still escalating and has shaped an extraordinary and pressing need for rapid diagnostics with high sensitivity and specificity. Prompt diagnosis is the key to mitigate this situation. As several diagnostic tools for COVID-19 are already available and others are still under development, mandating a comprehensive review of the efficacy of existing tools and evaluate the potential of others. AREAS COVERED Currently explored platforms for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics and surveillance centered on qRT-PCR, RT-PCR, CRISPR, microarray, LAMP, lateral flow immunoassays, proteomics-based approaches, and radiological scans are overviewed and summarized in this review along with their advantages and downsides. A narrative literature review was carried out by accessing the freely available online databases to encapsulate the developments in medical diagnostics. EXPERT OPINION An ideal detection method should be sensitive, specific, rapid, cost-effective, and should allow early diagnosis of the infection as near as possible to the point of care that could alter the current situation for the better. Medical diagnostics is a highly dynamic field as no diagnostic method available for SARS-CoV-2 detection offers a perfect solution and requires more attention and continuous R&D to challenge the present-day pandemic situation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bhawna Sharma
- Department of Microbiology, Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi, 110021, India
| | | | - Sanjay Gupta
- Independent Scholar Former Head and Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, UP, India
| | - Vandana Gupta
- Department of Microbiology, Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi, 110021, India
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8
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Mao L, Chen Z, Wang Y, Chen C. Design and application of nanoparticles as vaccine adjuvants against human corona virus infection. J Inorg Biochem 2021; 219:111454. [PMID: 33878530 PMCID: PMC8007196 DOI: 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2021.111454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In recent years, some viruses have caused a grave crisis to global public health, especially the human coronavirus. A truly effective vaccine is therefore urgently needed. Vaccines should generally have two features: delivering antigens and modulating immunity. Adjuvants have an unshakable position in the battle against the virus. In addition to the perennial use of aluminium adjuvant, nanoparticles have become the developing adjuvant candidates due to their unique properties. Here we introduce several typical nanoparticles and their antivirus vaccine adjuvant applications. Finally, for the combating of the coronavirus, we propose several design points, hoping to provide ideas for the development of personalized vaccines and adjuvants and accelerate the clinical application of adjuvants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lichun Mao
- CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Ziwei Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China
| | - Yaling Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, PR China; GBA National Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation, Guangdong 510700, PR China.
| | - Chunying Chen
- CAS Key Laboratory for Biomedical Effects of Nanomaterials and Nanosafety, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing 100190, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China; GBA National Institute for Nanotechnology Innovation, Guangdong 510700, PR China; Research Unit of Nanoscience and Technology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100021, PR China.
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9
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Al-Qahtani WS, Alsafhi FA. A Commentary on Realities of Developing COVID-19 Vaccines Discussed through the Global Health Safety Perspective. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:274. [PMID: 33803704 PMCID: PMC8003031 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9030274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2021] [Revised: 03/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 (or simply COVID-19) remains to be a global pandemic issue affecting millions, thus urging the world's scientific community to develop efficient vaccine and design adequate measures of disease control. Currently, the most economically viable solution to infections and viruses is vaccination, despite the possible concerns about side effects from implementing quickly developed vaccine. The current commentary intends to explain the health and safety related to COVID-19 vaccines via a prism of global health safety. Scientists across the globe, along with companies from both public and private sectors, have predictably arranged cooperative programs to learn about COVID-19, along with taking simultaneous steps on devising vaccine and preparing effective treatments plans. Presently, several clinical trials to approve the efficiency of proposed vaccine solutions have been made successfully. Global health safety concerns on vaccine's efficiency such as high costs of production, provision of vaccine to developing countries, and its influence on the global economy are addressed. This commentary reflects on current efforts related to the development of vaccine against COVID-19, which currently affects the global health status and economy. In addition, the commentary aims at addressing potential risks related to the development of COVID-19 vaccine from the global health safety perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wedad Saeed Al-Qahtani
- Department of Forensic Sciences, College of Criminal Justice, Naif Arab University for Security Sciences, Riyadh 11452, Saudi Arabia
| | - Fatmah Ahmed Alsafhi
- Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11452, Saudi Arabia;
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10
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Rehman Z, Fahim A, Bhatti MF. Scouting the receptor-binding domain of SARS coronavirus 2: a comprehensive immunoinformatics inquisition. Future Virol 2021. [PMCID: PMC7899787 DOI: 10.2217/fvl-2020-0269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Aim: December 2019 witnessed the emergence of a worldwide outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus (CoV) termed SARS-CoV-2. Several preventive strategies are being developed, such as vaccines, to stop the spread of infection. Materials & methods: A comprehensive immunoinformatics approach was used to map conserved peptide sequences on the receptor binding domain of SARS-CoV-2 for their B-cell, T-helper & T-cytotoxic cell epitope profiles. Results & conclusion: The antigenic B-cell epitopes were LFRKSN and SYGFQPT. Among T-cell epitopes, CVADYSVLY and FTNVYADSF exhibited affinity for MHC class I, while YRLFRKSNL and VYAWNRKRI exhibited affinity for of MHC class II alleles. The overlapping epitope between B- and T-cells was YRLFRKSNL. The deployment of these epitopes in potential vaccine development against COVID-19 may help in slowing down the SARS-CoV-2 spread.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zaira Rehman
- Department of Virology, National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Ammad Fahim
- Department of Multidisciplinary Sciences, National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS), Rawalpindi, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Faraz Bhatti
- Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB),National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Sector H-12, Islamabad, Pakistan
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11
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Gholami M, Safari S, Ulloa L, Motaghinejad M. Neuropathies and neurological dysfunction induced by coronaviruses. J Neurovirol 2021; 27:380-396. [PMID: 33983506 PMCID: PMC8117458 DOI: 10.1007/s13365-021-00977-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2020] [Revised: 01/23/2021] [Accepted: 04/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
During the recent years, viral epidemic due to coronaviruses, such as SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus Syndrome (MERS), and COVID-19 (coronavirus disese-19), has become a global problem. In addition to causing cardiovascular and respiratory lethal dysfunction, these viruses can cause neurodegeneration leading to neurological disorders. Review of the current scientific literature reveals the multiple neuropathies and neuronal dysfunction associated with these viruses. Here, we review the major findings of these studies and discuss the main neurological sequels and outcomes of coronavirus infections with SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. This article analyzes and discusses the main mechanisms of coronavirus-induced neurodegeneration according to the current experimental and clinical studies. Coronaviruses can damage the nerves directly through endovascular dysfunctions thereby affecting nerve structures and synaptic connections. Coronaviruses can also induce neural cell degeneration indirectly via mitochondrial dysfunction inducing oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis. Thus, coronaviruses can cause neurological disorders by inducing neurovascular dysfunction affecting nerve structures and synaptic connections, and by inducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. While some of these mechanisms are similar to other RNA viruses, the neurotoxic mechanisms of COVID-19, MERS, and SARS-CoV viruses are unknown and need detailed clinical and experimental studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mina Gholami
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sepideh Safari
- Razi Drug Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Luis Ulloa
- Center for Perioperative Organ Protection, Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University, NC, 27710, Durham, USA.
| | - Majid Motaghinejad
- Razi Drug Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
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12
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Kaur SP, Gupta V. COVID-19 Vaccine: A comprehensive status report. Virus Res 2020; 288:198114. [PMID: 32800805 PMCID: PMC7423510 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2020.198114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 464] [Impact Index Per Article: 116.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Revised: 08/06/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The current COVID-19 pandemic has urged the scientific community internationally to find answers in terms of therapeutics and vaccines to control SARS-CoV-2. Published investigations mostly on SARS-CoV and to some extent on MERS has taught lessons on vaccination strategies to this novel coronavirus. This is attributed to the fact that SARS-CoV-2 uses the same receptor as SARS-CoV on the host cell i.e. human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme 2 (hACE2) and is approximately 79% similar genetically to SARS-CoV. Though the efforts on COVID-19 vaccines started very early, initially in China, as soon as the outbreak of novel coronavirus erupted and then world-over as the disease was declared a pandemic by WHO. But we will not be having an effective COVID-19 vaccine before September, 2020 as per very optimistic estimates. This is because a successful COVID-19 vaccine will require a cautious validation of efficacy and adverse reactivity as the target vaccinee population include high-risk individuals over the age of 60, particularly those with chronic co-morbid conditions, frontline healthcare workers and those involved in essentials industries. Various platforms for vaccine development are available namely: virus vectored vaccines, protein subunit vaccines, genetic vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies for passive immunization which are under evaluations for SARS-CoV-2, with each having discrete benefits and hindrances. The COVID-19 pandemic which probably is the most devastating one in the last 100 years after Spanish flu mandates the speedy evaluation of the multiple approaches for competence to elicit protective immunity and safety to curtail unwanted immune-potentiation which plays an important role in the pathogenesis of this virus. This review is aimed at providing an overview of the efforts dedicated to an effective vaccine for this novel coronavirus which has crippled the world in terms of economy, human health and life.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Vandana Gupta
- Department of Microbiology, Ram Lal Anand College, University of Delhi, Benito Juarez Road, New Delhi 110021, India.
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13
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Pandey SC, Pande V, Sati D, Upreti S, Samant M. Vaccination strategies to combat novel corona virus SARS-CoV-2. Life Sci 2020; 256:117956. [PMID: 32535078 PMCID: PMC7289747 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.117956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 05/30/2020] [Accepted: 06/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The 2019-novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is caused by SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted from human to human has recently reported in China. Now COVID-19 has been spread all over the world and declared epidemics by WHO. It has caused a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The elderly and people with underlying diseases are susceptible to infection and prone to serious outcomes, which may be associated with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and cytokine storm. Due to the rapid increase of SARS-CoV-2 infections and unavailability of antiviral therapeutic agents, developing an effective SAR-CoV-2 vaccine is urgently required. SARS-CoV-2 which is genetically similar to SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an enveloped, single and positive-stranded RNA virus with a genome comprising 29,891 nucleotides, which encode the 12 putative open reading frames responsible for the synthesis of viral structural and nonstructural proteins which are very similar to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV proteins. In this review we have summarized various vaccine candidates i.e., nucleotide, subunit and vector based as well as attenuated and inactivated forms, which have already been demonstrated their prophylactic efficacy against MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV, so these candidates could be used as a potential tool for the development of a safe and effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satish Chandra Pandey
- Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand, India; Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Bhimtal Campus, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Veni Pande
- Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand, India; Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Bhimtal Campus, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Diksha Sati
- Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Shobha Upreti
- Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Mukesh Samant
- Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, SSJ Campus, Almora, Uttarakhand, India.
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Shah VK, Firmal P, Alam A, Ganguly D, Chattopadhyay S. Overview of Immune Response During SARS-CoV-2 Infection: Lessons From the Past. Front Immunol 2020; 11:1949. [PMID: 32849654 PMCID: PMC7426442 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2020.01949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 269] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
After the 1918 flu pandemic, the world is again facing a similar situation. However, the advancement in medical science has made it possible to identify that the novel infectious agent is from the coronavirus family. Rapid genome sequencing by various groups helped in identifying the structure and function of the virus, its immunogenicity in diverse populations, and potential preventive measures. Coronavirus attacks the respiratory system, causing pneumonia and lymphopenia in infected individuals. Viral components like spike and nucleocapsid proteins trigger an immune response in the host to eliminate the virus. These viral antigens can be either recognized by the B cells or presented by MHC complexes to the T cells, resulting in antibody production, increased cytokine secretion, and cytolytic activity in the acute phase of infection. Genetic polymorphism in MHC enables it to present some of the T cell epitopes very well over the other MHC alleles. The association of MHC alleles and its downregulated expression has been correlated with disease severity against influenza and coronaviruses. Studies have reported that infected individuals can, after recovery, induce strong protective responses by generating a memory T-cell pool against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. These memory T cells were not persistent in the long term and, upon reactivation, caused local damage due to cross-reactivity. So far, the reports suggest that SARS-CoV-2, which is highly contagious, shows related symptoms in three different stages and develops an exhaustive T-cell pool at higher loads of viral infection. As there are no specific treatments available for this novel coronavirus, numerous small molecular drugs that are being used for the treatment of diseases like SARS, MERS, HIV, ebola, malaria, and tuberculosis are being given to COVID-19 patients, and clinical trials for many such drugs have already begun. A classical immunotherapy of convalescent plasma transfusion from recovered patients has also been initiated for the neutralization of viremia in terminally ill COVID-19 patients. Due to the limitations of plasma transfusion, researchers are now focusing on developing neutralizing antibodies against virus particles along with immuno-modulation of cytokines like IL-6, Type I interferons (IFNs), and TNF-α that could help in combating the infection. This review highlights the similarities of the coronaviruses that caused SARS and MERS to the novel SARS-CoV-2 in relation to their pathogenicity and immunogenicity and also focuses on various treatment strategies that could be employed for curing COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vibhuti Kumar Shah
- Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India
- National Centre for Cell Science, S. P. Pune University Campus, Pune, India
| | - Priyanka Firmal
- Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India
- National Centre for Cell Science, S. P. Pune University Campus, Pune, India
| | - Aftab Alam
- National Centre for Cell Science, S. P. Pune University Campus, Pune, India
- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
| | | | - Samit Chattopadhyay
- Department of Biological Sciences, BITS Pilani, K. K. Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India
- National Centre for Cell Science, S. P. Pune University Campus, Pune, India
- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
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15
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From SARS to MERS, Thrusting Coronaviruses into the Spotlight. Viruses 2019; 11:v11010059. [PMID: 30646565 PMCID: PMC6357155 DOI: 10.3390/v11010059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 674] [Impact Index Per Article: 134.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2018] [Revised: 01/03/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Coronaviruses (CoVs) have formerly been regarded as relatively harmless respiratory pathogens to humans. However, two outbreaks of severe respiratory tract infection, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), as a result of zoonotic CoVs crossing the species barrier, caused high pathogenicity and mortality rates in human populations. This brought CoVs global attention and highlighted the importance of controlling infectious pathogens at international borders. In this review, we focus on our current understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, prevention, and treatment of SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, as well as provides details on the pivotal structure and function of the spike proteins (S proteins) on the surface of each of these viruses. For building up more suitable animal models, we compare the current animal models recapitulating pathogenesis and summarize the potential role of host receptors contributing to diverse host affinity in various species. We outline the research still needed to fully elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of these viruses, to construct reproducible animal models, and ultimately develop countermeasures to conquer not only SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, but also these emerging coronaviral diseases.
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Choi J, Kim MG, Oh YK, Kim YB. Progress of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus vaccines: a patent review. Expert Opin Ther Pat 2017; 27:721-731. [PMID: 28121202 DOI: 10.1080/13543776.2017.1281248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has emerged as a new pathogen, causing severe complications and a high case fatality rate. No direct treatments are available as yet, highlighting the importance of prevention through suitable vaccination regimes. The viral spike (S) protein has been characterized as a key target antigen for vaccines. In particular, S protein domains have been utilized to produce high titers of neutralizing antibodies. Areas covered: Since the first report of MERS-CoV infection, a limited number of MERS-CoV-specific patents have been filed. Patents related to MERS-CoV are categorized into three areas: treatments, antibodies, and vaccines (receptor-related). This review mainly focuses on the types and efficacies of vaccines, briefly covering treatments and antibodies against the virus. MERS-CoV vaccine forms and delivery systems, together with comparable development strategies against SARS-CoV are additionally addressed. Expert opinion: Vaccines must be combined with delivery systems, administration routes, and adjuvants to maximize T-cell responses as well as neutralizing antibody production. High immune responses require further study in animal models, such as human receptor-expressing mice, non-human primates, and camels. Such a consideration of integrated actions should contribute to the rapid development of vaccines against MERS-CoV and related coronaviruses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiwon Choi
- a College of Animal Bioscience & Technology , Konkuk University , Seoul , Republic of Korea
| | - Mi-Gyeong Kim
- b College of Pharmacy , Seoul National University , Seoul , Republic of Korea
| | - Yu-Kyoung Oh
- b College of Pharmacy , Seoul National University , Seoul , Republic of Korea
| | - Young Bong Kim
- a College of Animal Bioscience & Technology , Konkuk University , Seoul , Republic of Korea
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Epitope-Based Vaccine Target Screening against Highly Pathogenic MERS-CoV: An In Silico Approach Applied to Emerging Infectious Diseases. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0144475. [PMID: 26641892 PMCID: PMC4671582 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Accepted: 11/18/2015] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) with pandemic potential is a major worldwide threat to public health. However, vaccine development for this pathogen lags behind as immunity associated with protection is currently largely unknown. In this study, an immunoinformatics-driven genome-wide screening strategy of vaccine targets was performed to thoroughly screen the vital and effective dominant immunogens against MERS-CoV. Conservancy and population coverage analysis of the epitopes were done by the Immune Epitope Database. The results showed that the nucleocapsid (N) protein of MERS-CoV might be a better protective immunogen with high conservancy and potential eliciting both neutralizing antibodies and T-cell responses compared with spike (S) protein. Further, the B-cell, helper T-cell and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) epitopes were screened and mapped to the N protein. A total of 15 linear and 10 conformal B-cell epitopes that may induce protective neutralizing antibodies were obtained. Additionally, a total of 71 peptides with 9-mer core sequence were identified as helper T-cell epitopes, and 34 peptides were identified as CTL epitopes. Based on the maximum HLA binding alleles, top 10 helper T-cell epitopes and CTL epitopes that may elicit protective cellular immune responses against MERS-CoV were selected as MERS vaccine candidates. Population coverage analysis showed that the putative helper T-cell epitopes and CTL epitopes could cover the vast majority of the population in 15 geographic regions considered where vaccine would be employed. The B- and T-cell stimulation potentials of the screened epitopes is to be further validated for their efficient use as vaccines against MERS-CoV. Collectively, this study provides novel vaccine target candidates and may prompt further development of vaccines against MERS-CoV and other emerging infectious diseases.
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Abstract
Emerging respiratory coronaviruses such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) pose potential biological threats to humans. SARS and MERS are manifested as severe atypical pneumonia associated with high morbidity and mortality in humans. The majority of studies carried out in SARS-CoV-infected humans and animals attribute a dysregulated/exuberant innate response as a leading contributor to SARS-CoV-mediated pathology. A decade after the 2002–2003 SARS epidemic, we do not have any approved preventive or therapeutic agents available in case of re-emergence of SARS-CoV or other related viruses. A strong neutralizing antibody response generated against the spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV is completely protective in the susceptible host. However, neutralizing antibody titers and the memory B cell response are short lived in SARS-recovered patients and the antibody will target primary homologous strain. Interestingly, the acute phase of SARS in humans is associated with a severe reduction in the number of T cells in the blood. Surprisingly, only a limited number of studies have explored the role of the T cell-mediated adaptive immune response in respiratory coronavirus pathogenesis. In this review, we discuss the role of anti-virus CD4 and CD8 T cells during respiratory coronavirus infections with a special emphasis on emerging coronaviruses.
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Xu Y, Yuen PW, Lam JKW. Intranasal DNA Vaccine for Protection against Respiratory Infectious Diseases: The Delivery Perspectives. Pharmaceutics 2014; 6:378-415. [PMID: 25014738 PMCID: PMC4190526 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics6030378] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2014] [Revised: 06/20/2014] [Accepted: 06/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Intranasal delivery of DNA vaccines has become a popular research area recently. It offers some distinguished advantages over parenteral and other routes of vaccine administration. Nasal mucosa as site of vaccine administration can stimulate respiratory mucosal immunity by interacting with the nasopharyngeal-associated lymphoid tissues (NALT). Different kinds of DNA vaccines are investigated to provide protection against respiratory infectious diseases including tuberculosis, coronavirus, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) etc. DNA vaccines have several attractive development potential, such as producing cross-protection towards different virus subtypes, enabling the possibility of mass manufacture in a relatively short time and a better safety profile. The biggest obstacle to DNA vaccines is low immunogenicity. One of the approaches to enhance the efficacy of DNA vaccine is to improve DNA delivery efficiency. This review provides insight on the development of intranasal DNA vaccine for respiratory infections, with special attention paid to the strategies to improve the delivery of DNA vaccines using non-viral delivery agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingying Xu
- Department of Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Pak-Wai Yuen
- Department of Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Jenny Ka-Wing Lam
- Department of Pharmacology & Pharmacy, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong, China.
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Abstract
Two novel coronaviruses have emerged in humans in the twenty-first century: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), both of which cause acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and are associated with high mortality rates. There are no clinically approved vaccines or antiviral drugs available for either of these infections; thus, the development of effective therapeutic and preventive strategies that can be readily applied to new emergent strains is a research priority. In this Review, we describe the emergence and identification of novel human coronaviruses over the past 10 years, discuss their key biological features, including tropism and receptor use, and summarize approaches for developing broadly effective vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel L. Graham
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27599 North Carolina USA
| | - Eric F. Donaldson
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27599 North Carolina USA
| | - Ralph S. Baric
- Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27599 North Carolina USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27599 North Carolina USA
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Raghuwanshi D, Mishra V, Das D, Kaur K, Suresh MR. Dendritic cell targeted chitosan nanoparticles for nasal DNA immunization against SARS CoV nucleocapsid protein. Mol Pharm 2012; 9:946-56. [PMID: 22356166 PMCID: PMC3322645 DOI: 10.1021/mp200553x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
This work investigates the formulation and in vivo efficacy of dendritic cell (DC) targeted plasmid DNA loaded biotinylated chitosan nanoparticles for nasal immunization against nucleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) as antigen. The induction of antigen-specific mucosal and systemic immune response at the site of virus entry is a major challenge for vaccine design. Here, we designed a strategy for noninvasive receptor mediated gene delivery to nasal resident DCs. The pDNA loaded biotinylated chitosan nanoparticles were prepared using a complex coacervation process and characterized for size, shape, surface charge, plasmid DNA loading and protection against nuclease digestion. The pDNA loaded biotinylated chitosan nanoparticles were targeted with bifunctional fusion protein (bfFp) vector for achieving DC selective targeting. The bfFp is a recombinant fusion protein consisting of truncated core-streptavidin fused with anti-DEC-205 single chain antibody (scFv). The core-streptavidin arm of fusion protein binds with biotinylated nanoparticles, while anti-DEC-205 scFv imparts targeting specificity to DC DEC-205 receptor. We demonstrate that intranasal administration of bfFp targeted formulations along with anti-CD40 DC maturation stimuli enhanced magnitude of mucosal IgA as well as systemic IgG against N protein. The strategy led to the detection of augmented levels of N protein specific systemic IgG and nasal IgA antibodies. However, following intranasal delivery of naked pDNA no mucosal and systemic immune responses were detected. A parallel comparison of targeted formulations using intramuscular and intranasal routes showed that the intramuscular route is superior for induction of systemic IgG responses compared with the intranasal route. Our results suggest that targeted pDNA delivery through a noninvasive intranasal route can be a strategy for designing low-dose vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dharmendra Raghuwanshi
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2N8
| | - Vivek Mishra
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2N8
| | - Dipankar Das
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2N8
| | - Kamaljit Kaur
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2N8
| | - Mavanur R. Suresh
- Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2N8
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Identification of an HLA-DPB1*0501 restricted Melan-A/MART-1 epitope recognized by CD4+ T lymphocytes: prevalence for immunotherapy in Asian populations. J Immunother 2011; 34:525-34. [PMID: 21760531 DOI: 10.1097/cji.0b013e318226bd45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
CD4 T lymphocytes play a central role in orchestrating an efficient antitumor immune response. Much effort has been devoted in the identification of major histocompatibility complex class II eptiopes from different tumor-associated antigens. Melan-A/MART-1 is expressed specifically in normal melanocytes and tumor cells of 75% to 100% of melanoma patients. Melan-A/MART-1 is considered as an attractive target for cancer immunotherapy. In the past, several human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II restricted epitopes have been identified and characterized, including Melan-A/MART-11-20 (HLA-DR11 restricted), Melan-A/MART-125-36 (HLA-DQ6 and HLA-DR3 restricted), Melan-A/MART-127-40 (HLA-DR1 restricted), Melan-A/MART-151-73 (HLA-DR4 restricted), Melan-A/MART-191-110 (HLA-DR52 restricted), and Melan-A/MART-1100-111 (HLA-DR1 restricted). Owing to the infrequent expression of the above HLA class II alleles in Asian populations, immunotherapy using these defined Melan-A/MART-1 peptides could potentially only benefit a very small percentage of Asian melanoma patients. In this study, we established several CD4 T-cell clones by in vitro stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a healthy donor by a peptide pool of 28 to 30 amino acid long peptides spanning the entire Melan-A/MART-1 protein. These CD4 T-cell clones recognized a peptide that is embedded within Melan-A/MART-121-50, in a HLA-DPB1*0501 restricted manner. Finally, we demonstrated that this epitope is naturally processed and presented by dendritic cells. HLA-DPB1*0501 is frequently expressed in Asian population (44.9% to 73.1%). Therefore, this epitope could provide a new tool and could significantly increase the percentage of melanoma patients that can benefit from cancer immunotherapy.
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Zhao P, Ma DX, Yu S, Xue FZ, Zhu WW, Shao N, Zhang JR, Ji CY. The development of Chinese specific human cytomegalovirus polyepitope recombinant vaccine. Antiviral Res 2011; 93:260-269. [PMID: 22197248 PMCID: PMC7114286 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2011.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2011] [Revised: 11/10/2011] [Accepted: 12/07/2011] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is a major cause of morbidity in the recipients of organ transplants and in the congenitally infected infants. HCMV vaccine has emerged as an effective approach to prevent HCMV infection particularly for the development of multiple viral antigens vaccination and human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-restricted polyepitope technology. As the Chinese population makes up more than one fifth of the population worldwide, it is important to develop HCMV vaccines more specific for the Chinese population by targeting Chinese-restricted HLA alleles and antigens. In the present study, we designed a novel chimeric polyepitope vaccine based on the replication-deficient adenovirus Ad5F35, which encodes 83 HCMV T cell epitopes from 15 different HCMV antigens, restricted to 14 HLA I and 7 HLA II alleles that cover 92% of the Chinese population. Our results show that the recombinant adenovirus vaccine Ad5F35-CTL·Th can be efficiently transfected and expressed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with little cytopathic activity. Ad5F35-CTL·Th can also be endogenously processed and presented by PBMCs. Ad5F35-CTL·Th-stimulated HCMV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) showed strong cytolytic activity against HCMV polyepitope-sensitized target cells. The CTL activity was accompanied by high levels of IFN-γ production after Ad5F35-CTL·Th stimulation. The specificity and vigorous response to the recombinant adenovirus vaccine in vitro makes it a potential candidate to be used for transplantation recipients or congenitally infected infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Zhao
- Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China; Department of Pediatrics, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250021, PR China
| | - Dao-Xin Ma
- Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
| | - Shuang Yu
- Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China
| | - Fu-Zhong Xue
- Institute of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health of Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China
| | - Wei-Wei Zhu
- Department of Pediatrics, Jinan Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan 250013, PR China
| | - Na Shao
- Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China
| | - Jing-Ru Zhang
- Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China
| | - Chun-Yan Ji
- Department of Hematology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, PR China.
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Liu J, Zhang S, Tan S, Zheng B, Gao GF. Revival of the identification of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes for immunological diagnosis, therapy and vaccine development. Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 2011; 236:253-67. [PMID: 21330360 DOI: 10.1258/ebm.2010.010278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Immunogenic T-cell epitopes have a central role in the cellular immunity against pathogens and tumors. However, in the early stage of cellular immunity studies, it was complicated and time-consuming to identify and characterize T-cell epitopes. Currently, the epitope screening is experiencing renewed enthusiasm due to advances in novel techniques and theories. Moreover, the application of T-cell epitope-based diagnoses for tuberculosis and new data on epitope-based vaccine development have also revived the field. There is a growing knowledge on the emphasis of epitope-stimulated T-cell immune responses in the elimination of pathogens and tumors. In this review, we outline the significance of the identification and characterization of T-cell epitopes. We also summarize the methods and strategies for epitope definition and, more importantly, address the relevance of cytotoxic T-lymphocyte epitopes to clinical diagnoses, therapy and vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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25
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MULTIPRED2: a computational system for large-scale identification of peptides predicted to bind to HLA supertypes and alleles. J Immunol Methods 2010; 374:53-61. [PMID: 21130094 PMCID: PMC3090484 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2010.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2010] [Revised: 10/29/2010] [Accepted: 11/18/2010] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
MULTIPRED2 is a computational system for facile prediction of peptide binding to multiple alleles belonging to human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and class II DR molecules. It enables prediction of peptide binding to products of individual HLA alleles, combination of alleles, or HLA supertypes. NetMHCpan and NetMHCIIpan are used as prediction engines. The 13 HLA Class I supertypes are A1, A2, A3, A24, B7, B8, B27, B44, B58, B62, C1, and C4. The 13 HLA Class II DR supertypes are DR1, DR3, DR4, DR6, DR7, DR8, DR9, DR11, DR12, DR13, DR14, DR15, and DR16. In total, MULTIPRED2 enables prediction of peptide binding to 1077 variants representing 26 HLA supertypes. MULTIPRED2 has visualization modules for mapping promiscuous T-cell epitopes as well as those regions of high target concentration – referred to as T-cell epitope hotspots. Novel graphic representations are employed to display the predicted binding peptides and immunological hotspots in an intuitive manner and also to provide a global view of results as heat maps. Another function of MULTIPRED2, which has direct relevance to vaccine design, is the calculation of population coverage. Currently it calculates population coverage in five major groups in North America. MULTIPRED2 is an important tool to complement wet-lab experimental methods for identification of T-cell epitopes. It is available at http://cvc.dfci.harvard.edu/multipred2/.
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Sidney J, Steen A, Moore C, Ngo S, Chung J, Peters B, Sette A. Divergent motifs but overlapping binding repertoires of six HLA-DQ molecules frequently expressed in the worldwide human population. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2010; 185:4189-98. [PMID: 20810981 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1001006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Knowledge of the binding repertoires and specificities of HLA-DQ molecules is somewhat limited and contradictory, partly because of the scarcity of reports addressing some of the most common molecules and possibly because of the diversity of the techniques used. In this paper, we report the development of high-throughput binding assays for the six most common DQ molecules in the general worldwide population. Using comprehensive panels of single substitution analogs of specific ligands, we derived detailed binding motifs for DQA1*0501/DQB1*0301, DQA1*0401/DQB1*0402, and DQA1*0101/DQB1*0501 and more detailed motifs for DQA1*0501/DQB1*0201, DQA1*0301/DQB1*0302, and DQA1*0102/DQB1*0602, previously characterized on the basis of sets of eluted ligands and/or limited sets of substituted peptides. In contrast to what has previously been observed for DR and DP molecules, DQ motifs were generally less clearly defined in terms of chemical specificity and, strikingly, had little overlap with each other. However, testing a panel of peptides spanning a set of Phleum pratense Ags, and panels of known DQ epitopes, revealed a surprisingly significant and substantial overlap in the repertoire of peptides bound by these DQ molecules. Although the mechanism underlying these apparently contradictory findings is not clear, it likely reflects the peculiar mode of interaction between DQ (and not DR or DP) molecules and their peptide ligands. Because the DQ molecules studied are found in >85% of the general human population, these findings have important implications for epitope identification studies and monitoring of DQ-restricted immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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27
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Sidney J, Steen A, Moore C, Ngo S, Chung J, Peters B, Sette A. Five HLA-DP molecules frequently expressed in the worldwide human population share a common HLA supertypic binding specificity. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2010; 184:2492-503. [PMID: 20139279 PMCID: PMC2935290 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.0903655] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Compared with DR and DQ, knowledge of the binding repertoires and specificities of HLA-DP alleles is somewhat limited. However, a growing body of literature has indicated the importance of DP-restricted responses in the context of cancer, allergy, and infectious disease. In the current study, we developed high-throughput binding assays for the five most common HLA-DPB1 alleles in the general worldwide population. Using these assays on a comprehensive panel of single-substitution analogs and large peptide libraries, we derived novel detailed binding motifs for DPB1*0101 and DPB1*0501. We also derived more detailed quantitative motifs for DPB1*0201, DPB1*0401, and DPB1*0402, which were previously characterized on the basis of sets of eluted ligands and/or limited sets of substituted peptides. Unexpectedly, all five DP molecules, originally selected only on the basis of their frequency in human populations, were found to share largely overlapping peptide motifs. Testing panels of known DP epitopes and a panel of peptides spanning a set of Phleum pratense Ags revealed that these molecules also share largely overlapping peptide-binding repertoires. This demonstrates that a previously hypothesized DP supertype extends far beyond what was originally envisioned and includes at least three additional very common DP specificities. Taken together, these DP supertype molecules are found in >90% of the human population. Thus, these findings have important implications for epitope-identification studies and monitoring of human class II-restricted immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Sidney
- La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
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28
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Starodubova E, Boberg A, Ivanov A, Latyshev O, Petrakova N, Kuzmenko Y, Litvina M, Chernousov A, Kochetkov S, Karpov V, Wahren B, Isaguliants MG. Potent cross-reactive immune response against the wild-type and drug-resistant forms of HIV reverse transcriptase after the chimeric gene immunization. Vaccine 2010; 28:1975-86. [PMID: 20188253 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.10.098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
HIV reverse transcriptase (RT) can be considered as a target and an instrument of immunotherapy aimed at limiting the emergence and spread of drug-resistant HIV. The chimeric genes coding for the wild-type and multi-drug-resistant RT (RT1.14) fused to lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP-1) were injected intramuscularly into BALB/c mice. The immune response was assessed by ELISpot, cytokine ELISA intracellular IFN-gamma staining, and antibody ELISA. The genes for RT- and RT1.14-LAMP fusions (RT-LAMP and RT1.14-LAMP) were immunogenic generating a mixed Th1/Th2-profile of immune response, while the wild-type RT gene induced only weak immune response. Specific secretion of Th1-cytokines increased with increasing level of RT modification: RT
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizaveta Starodubova
- Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Nobelsvägen 18, 17182 Stockholm, Sweden.
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29
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Saffari B, Mohabatkar H. Computational analysis of cysteine proteases (Clan CA, Family Cl) of Leishmania major to find potential epitopic regions. GENOMICS PROTEOMICS & BIOINFORMATICS 2010; 7:87-95. [PMID: 19944381 PMCID: PMC5054412 DOI: 10.1016/s1672-0229(08)60037-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Leishmania is associated with a broad spectrum of diseases, ranging from simple cutaneous to invasive visceral leishmaniasis. Here, the sequences of ten cysteine proteases of types A, B and C of Leishmania major were obtained from GeneDB database. Prediction of MHC class I epitopes of these cysteine proteases was performed by NetCTL program version 1.2. In addition, by using BcePred server, different structural properties of the proteins were predicted to find out their potential B cell epitopes. According to this computational analysis, nine regions were predicted as B cell epitopes. The results provide useful information for designing peptide-based vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Babak Saffari
- Department of Biology, College of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
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30
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Yang K, Sun K, Srinivasan KN, Salmon J, Marques ET, Xu J, August JT. Immune responses to T-cell epitopes of SARS CoV-N protein are enhanced by N immunization with a chimera of lysosome-associated membrane protein. Gene Ther 2009; 16:1353-62. [PMID: 19727132 PMCID: PMC7091638 DOI: 10.1038/gt.2009.92] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2008] [Revised: 05/11/2009] [Accepted: 06/05/2009] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
In our previous study by Gupta et al, dominant T-cell epitopes of SARS CoV-N(N) protein were predicted by software. The spectrum of interferon (IFN)-gamma responses of Balb/c mice immunized against two different forms of SARS CoV-N plasmid was then analyzed. A cluster of dominant T-cell epitopes of SARS CoV-N protein was found in the N-terminus (amino acids 76-114). On the basis of this study, four different plasmids were constructed: (i) DNA encoding the unmodified N (p-N) or N(70-122) (p-N(70-122)) as an endogenous cytoplasmic protein or (ii) DNA encoding a lysosome-associated membrane protein (LAMP) chimera with N (p-LAMP/N) or N(70-122) (p-LAMP/N(70-122)). The immune responses of mice to these four constructs were evaluated. The results showed marked differences in the responses of the immunized mice. A single priming immunization with the p-LAMP/N construct was sufficient to elicit an antibody response. Enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) assay indicated that p-LAMP/N(70-122) and p-LAMP/N plasmids both elicited a greater IFN-gamma response than p-N. p-N and p-N(70-122) constructs induced low or undetectable levels of cytokine secretion. We also found that the p-LAMP/N(70-122) construct promoted a long-lasting T-cell memory response without an additional boost 6 months after three immunizations. These findings show that DNA vaccines, even epitope-based DNA vaccines using LAMP as chimera, can elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Yang
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
- Department of Immunology, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, PR China,
| | - K Sun
- Division of Biomedical Sciences, Johns Hopkins in Singapore, Singapore
| | - K N Srinivasan
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
- Product Evaluation and Registration Division, Centre for Drug Administration, Health Sciences Authority, Singapore
| | - J Salmon
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - E T Marques
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
| | - J Xu
- Department of Neurology, Tangdu Hospital, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, PR China,
| | - J T August
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA
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31
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Abstract
In this review, the current state of vaccine development against human severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus, focusing on recently published data is assessed. We discuss which strategies have been assessed immunologically and which have been evaluated in SARS coronavirus challenge models. We discuss inactivated vaccines, virally and bacterially vectored vaccines, recombinant protein and DNA vaccines, as well as the use of attenuated vaccines. Data regarding the correlates of protection, animal models and the available evidence regarding potential vaccine enhancement of SARS disease are discussed. While there is much evidence that various vaccine strategies against SARS are safe and immunogenic, vaccinated animals still display significant disease upon challenge. Current data suggest that intranasal vaccination may be crucial and that new or combination strategies may be required for good protective efficacy against SARS in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel L Roper
- Brody School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27834, USA.
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32
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Valentin A, Chikhlikar P, Patel V, Rosati M, Maciel M, Chang KH, Silvera P, Felber BK, Pavlakis GN, August JT, Marques ETA. Comparison of DNA vaccines producing HIV-1 Gag and LAMP/Gag chimera in rhesus macaques reveals antigen-specific T-cell responses with distinct phenotypes. Vaccine 2009; 27:4840-9. [PMID: 19539586 PMCID: PMC2743166 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.05.093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2009] [Revised: 05/16/2009] [Accepted: 05/21/2009] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Optimized DNA expression vectors encoding the native HIV-1 Gag or a fusion of Gag with the lysosomal membrane associated protein 1 (LAMP) were compared for immunogenicity upon intramuscular DNA delivery in rhesus macaques. Both vaccines elicited CD4(+) T-cell responses, but with significant differences in the phenotype of the Gag-specific cells: the native Gag induced CD4(+) responses with a phenotype of central memory-like T cells (CD28(+) CD45RA(-)), whereas the LAMP/Gag chimera induced CD4(+) responses with effector memory phenotype (CD28(-) CD45RA(-)). Antigen-specific T cells producing both IFN-gamma and TNFalpha were found in the animals receiving the native Gag, whereas the LAMP/Gag chimera induced humoral responses faster. These results demonstrate that modification of intracellular Gag trafficking results in the induction of distinct immune responses. Combinations of DNA vectors encoding both forms of antigen may be more potent in eliciting anti-HIV-1 immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Valentin
- Human Retrovirus Section, Vaccine Branch, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute at Frederick, Frederick, MD 21702-1201, USA
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33
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Kaur M, Rai A, Bhatnagar R. Rabies DNA vaccine: no impact of MHC class I and class II targeting sequences on immune response and protection against lethal challenge. Vaccine 2009; 27:2128-37. [PMID: 19356616 PMCID: PMC7115670 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2009.01.128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2008] [Revised: 01/24/2009] [Accepted: 01/29/2009] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Rabies is progressive fatal encephalitis. WHO estimates 55,000 rabies deaths and more than 10 million PEP every year world-wide. A variety of cell-culture derived vaccines are available for prophylaxis against rabies. However, their high cost restricts their usage in developing countries, where such cases are most often encountered. This is driving the quest for newer vaccine formulations; DNA vaccines being most promising amongst them. Here, we explored strategies of antigen trafficking to various cellular compartments aiming at improving both humoral and cellular immunity. These strategies include use of signal sequences namely Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA), Ubiquitin (UQ) and Lysosomal-Associated Membrane Protein-1 (LAMP-1). TPA, LAMP-1 and their combination were aimed at enhancing the CD4(+) T cell and antibody response. In contrast, the UQ tag was utilized for enhancing CD8(+) response. The potency of modified DNA vaccines assessed by total antibody response, antibody isotypes, cytokine profile, neutralizing antibody titer and protection conferred against in vivo challenge; was enhanced in comparison to native unmodified vaccine, but the response elicited did not pertain to the type of target sequence and the directed arm of immunity. Interestingly, the DNA vaccines that had been designed to generate different type of immune responses yielded in effect similar response. In conclusion, our data indicate that the directing target sequence is not the exclusive deciding factor for type and extent of immune response elicited and emphasizes on the antigen dependence of immune enhancement strategies.
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Key Words
- ab, antibody
- ig, immunoglobulin
- elisa, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
- gp, glycoprotein
- lamp-1, lysosomal-associated membrane protein-1
- mhc, major histocompatibility complex
- mq, milli quartz water
- pmsf, phenyl methyl sulphonyl fluoride
- ripa, radioimmunoprecipitation assay buffer
- rffit, rapid fluorescence focus inhibition test
- tm, transmembrane
- tpa, tissue plasminogen activator
- tris, tris(hydroxymethyl) aminomethane
- uq, ubiquitin
- targeting sequence
- rabies virus-neutralizing antibody (rvna)
- survival
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Affiliation(s)
- Manpreet Kaur
- Laboratory Of Molecular Biology And Genetic Engineering, School Of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, Delhi, India
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34
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Tongchusak S, Leelayuwat C, Brusic V, Chaiyaroj SC. In silico prediction and immunological validation of common HLA-DRB1-restricted T cell epitopes of Candida albicans secretory aspartyl proteinase 2. Microbiol Immunol 2008; 52:231-42. [PMID: 18426398 DOI: 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2008.00032.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Sap2 is the most abundant virulence factor expressed during Candida infection, and the principal protein known to induce antibody response during Candida infection in humans. Its role in T-cell activation however, has not yet been determined. Sequence analysis revealed that Sap2 contains two variable regions: Var1 and Var2. Computational predictions by the Hotspot Hunter program identified that Var1 contains three candidate T-cell epitopes, whereas Var2 contains four. Thirty-nine overlapping peptides of Sap2 were then synthesized, and tested for their ability to induce proliferation of PBMC from 12 donors. Peptides P11, P17 and P31 exhibited significantly higher proliferative indices when compared with those of other peptides or controls. P17 and P31 are located in the areas of prediction, while P11 is not. There were other peptides outside the prediction areas that could stimulate PBMC proliferation at low levels. Nevertheless, the proliferative noise caused by such peptides was ruled out by IL-2 ELISpot analysis. Only P17 and P31 were shown to induce clonal proliferation of IFN-gamma producing lymphocytes, suggesting that these two peptides contain T cell epitopes. P11, which stimulated IL-2 producing clones, contains a known B-cell epitope. Interestingly, P17 and P31 elicited both Th1 and Th2 cell responses with significant numbers of IL-13 secreting clones in response to stimulation. Taken together, the computer-based T cell epitope prediction method could identify the immunogenic T cell epitopes of C. albicans Sap2 that promiscuously bind to the HLA-DRB1 supertype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songsak Tongchusak
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
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Khan AM, Miotto O, Nascimento EJM, Srinivasan KN, Heiny AT, Zhang GL, Marques ET, Tan TW, Brusic V, Salmon J, August JT. Conservation and variability of dengue virus proteins: implications for vaccine design. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2008; 2:e272. [PMID: 18698358 PMCID: PMC2491585 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2008] [Accepted: 07/10/2008] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Genetic variation and rapid evolution are hallmarks of RNA viruses, the result of high mutation rates in RNA replication and selection of mutants that enhance viral adaptation, including the escape from host immune responses. Variability is uneven across the genome because mutations resulting in a deleterious effect on viral fitness are restricted. RNA viruses are thus marked by protein sites permissive to multiple mutations and sites critical to viral structure-function that are evolutionarily robust and highly conserved. Identification and characterization of the historical dynamics of the conserved sites have relevance to multiple applications, including potential targets for diagnosis, and prophylactic and therapeutic purposes. Methodology/Principal Findings We describe a large-scale identification and analysis of evolutionarily highly conserved amino acid sequences of the entire dengue virus (DENV) proteome, with a focus on sequences of 9 amino acids or more, and thus immune-relevant as potential T-cell determinants. DENV protein sequence data were collected from the NCBI Entrez protein database in 2005 (9,512 sequences) and again in 2007 (12,404 sequences). Forty-four (44) sequences (pan-DENV sequences), mainly those of nonstructural proteins and representing ∼15% of the DENV polyprotein length, were identical in 80% or more of all recorded DENV sequences. Of these 44 sequences, 34 (∼77%) were present in ≥95% of sequences of each DENV type, and 27 (∼61%) were conserved in other Flaviviruses. The frequencies of variants of the pan-DENV sequences were low (0 to ∼5%), as compared to variant frequencies of ∼60 to ∼85% in the non pan-DENV sequence regions. We further showed that the majority of the conserved sequences were immunologically relevant: 34 contained numerous predicted human leukocyte antigen (HLA) supertype-restricted peptide sequences, and 26 contained T-cell determinants identified by studies with HLA-transgenic mice and/or reported to be immunogenic in humans. Conclusions/Significance Forty-four (44) pan-DENV sequences of at least 9 amino acids were highly conserved and identical in 80% or more of all recorded DENV sequences, and the majority were found to be immune-relevant by their correspondence to known or putative HLA-restricted T-cell determinants. The conservation of these sequences through the entire recorded DENV genetic history supports their possible value for diagnosis, prophylactic and/or therapeutic applications. The combination of bioinformatics and experimental approaches applied herein provides a framework for large-scale and systematic analysis of conserved and variable sequences of other pathogens, in particular, for rapidly mutating viruses, such as influenza A virus and HIV. Dengue viruses (DENVs) circulate in nature as a population of 4 distinct types, each with multiple genotypes and variants, and represent an increasing global public health issue with no prophylactic and therapeutic formulations currently available. Viral genomes contain sites that are evolutionarily stable and therefore highly conserved, presumably because changes in these sites have deleterious effects on viral fitness and survival. The identification and characterization of the historical dynamics of these sites in DENV have relevance to several applications such as diagnosis and drug and vaccine development. In this study, we have identified sequence fragments that were conserved across the majority of available DENV sequences, analyzed their historical dynamics, and evaluated their relevance as candidate vaccine targets, using various bioinformatics-based methods and immune assay in human leukocyte antigen (HLA) transgenic mice. This approach provides a framework for large-scale and systematic analysis of other human pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asif M. Khan
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Olivo Miotto
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Eduardo J. M. Nascimento
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - K. N. Srinivasan
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Product Evaluation and Registration Division, Centre for Drug Administration, Health Sciences Authority, Singapore
| | - A. T. Heiny
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Guang Lan Zhang
- Cancer Vaccine Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - E. T. Marques
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Tin Wee Tan
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore
| | - Vladimir Brusic
- Cancer Vaccine Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Jerome Salmon
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - J. Thomas August
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Dutta NK, Mazumdar K, Lee BH, Baek MW, Kim DJ, Na YR, Park SH, Lee HK, Kariwa H, Mai LQ, Park JH. Search for potential target site of nucleocapsid gene for the design of an epitope-based SARS DNA vaccine. Immunol Lett 2008; 118:65-71. [PMID: 18440652 PMCID: PMC7112843 DOI: 10.1016/j.imlet.2008.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2008] [Revised: 03/03/2008] [Accepted: 03/11/2008] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
It is believed today that nucleocapsid protein (N) of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV is one of the most promising antigen candidates for vaccine design. In this study, three fragments [N1 (residues: 1–422); N2 (residues: 1–109); N3 (residues: 110–422)] of N protein of SARS-CoV were expressed in Escherichia coli and analyzed by pooled sera of convalescence phase of SARS patients. Three gene fragments [N1 (1–1269 nt), N2 (1–327 nt) and N3 (328–1269 nt)—expressing the same proteins of N1, N2 and N3, respectively] of SARS-N were cloned into pVAX-1 and used to immunize BALB/c mice by electroporation. Humoral (by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA) and cellular (by cell proliferation and CD4+:CD8+ assay) immunity was detected by using recombinant N1 and N3 specific antigen. Results showed that N1 and N3 fragments of N protein expressed by E. coli were able to react with sera of SARS patients but N2 could not. Specific humoral and cellular immunity in mice could be induced significantly by inoculating SARS-CoV N1 and N3 DNA vaccine. In addition, the immune response levels in N3 were significantly higher for antibody responses (IgG and IgG1 but not IgG2a) and cell proliferation but not in CD4+:CD8+ assay compared to N1 vaccine. The identification of antigenic N protein fragments has implications to provide basic information for the design of DNA vaccine against SARS-CoV. The present results not only suggest that DNA immunization with pVax-N3 could be used as potential DNA vaccination approaches to induce antibody in BALB/c mice, but also illustrates that gene immunization with these SARS DNA vaccines can generate different immune responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noton Kumar Dutta
- Laboratory Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine and KRF Zoonotic Disease Priority Research Institute, Seoul National University, Gwanak-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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Enjuanes L, Dediego ML, Alvarez E, Deming D, Sheahan T, Baric R. Vaccines to prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-induced disease. Virus Res 2008; 133:45-62. [PMID: 17416434 PMCID: PMC2633062 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2007.01.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2006] [Accepted: 01/04/2007] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
An important effort has been performed after the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in 2003 to diagnose and prevent virus spreading. Several types of vaccines have been developed including inactivated viruses, subunit vaccines, virus-like particles (VLPs), DNA vaccines, heterologous expression systems, and vaccines derived from SARS-CoV genome by reverse genetics. This review describes several aspects essential to develop SARS-CoV vaccines, such as the correlates of protection, virus serotypes, vaccination side effects, and bio-safeguards that can be engineered into recombinant vaccine approaches based on the SARS-CoV genome. The production of effective and safe vaccines to prevent SARS has led to the development of promising vaccine candidates, in contrast to the design of vaccines for other coronaviruses, that in general has been less successful. After preclinical trials in animal models, efficacy and safety evaluation of the most promising vaccine candidates described has to be performed in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Enjuanes
- Centro Nacional de Biotecnología (CNB), CSIC, Campus Universidad Autónoma, Cantoblanco, Darwin 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
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Zhang GL, Khan AM, Srinivasan KN, Heiny AT, Lee KX, Kwoh CK, August JT, Brusic V. Hotspot Hunter: a computational system for large-scale screening and selection of candidate immunological hotspots in pathogen proteomes. BMC Bioinformatics 2008; 9 Suppl 1:S19. [PMID: 18315850 PMCID: PMC2259420 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2105-9-s1-s19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND T-cell epitopes that promiscuously bind to multiple alleles of a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) supertype are prime targets for development of vaccines and immunotherapies because they are relevant to a large proportion of the human population. The presence of clusters of promiscuous T-cell epitopes, immunological hotspots, has been observed in several antigens. These clusters may be exploited to facilitate the development of epitope-based vaccines by selecting a small number of hotspots that can elicit all of the required T-cell activation functions. Given the large size of pathogen proteomes, including of variant strains, computational tools are necessary for automated screening and selection of immunological hotspots. RESULTS Hotspot Hunter is a web-based computational system for large-scale screening and selection of candidate immunological hotspots in pathogen proteomes through analysis of antigenic diversity. It allows screening and selection of hotspots specific to four common HLA supertypes, namely HLA class I A2, A3, B7 and class II DR. The system uses Artificial Neural Network and Support Vector Machine methods as predictive engines. Soft computing principles were employed to integrate the prediction results produced by both methods for robust prediction performance. Experimental validation of the predictions showed that Hotspot Hunter can successfully identify majority of the real hotspots. Users can predict hotspots from a single protein sequence, or from a set of aligned protein sequences representing pathogen proteome. The latter feature provides a global view of the localizations of the hotspots in the proteome set, enabling analysis of antigenic diversity and shift of hotspots across protein variants. The system also allows the integration of prediction results of the four supertypes for identification of hotspots common across multiple supertypes. The target selection feature of the system shortlists candidate peptide hotspots for the formulation of an epitope-based vaccine that could be effective against multiple variants of the pathogen and applicable to a large proportion of the human population. CONCLUSION Hotspot Hunter is publicly accessible at http://antigen.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/hh/. It is a new generation computational tool aiding in epitope-based vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guang Lan Zhang
- Institute for Infocomm Research, 21 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Singapore 119613
- School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
| | - Asif M Khan
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597
- Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597
| | - Kellathur N Srinivasan
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
- Product Evaluation and Registration Division, Centre for Drug Administration, Health Sciences Authority, 11 Biopolis Way, #011-03 Helios, Singapore 138667
| | - AT Heiny
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597
| | - KX Lee
- Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117597
| | - Chee Keong Kwoh
- School of Computer Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798
| | - J Thomas August
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Vladimir Brusic
- Cancer Vaccine Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- School of Land, Crop, and Food Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbame 4072, Australia
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Zhao J, Huang Q, Wang W, Zhang Y, Lv P, Gao XM. Identification and characterization of dominant helper T-cell epitopes in the nucleocapsid protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus. J Virol 2007; 81:6079-88. [PMID: 17392374 PMCID: PMC1900298 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.02568-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
By using a series of overlapping synthetic peptides covering 98% of the amino acid sequence of the nucleocapsid protein (NP) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), four helper T-cell (Th) epitopes (NP11, residues 11 to 25; NP51, residues 51 to 65; NP61, residues 61 to 75; and NP111, residues 111 to 125) in C57BL mice (H-2(b)), four (NP21, residues 21 to 35; NP91, residues 91 to 105; NP331, residues 331 to 345; and NP351, residues 351 to 365) in C3H mice (H-2(k)), and two (NP81, residues 81 to 95; and NP351, residues 351 to 365) in BALB/c mice (H-2(d)) have been identified. All of these peptides were able to stimulate the proliferation of NP-specific T-cell lines or freshly isolated lymph node cells from mice immunized with recombinant NP. Immunization of mice with synthetic peptides containing appropriate Th epitopes elicited strong cellular immunity in vivo, as evidenced by delayed-type hypersensitivity. Priming with the helper peptides (e.g., NP111 and NP351) significantly accelerated the immune response induced by recombinant NP, as determined by the production of NP-specific antibodies. When fused with a conserved neutralizing epitope (SP1143-1157) from the spike protein of SARS-CoV, NP111 and NP351 assisted in the production of high-titer neutralizing antibodies in vivo. These data provide useful insights regarding immunity against SARS-CoV and have the potential to help guide the design of peptide-based vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jincun Zhao
- Department of Immunology, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, China
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Rajapakse M, Zhang GL, Srinivasan KN, Schmidt B, Petrovsky N, Brusic V. PREDNOD, a prediction server for peptide binding to the H-2g7 haplotype of the non-obese diabetic mouse. Autoimmunity 2007; 39:645-50. [PMID: 17178561 DOI: 10.1080/08916930601062494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse is a widely used animal model for study of autoimmune diseases, in particular human type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Identification of the subset of peptides that bind MHC molecules comprising the H-2g7 haplotype of NOD mouse and thereby representing potential NOD T-cell epitopes is important for research into the pathogenesis and immunotherapy of T1DM. The H-2g7 haplotype comprises the MHC class-I molecules Kd and Db and a single class-II molecule I-Ag7. We have developed a prediction system, PREDNOD, for accurate identification of peptides that bind the MHC molecules constituting the H-2g7 haplotype. PREDNOD is accessible at http://antigen.i2r.a-star.edu.sg/Ag7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Menaka Rajapakse
- Institute for Infocomm Research, 21 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Singapore, Singapore, 119613
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Chikhlikar P, de Arruda LB, Maciel M, Silvera P, Lewis MG, August JT, Marques ET. DNA encoding an HIV-1 Gag/human lysosome-associated membrane protein-1 chimera elicits a broad cellular and humoral immune response in Rhesus macaques. PLoS One 2006; 1:e135. [PMID: 17205139 PMCID: PMC1762437 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0000135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2006] [Accepted: 12/04/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies of HIV-1 p55Gag immunization of mice have demonstrated the usefulness of targeting antigens to the cellular compartment containing the major histocompatibility complex type II (MHC II) complex molecules by use of a DNA antigen formulation encoding Gag as a chimera with the mouse lysosome-associated membrane protein (mLAMP/gag). In the present study, we have analyzed the magnitude and breadth of Gag-specific T-lymphocyte and antibody responses elicited in Rhesus macaques after immunization with DNA encoding a human LAMP/gag (hLAMP/gag) chimera. ELISPOT analyses indicated that the average Gag-specific IFN-gamma response elicited by the hLAMP/gag chimera was detectable after only two or three naked DNA immunizations in all five immunized macaques and reached an average of 1000 spot-forming cells (SFC)/10(6) PBMCs. High IFN-gamma ELISPOT responses were detected in CD8(+)-depleted cells, indicating that CD4(+) T-cells play a major role in these responses. The T-cell responses of four of the macaques were also tested by use of ELISPOT to 12 overlapping 15-amino acids (aa) peptide pools containing ten peptides each, encompassing the complete Gag protein sequence. The two Mamu 08 immunized macaques responded to eight and twelve of the pools, the Mamu B01 to six, and the other macaque to five pools indicating that the hLAMP/gag DNA antigen formulation elicits a broad T-cell response against Gag. Additionally, there was a strong HIV-1-specific IgG response. The IgG antibody titers increased after each DNA injection, indicating a strong amnestic B-cell response, and were highly elevated in all the macaques after three immunizations. Moreover, the serum of each macaque recognized 13 of the 49 peptides of a 20-aa peptide library covering the complete Gag amino acid sequence. In addition, HIV-1-specific IgA antibodies were present in the plasma and external secretions, including nasal washes. These data support the findings of increased immunogenicity of genetic vaccines encoded as LAMP chimeras, including the response to DNA vaccines by non-human primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priya Chikhlikar
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Luciana Barros de Arruda
- Instituto de Microbiologia Prof. Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Milton Maciel
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Peter Silvera
- Southern Research Institute, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Mark G. Lewis
- Southern Research Institute, Frederick, Maryland, United States of America
| | - J. Thomas August
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
| | - Ernesto T.A. Marques
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
- Virology and Experimental Therapy Laboratory, Aggeu Magalhães Research Center, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Recife, Brazil
- Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
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Khan AM, Miotto O, Heiny A, Salmon J, Srinivasan K, Nascimento E, Marques ET, Brusic V, Tan TW, August JT. A systematic bioinformatics approach for selection of epitope-based vaccine targets. Cell Immunol 2006; 244:141-7. [PMID: 17434154 PMCID: PMC2041846 DOI: 10.1016/j.cellimm.2007.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2007] [Accepted: 02/06/2007] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Epitope-based vaccines provide a new strategy for prophylactic and therapeutic application of pathogen-specific immunity. A critical requirement of this strategy is the identification and selection of T-cell epitopes that act as vaccine targets. This study describes current methodologies for the selection process, with dengue virus as a model system. A combination of publicly available bioinformatics algorithms and computational tools are used to screen and select antigen sequences as potential T-cell epitopes of supertype human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles. The selected sequences are tested for biological function by their activation of T-cells of HLA transgenic mice and of pathogen infected subjects. This approach provides an experimental basis for the design of pathogen specific, T-cell epitope-based vaccines that are targeted to majority of the genetic variants of the pathogen, and are effective for a broad range of differences in human leukocyte antigens among the global human population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asif M. Khan
- Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117597, Singapore
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore
| | - Olivo Miotto
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore
- Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore, 25 Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Singapore 119615, Singapore
| | - A.T. Heiny
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore
| | - Jerome Salmon
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States of America
| | - K.N. Srinivasan
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States of America
- Product Evaluation & Registration Division, Centre for Drug Administration, Health Sciences Authority, 11 Biopolis Way, Singapore 138667, Singapore
| | - Eduardo Nascimento
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States of America
| | - Ernesto T. Marques
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States of America
| | - Vladimir Brusic
- Department of Microbiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117597, Singapore
- School of Land and Food Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Tin Wee Tan
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore
| | - J. Thomas August
- Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 725 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States of America
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