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Pacini MF, Perdomini A, Bulfoni Balbi C, Dinatale B, Herrera FE, Perez AR, Marcipar I. The high identity of the Trypanosoma cruzi Group-I of trans-sialidases points them as promising vaccine immunogens. Proteins 2023; 91:1444-1460. [PMID: 37323089 DOI: 10.1002/prot.26537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2022] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Trans-sialidase (TS) superfamily of proteins comprises eight subgroups, being the proteins of Group-I (TS-GI) promising immunogens in vaccine approaches against Trypanosoma cruzi. Strikingly, TS-GI antigenic variability among parasite lineages and their influence on vaccine development has not been previously analyzed. Here, a search in GenBank detects 49 TS-GI indexed sequences, whereas the main infecting human different parasite discrete typing units (DTU) are represented. In silico comparison among these sequences indicate that they share an identity above 92%. Moreover, the antigenic regions (T-cell and B-cell epitopes) are conserved in most sequences or present amino acid substitutions that scarcely may alter the antigenicity. Additionally, since the generic term TS is usually used to refer to different immunogens of this broad family, a further in silico analysis of the TS-GI-derived fragments tested in preclinical vaccines was done to determine the coverage and identity among them, showing that overall amino acid identity of vaccine immunogens is high, but the segment coverage varies widely. Accordingly, strong H-2K, H-2I, and B-cell epitopes are dissimilarly represented among vaccine TS-derived fragments depending on the extension of the TG-GI sequence used. Moreover, bioinformatic analysis detected a set of 150 T-cell strong epitopes among the DTU-indexed sequences that strongly bind human HLA-I supertypes. In all currently reported experimental vaccines based on TS-GI fragments, mapping these 150 epitopes showed that they are moderately represented. However, despite vaccine epitopes do not present all the substitutions observed in the DTUs, these regions of the proteins are equally recognized by the same HLAs. Interestingly, the predictions regarding global and South American population coverage estimated in these 150 epitopes are similar to the estimations in experimental vaccines when the complete sequence of TS-GI is used as an antigen. In silico prediction also shows that a number of these MHC-I restricted T-cell strong epitopes could be also cross-recognized by HLA-I supertypes and H-2Kb or H-2Kd backgrounds, indicating that these mice may be used to improve and facilitate the development of new TS-based vaccines and suggesting an immunogenic and protective potential in humans. Further molecular docking analyses were performed to strengthen these results. Taken together, different strategies that would cover more or eventually fully of these T-cell and also B-cell epitopes to reach a high level of coverage are considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Florencia Pacini
- Laboratorio de Estudios en Enfermedad de Chagas, Instituto de Inmunología Clínica y Experimental de Rosario (IDICER-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
| | - Adrián Perdomini
- Laboratorio de Tecnología Inmunológica, Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Camila Bulfoni Balbi
- Laboratorio de Estudios en Enfermedad de Chagas, Instituto de Inmunología Clínica y Experimental de Rosario (IDICER-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
| | - Brenda Dinatale
- Laboratorio de Estudios en Enfermedad de Chagas, Instituto de Inmunología Clínica y Experimental de Rosario (IDICER-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
| | - Fernando E Herrera
- Área de Modelado Molecular, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, (CONICET), Santa Fe, Argentina
| | - Ana Rosa Perez
- Laboratorio de Estudios en Enfermedad de Chagas, Instituto de Inmunología Clínica y Experimental de Rosario (IDICER-CONICET), Rosario, Argentina
- Centro de Investigación y Producción de Reactivos Biológicos (CIPReB), Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina
| | - Iván Marcipar
- Laboratorio de Tecnología Inmunológica, Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
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Eickhoff CS, Meza KA, Terry FE, Colbert CG, Blazevic A, Gutiérrez AH, Stone ET, Brien JD, Pinto AK, El Sahly HM, Mulligan MJ, Rouphael N, Alcaide ML, Tomashek KM, Focht C, Martin WD, Moise L, De Groot AS, Hoft DF. Identification of immunodominant T cell epitopes induced by natural Zika virus infection. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1247876. [PMID: 37705976 PMCID: PMC10497216 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1247876] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a flavivirus primarily transmitted by Aedes species mosquitoes, first discovered in Africa in 1947, that disseminated through Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands in the 2000s. The first ZIKV infections in the Americas were identified in 2014, and infections exploded through populations in Brazil and other countries in 2015/16. ZIKV infection during pregnancy can cause severe brain and eye defects in offspring, and infection in adults has been associated with higher risks of Guillain-Barré syndrome. We initiated a study to describe the natural history of Zika (the disease) and the immune response to infection, for which some results have been reported. In this paper, we identify ZIKV-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes that induce responses during infection. Two screening approaches were utilized: an untargeted approach with overlapping peptide arrays spanning the entire viral genome, and a targeted approach utilizing peptides predicted to bind human MHC molecules. Immunoinformatic tools were used to identify conserved MHC class I supertype binders and promiscuous class II binding peptide clusters predicted to bind 9 common class II alleles. T cell responses were evaluated in overnight IFN-γ ELISPOT assays. We found that MHC supertype binding predictions outperformed the bulk overlapping peptide approach. Diverse CD4+ T cell responses were observed in most ZIKV-infected participants, while responses to CD8+ T cell epitopes were more limited. Most individuals developed a robust T cell response against epitopes restricted to a single MHC class I supertype and only a single or few CD8+ T cell epitopes overall, suggesting a strong immunodominance phenomenon. Noteworthy is that many epitopes were commonly immunodominant across persons expressing the same class I supertype. Nearly all of the identified epitopes are unique to ZIKV and are not present in Dengue viruses. Collectively, we identified 31 immunogenic peptides restricted by the 6 major class I supertypes and 27 promiscuous class II epitopes. These sequences are highly relevant for design of T cell-targeted ZIKV vaccines and monitoring T cell responses to Zika virus infection and vaccination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher S. Eickhoff
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Krystal A. Meza
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | | | - Chase G. Colbert
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Azra Blazevic
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | | | - E. Taylor Stone
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - James D. Brien
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Amelia K. Pinto
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
| | - Hana M. El Sahly
- Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, United States
| | - Mark J. Mulligan
- New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, New York, NY, United States
| | - Nadine Rouphael
- Emory University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Maria L. Alcaide
- University of Miami, Division of Infectious Diseases, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States
| | - Kay M. Tomashek
- Division of Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, United States
| | - Chris Focht
- The Emmes Company, LLC., Rockville, MD, United States
| | | | | | - Anne S. De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., Providence, RI, United States
- University of Georgia Center for Vaccines and Immunology, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Daniel F. Hoft
- Department of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Saint Louis, MO, United States
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, United States
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Ferragut F, Acevedo GR, Gómez KA. T Cell Specificity: A Great Challenge in Chagas Disease. Front Immunol 2021; 12:674078. [PMID: 34267750 PMCID: PMC8276045 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.674078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2021] [Accepted: 06/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The CD4+ and CD8+ T cell immune response against T. cruzi, the parasite causing Chagas disease, are relevant for both parasite control and disease pathogenesis. Several studies have been focused on their phenotype and functionally, but only a few have drilled down to identify the parasite proteins that are processed and presented to these cells, especially to CD4+ T lymphocytes. Although approximately 10,000 proteins are encoded per haploid T. cruzi genome, fewer than 200 T cell epitopes from 49 T. cruzi proteins have been identified so far. In this context, a detailed knowledge of the specific targets of T cell memory response emerges as a prime tool for the conceptualization and development of prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines, an approach with great potential to prevent and treat this chronic disease. Here, we review the available information about this topic in a comprehensive manner and discuss the future challenges in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fátima Ferragut
- Laboratorio de Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Gonzalo R Acevedo
- Laboratorio de Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Karina A Gómez
- Laboratorio de Inmunología de las Infecciones por Tripanosomátidos, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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DNA vaccines against COVID-19: Perspectives and challenges. Life Sci 2020; 267:118919. [PMID: 33352173 PMCID: PMC7749647 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2020.118919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Revised: 12/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by a novel coronavirus known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is associated with several fatal cases worldwide. The rapid spread of this pathogen and the increasing number of cases highlight the urgent development of vaccines. Among the technologies available for vaccine development, DNA vaccination is a promising alternative to conventional vaccines. Since its discovery in the 1990s, it has been of great interest because of its ability to elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses while showing relevant advantages regarding producibility, stability, and storage. This review aimed to summarize the current knowledge and advancements on DNA vaccines against COVID-19, particularly those in clinical trials.
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Acosta Rodríguez EV, Araujo Furlan CL, Fiocca Vernengo F, Montes CL, Gruppi A. Understanding CD8 + T Cell Immunity to Trypanosoma cruzi and How to Improve It. Trends Parasitol 2019; 35:899-917. [PMID: 31607632 PMCID: PMC6815727 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2019.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2019] [Revised: 08/24/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas' disease, endemic in Latin America but present worldwide. Research efforts have focused on the examination of immune mechanisms that mediate host protection as well as immunopathology during this parasitic infection. The study of CD8+ T cell immunity emerges as a key aspect given the critical importance of parasite-specific CD8+ T cells for host resistance throughout the infection. In recent years, new research has shed light on novel pathways that modulate the induction, maintenance, and regulation of CD8+ T cell responses to T. cruzi. This new knowledge is setting the ground for future vaccines and/or immunotherapies. Herein, we critically review and analyze the latest results published in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva V Acosta Rodríguez
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología (CIBICI)-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina.
| | - Cintia L Araujo Furlan
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología (CIBICI)-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Facundo Fiocca Vernengo
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología (CIBICI)-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Carolina L Montes
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología (CIBICI)-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Adriana Gruppi
- Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología (CIBICI)-CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, X5000HUA Córdoba, Argentina
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Eickhoff CS, Terry FE, Peng L, Meza KA, Sakala IG, Van Aartsen D, Moise L, Martin WD, Schriewer J, Buller RM, De Groot AS, Hoft DF. Highly conserved influenza T cell epitopes induce broadly protective immunity. Vaccine 2019; 37:5371-5381. [PMID: 31331771 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.07.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2019] [Revised: 06/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Influenza world-wide causes significant morbidity and mortality annually, and more severe pandemics when novel strains evolve to which humans are immunologically naïve. Because of the high viral mutation rate, new vaccines must be generated based on the prevalence of circulating strains every year. New approaches to induce more broadly protective immunity are urgently needed. Previous research has demonstrated that influenza-specific T cells can provide broadly heterotypic protective immunity in both mice and humans, supporting the rationale for developing a T cell-targeted universal influenza vaccine. We used state-of-the art immunoinformatic tools to identify putative pan-HLA-DR and HLA-A2 supertype-restricted T cell epitopes highly conserved among > 50 widely diverse influenza A strains (representing hemagglutinin types 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9). We found influenza peptides that are highly conserved across influenza subtypes that were also predicted to be class I epitopes restricted by HLA-A2. These peptides were found to be immunoreactive in HLA-A2 positive but not HLA-A2 negative individuals. Class II-restricted T cell epitopes that were highly conserved across influenza subtypes were identified. Human CD4+ T cells were reactive with these conserved CD4 epitopes, and epitope expanded T cells were responsive to both H1N1 and H3N2 viruses. Dendritic cell vaccines pulsed with conserved epitopes and DNA vaccines encoding these epitopes were developed and tested in HLA transgenic mice. These vaccines were highly immunogenic, and more importantly, vaccine-induced immunity was protective against both H1N1 and H3N2 influenza challenges. These results demonstrate proof-of-principle that conserved T cell epitopes expressed by widely diverse influenza strains can induce broadly protective, heterotypic influenza immunity, providing strong support for further development of universally relevant multi-epitope T cell-targeting influenza vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher S Eickhoff
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Frances E Terry
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States
| | - Linda Peng
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Krystal A Meza
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Isaac G Sakala
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Daniel Van Aartsen
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Leonard Moise
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States; University of Rhode Island, Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, 80 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903, United States
| | - William D Martin
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States
| | - Jill Schriewer
- Saint Louis University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - R Mark Buller
- Saint Louis University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States
| | - Anne S De Groot
- EpiVax, Inc., 188 Valley Street, Suite 424, Providence, RI 02909, United States; University of Rhode Island, Institute for Immunology and Informatics, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, 80 Washington Street, Providence, RI 02903, United States
| | - Daniel F Hoft
- Saint Louis University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Allergy, and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States; Saint Louis University, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, 1100 S. Grand Blvd., Edward A. Doisy Research Center - 8th Floor, Saint Louis, MO 63104, United States.
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7
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Induction of mycobacterial protective immunity by sublingual BCG vaccination. Vaccine 2019; 37:5364-5370. [PMID: 31331776 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.07.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2019] [Revised: 07/03/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a tremendous global health problem, with 1/4 of the world's population infected and causing > 1 million deaths annually. Intradermal Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine given during infancy protects against severe forms of acute disease but does not prevent chronic infection or development of pulmonary TB. TB vaccine mucosal targeting potentially could induce mucosal resident immune cells with increased protective capacity against pulmonary infection and disease. Sublingual (SL) administration of vaccines may be an optimal mucosal delivery platform based on the high absorptive capacity of this mucosal surface, the extensive lymphoid tissue, and published preclinical studies demonstrating efficacy of SL vaccination against other pathogens. To this end, we performed preliminary testing of sublingual TB vaccines. Vaccination of mice with SL BCG elicited potent mycobacteria-specific T cell responses which persisted 16 weeks post-immunization. The magnitudes of the T cell responses were similarly induced after sublingual, intranasal, and subcutaneous BCG vaccination. Interestingly, serum mycobacteria-specific antibody responses and systemic recovery of BCG post-vaccination were lower after SL BCG compared with systemic BCG immunization. However, more importantly, SL BCG vaccinated mice were significantly protected against an aerosolized virulent M. tuberculosis challenge (P < 0.0001 compared to unvaccinated mice). Furthermore, this protection was long-lived, persisting for 16 weeks with >1 log CFU reduction compared with naïve challenged mice in both lungs and spleens (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0028, respectively). These exciting results provide strong support for further studies exploring the mechanisms of protective immunity induced by sublingual BCG vaccination.
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Egui A, Lasso P, Pérez-Antón E, Thomas MC, López MC. Dynamics of T Cells Repertoire During Trypanosoma cruzi Infection and its Post-Treatment Modulation. Curr Med Chem 2018; 26:6519-6543. [PMID: 30381063 DOI: 10.2174/0929867325666181101111819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2018] [Revised: 09/11/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Chagas disease courses with different clinical phases and has a variable clinical presentation and progression. The acute infection phase mostly exhibits a non-specific symptomatology. In the absence of treatment, the acute phase is followed by a chronic phase, which is initially asymptomatic. This chronic asymptomatic phase of the disease is characterized by a fragile balance between the host's immune response and the parasite replication. The loss of this balance is crucial for the progression of the sickness. The virulence and tropism of the T. cruzi infecting strain together to the inflammation processes in the cardiac tissue are the main factors for the establishment and severity of the cardiomyopathy. The efficacy of treatment in chronic Chagas disease patients is controversial. However, several studies carried out in chronic patients demonstrated that antiparasitic treatment reduces parasite load in the bloodstream and leads to an improvement in the immune response against the Trypanosoma cruzi parasite. The present review is mainly focused on the cellular patterns associated to the clinical status and the evolution of the disease in chronic patients, as well as the effectiveness of the treatment related to T. cruzi infection control. Therefore, an emphasis is placed on the dynamics of specific-antigens T cell subpopulations, their memory and activation phenotypes, their functionality and their contribution to pathogenesis or disease control, as well as their association with risk of congenital transmission of the parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriana Egui
- Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina Lopez-Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Granada, Spain
| | - Paola Lasso
- Grupo de Inmunobiologia y Biologia Celular, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Bogota, Colombia
| | - Elena Pérez-Antón
- Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina Lopez-Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Granada, Spain
| | - M Carmen Thomas
- Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina Lopez-Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Granada, Spain
| | - Manuel Carlos López
- Instituto de Parasitologia y Biomedicina Lopez-Neyra, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Granada, Spain
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Lima-Junior JDC, Morgado FN, Conceição-Silva F. How Can Elispot Add Information to Improve Knowledge on Tropical Diseases? Cells 2017; 6:cells6040031. [PMID: 28961208 PMCID: PMC5755491 DOI: 10.3390/cells6040031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Revised: 09/12/2017] [Accepted: 09/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Elispot has been used as an important tool for detecting immune cells' products and functions and has facilitated the understanding of host-pathogen interaction. Despite the incredible diversity of possibilities, two main approaches have been developed: the immunopathogenesis and diagnosis/prognosis of infectious diseases as well as cancer research. Much has been described on the topics of allergy, autoimmune diseases, and HIV-Aids, however, Elispot can also be applied to other infectious diseases, mainly leishmaniasis, malaria, some viruses, helminths and mycosis usually classified as tropical diseases. The comprehension of the function, concentration and diversity of the immune response in the infectious disease is pointed out as crucial to the development of infection or disease in humans and animals. In this review we will describe the knowledge already obtained using Elispot as a method for accessing the profile of immune response as well as the recent advances in information about host-pathogen interaction in order to better understand the clinical outcome of a group of tropical and neglected diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josué da Costa Lima-Junior
- Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Pavilhão 26-4° andar, sala 406-C, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Fernanda Nazaré Morgado
- Laboratório de Pesquisa em Leishmaniose, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Pavilhão 26-5° andar, sala 509, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Fátima Conceição-Silva
- Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz/FIOCRUZ, Pavilhão 26-4° andar, sala 406-C, Av. Brasil 4365, Manguinhos, 21045-900 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Acevedo GR, Longhi SA, Bunying A, Sabri N, Atienza A, Zago MP, Santos R, Judkowski VA, Pinilla C, Gómez KA. Methodological approach to the ex vivo expansion and detection of T. cruzi-specific T cells from chronic Chagas disease patients. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0178380. [PMID: 28552984 PMCID: PMC5446171 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [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: 02/03/2017] [Accepted: 05/11/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery of T cell epitopes is essential not only for gaining knowledge about host response to infectious disease but also for the development of immune-intervention strategies. In Chagas disease, given the size and complexity of the Trypanosoma cruzi proteome and its interaction with the host’s immune system, the fine specificity of T cells has not been extensively studied yet, and this is particularly true for the CD4+ T cell compartment. The aim of the present work was to optimize a protocol for the generation of parasite-specific memory T cell lines, representative of their in vivo precursor populations and capable of responding to parasite antigens after long-term culture. Accordingly, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from both chronic asymptomatic and cardiac patients, and from non-infected individuals, underwent different in vitro culture and stimulation conditions. Subsequently, cells were tested for their capacity to respond against T. cruzi lysate by measuring [3H]-thymidine incorporation and interferon-γ and GM-CSF secretion. Results allowed us to adjust initial T. cruzi lysate incubation time as well as the number of expansions with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and irradiated allogeneic PBMC prior to specificity evaluation. Moreover, our data demonstrated that parasite specific T cells displayed a clear and strong activation by using T. cruzi lysate pulsed, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed human B lymphocytes (B-LCL), as autologous antigen presenting cells. Under these culture conditions, we generated a clone from an asymptomatic patient’s memory CD4+ T cells which responded against epimastigote and trypomastigote protein lysate. Our results describe a culture method for isolating T. cruzi specific T cell clones from patients with Chagas disease, which enable the acquisition of information on functionality and specificity of individual T cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gonzalo R. Acevedo
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Héctor N. Torres” (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Silvia A. Longhi
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular “Héctor N. Torres” (INGEBI), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Alcinette Bunying
- Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS), San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Nazila Sabri
- Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS), San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Augusto Atienza
- Hospital General de Agudos J.M. Ramos Mejia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - María P. Zago
- Instituto de Patología Experimental (IPE-UNSA), Salta, Argentina
| | - Radleigh Santos
- Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS), Port St. Lucie, Florida, United States of America
| | - Valeria A. Judkowski
- Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS), San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Clemencia Pinilla
- Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS), San Diego, California, United States of America
| | - Karina A. Gómez
- Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS), San Diego, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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