Human T lymphocyte recognition of cyanogen bromide fragments of the surface protein of Rickettsia typhi

Exploring the diversity, infectivity and metabolomic landscape of Rickettsial infections for developing novel therapeutic intervention strategies

Rickettsioses are zoonotic infections caused by obligate intracellular bacteria of the genera Rickettsia that affect human health; sometimes humans being considered as accidental hosts. At a molecular level, the rickettsiae infection triggers molecular signaling leading to the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. These cytokines direct the immune response to the host cell damage and pathogen removal. In this review, we present metabolic aspects of the host cell in the presence of rickettsiae and how this presence triggers an inflammatory response to cope with the pathogen. We also reviewed the secretion of cytokines that modulates host cell response at immune and metabolic levels.

Phenotype of the anti-Rickettsia CD8(+) T cell response suggests cellular correlates of protection for the assessment of novel antigens

The obligately intracellular bacteria Rickettsia infect endothelial cells and cause systemic febrile diseases that are potentially lethal. No vaccines are currently available and current knowledge of the effective immune response is limited. Natural and experimental rickettsial infections provide strong and cross-protective cellular immunity if the infected individual survives the acute infection. Although resistance to rickettsial infections is attributed to the induction of antigen-specific T cells, particularly CD8(+) T cells, the identification and validation of correlates of protective cellular immunity against rickettsial infections, an important step toward vaccine validation, remains a gap in this field. Here, we show that after a primary challenge with Rickettsia typhi in the C3H mouse model, the peak of anti-Rickettsia CD8(+) T cell-mediated responses occurs 7 days post-infection (dpi), which coincides with the beginning of rickettsial clearance. At this time point, both effector-type and memory-type CD8(+) T cells are present, suggesting that 7 dpi is a valid time point for the assessment of CD8(+) T cell responses of mice previously immunized with protective antigens. Based on our results, we suggest four correlates of cellular protection for the assessment of protective rickettsial antigens: (1) production of IFN-γ by antigen-experienced CD3(+)CD8(+)CD44(high) cells, (2) production of Granzyme B by CD27(low)CD43(low) antigen-experienced CD8(+) T cells, (3) generation of memory-type CD8(+) T cells [Memory Precursor Effector Cells (MPECs), as well as CD127(high)CD43(low), and CD27(high)CD43(low) CD8(+) T cells], and (4) generation of effector-like memory CD8(+) T cells (CD27(low)CD43(low)). We propose that these correlates could be useful for the general assessment of the quality of the CD8(+) T cell immune response induced by novel antigens with potential use in a vaccine against Rickettsia.

Discovery of novel cross-protective Rickettsia prowazekii T-cell antigens using a combined reverse vaccinology and in vivo screening approach

Rickettsial agents are some of the most lethal pathogens known to man. Among them, Rickettsia prowazekii is a select agent with potential use for bioterrorism; yet, there is no anti-Rickettsia vaccine commercially available. Owing to the obligate intracellular lifestyle of rickettsiae, CD8(+) T cells are indispensable for protective cellular immunity. Furthermore, T cells can mediate cross-protective immunity between different pathogenic Rickettsia, a finding consistent with the remarkable similarity among rickettsial genomes. However, Rickettsia T cell antigens remain unidentified. In the present study, we report an algorithm that allowed us to identify and validate four novel R. prowazekii vaccine antigen candidates recognized by CD8(+) T cells from a set of twelve in silico-defined protein targets. Our results highlight the importance of combining proteasome-processing as well as MHC class-I-binding predictions. The novel rickettsial vaccine candidate antigens, RP778, RP739, RP598, and RP403, protected mice against a lethal challenge with Rickettsia typhi, which is indicative of cross-protective immunity within the typhus group rickettsiae. Together, our findings validate a reverse vaccinology approach as a viable strategy to identify protective rickettsial antigens and highlight the feasibility of a subunit vaccine that triggers T-cell-mediated cross-protection among diverse rickettsiae.

Discovery of a protective Rickettsia prowazekii antigen recognized by CD8+ T cells, RP884, using an in vivo screening platform

Rickettsia prowazekii has been tested for biological warfare due to the high mortality that it produces after aerosol transmission of very low numbers of rickettsiae. Epidemic typhus, the infection caused by these obligately intracellular bacteria, continues to be a threat because it is difficult to diagnose due to initial non-specific symptoms and the lack of commercial diagnostic tests that are sensitive and specific during the initial clinical presentation. A vaccine to prevent epidemic typhus would constitute an effective deterrent to the weaponization of R. prowazekii; however, an effective and safe vaccine is not currently available. Due to the cytoplasmic niche of Rickettsia, CD8⁺ T-cells are critical effectors of immunity; however, the identification of antigens recognized by these cells has not been systematically addressed. To help close this gap, we designed an antigen discovery strategy that uses cell-based vaccination with antigen presenting cells expressing microbe's proteins targeted to the MHC class I presentation pathway. We report the use of this method to discover a protective T-cell rickettsial antigen, RP884, among a test subset of rickettsial proteins.

Identification and characterization of epitopes on the 120-kilodalton surface protein antigen of Rickettsia prowazekii with synthetic peptides

The 120-kDa surface protein antigens (SPAs) of typhus rickettsiae are highly immunogenic and have been shown to be responsible for the species-specific serological reactions of the typhus group rickettsiae. To study the immunochemistry of these proteins, overlapping decapeptides encompassing the whole protein were synthesized on derivatized polyethylene pins. A modified enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to identify epitopes recognized by rabbit hyperimmune antisera to Rickettsia prowazekii SPA. Eight distinct epitopes were mapped by this method in three regions. Four of the epitopes, which were located in the carboxyterminus of mature processed SPA, were strongly competitively inhibited by native folded SPA but not by intact rickettsiae, suggesting that they were on the SPA surface but not exposed on the rickettsial surface. Three of these epitopes were present on both R. prowazekii and Rickettsia typhi SPAs. The immunoreactivities of five epitopes were further characterized by synthesizing modified peptides. Glycine substitution experiments determined the critical residues in the epitopes. The dependence of binding of the peptide epitopes to the polyclonal antisera was mapped to single residues. The limited number and weak reactivity of linear peptide epitopes observed with human and rabbit sera, possibly due to a lack of the methylated amino acids which are present in rickettsia-derived SPA, suggest that the present approach will not provide useful synthetic antigens for diagnosis of typhus infections.