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Koncz B, Balogh GM, Manczinger M. A journey to your self: The vague definition of immune self and its practical implications. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2309674121. [PMID: 38722806 PMCID: PMC11161755 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309674121] [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] [Indexed: 06/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The identification of immunogenic peptides has become essential in an increasing number of fields in immunology, ranging from tumor immunotherapy to vaccine development. The nature of the adaptive immune response is shaped by the similarity between foreign and self-protein sequences, a concept extensively applied in numerous studies. Can we precisely define the degree of similarity to self? Furthermore, do we accurately define immune self? In the current work, we aim to unravel the conceptual and mechanistic vagueness hindering the assessment of self-similarity. Accordingly, we demonstrate the remarkably low consistency among commonly employed measures and highlight potential avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Balázs Koncz
- Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) Biological Research Centre, Szeged6726, Hungary
- Hungarian Centre of Excellence for Molecular Medicine - Biological Research Centre (HCEMM-BRC) Systems Immunology Research Group, Szeged6726, Hungary
- Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged6720, Hungary
| | - Gergő Mihály Balogh
- Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) Biological Research Centre, Szeged6726, Hungary
- Hungarian Centre of Excellence for Molecular Medicine - Biological Research Centre (HCEMM-BRC) Systems Immunology Research Group, Szeged6726, Hungary
- Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged6720, Hungary
| | - Máté Manczinger
- Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) Biological Research Centre, Szeged6726, Hungary
- Hungarian Centre of Excellence for Molecular Medicine - Biological Research Centre (HCEMM-BRC) Systems Immunology Research Group, Szeged6726, Hungary
- Department of Dermatology and Allergology, University of Szeged, Szeged6720, Hungary
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2
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Tan J, Egelston CA, Guo W, Stark JM, Lee PP. STING signalling compensates for low tumour mutation burden to drive anti-tumour immunity. EBioMedicine 2024; 101:105035. [PMID: 38401418 PMCID: PMC10904200 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2024.105035] [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: 05/20/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND While mutation-derived neoantigens are well recognized in generating anti-tumour T cell response, increasing evidences highlight the complex association between tumour mutation burden (TMB) and tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). The exploration of non-TMB determinants of active immune response could improve the prognosis prediction and provide guidance for current immunotherapy. METHODS The transcriptomic and whole exome sequence data in The Cancer Genome Atlas were used to examine the relationship between TMB and exhausted CD8+ T cells (Tex), as an indicator of tumour antigen-specific T cells across nine major cancer types. Computational clustering analysis was performed on 4510 tumours to identify different immune profiles. NanoString gene expression analysis and single cell RNA-seq analysis using fresh human breast cancer were performed for finding validation. FINDINGS TMB was found to be poorly correlated with active immune response in various cancer types. Patient clustering analysis revealed a group of tumours with abundant Tex but low TMB. In those tumours, we observed significantly higher expression of the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) signalling. Dendritic cells, particularly those of BATF3+ lineage, were also found to be essential for accumulation of Tex within tumours. Mechanistically, loss of genomic and cellular integrity, marked by decreased DNA damage repair, defective replication stress response, and increased apoptosis were shown to drive STING activation. INTERPRETATION These results highlight that TMB alone does not fully predict tumour immune profiles, with STING signalling compensating for low TMB in non-hypermutated tumours to enhance anti-tumour immunity. Translating these results, STING agonists may benefit patients with non-hypermutated tumours. STING activation may serve as an additional biomarker to predict response to immune checkpoint blockades alongside TMB. Our research also unravelled the interplay between genomic instability and STING activation, informing potential combined chemotherapy targeting the axis of genomic integrity and immunotherapy. FUNDING City of Hope Christopher Family Endowed Innovation Fund for Alzheimer's Disease and Breast Cancer Research in honor of Vineta Christopher; Breast Cancer Alliance Early Career Investigator Award; National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01CA256989 and R01CA240392.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiayi Tan
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA; Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Colt A Egelston
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Weihua Guo
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Jeremy M Stark
- Department of Cancer Genetics and Epigenetics, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Peter P Lee
- Department of Immuno-Oncology, Beckman Research Institute, City of Hope, Duarte, CA, USA.
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3
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Bravi B. Development and use of machine learning algorithms in vaccine target selection. NPJ Vaccines 2024; 9:15. [PMID: 38242890 PMCID: PMC10798987 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00795-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Computer-aided discovery of vaccine targets has become a cornerstone of rational vaccine design. In this article, I discuss how Machine Learning (ML) can inform and guide key computational steps in rational vaccine design concerned with the identification of B and T cell epitopes and correlates of protection. I provide examples of ML models, as well as types of data and predictions for which they are built. I argue that interpretable ML has the potential to improve the identification of immunogens also as a tool for scientific discovery, by helping elucidate the molecular processes underlying vaccine-induced immune responses. I outline the limitations and challenges in terms of data availability and method development that need to be addressed to bridge the gap between advances in ML predictions and their translational application to vaccine design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Bravi
- Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
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4
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de Joode K, Heersche N, Basak EA, Bins S, van der Veldt AAM, van Schaik RHN, Mathijssen RHJ. Review - The impact of pharmacogenetics on the outcome of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Cancer Treat Rev 2024; 122:102662. [PMID: 38043396 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2023.102662] [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: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/05/2023]
Abstract
The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has a tremendous effect on the treatment options for multiple types of cancer. Nonetheless, there is a large interpatient variability in response, survival, and the development of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Pharmacogenetics is the general term for germline genetic variations, which may cause the observed interindividual differences in response or toxicity to treatment. These genetic variations can either be single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) or structural variants, such as gene deletions, amplifications or rearrangements. For ICIs, pharmacogenetic variation in the human leukocyte antigen molecules has also been studied with regard to treatment outcome. This review presents a summary of the literature regarding the pharmacogenetics of ICI treatment, discusses the most important known genetic variations and offers recommendations on the application of pharmacogenetics for ICI treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karlijn de Joode
- Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Niels Heersche
- Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Clinical Chemistry, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Edwin A Basak
- Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Sander Bins
- Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Astrid A M van der Veldt
- Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ron H N van Schaik
- Department of Clinical Chemistry, Erasmus MC, Erasmus University Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Ron H J Mathijssen
- Department of Medical Oncology, Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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5
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Yuan L, Li X, Li M, Bi R, Li Y, Song J, Li W, Yan M, Luo H, Sun C, Shu Y. In silico design of a broad-spectrum multiepitope vaccine against influenza virus. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 254:128071. [PMID: 37967595 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.128071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 11/17/2023]
Abstract
Influenza remains a global health concern due to its potential to cause pandemics as a result of rapidly mutating influenza virus strains. Existing vaccines often struggle to keep up with these rapidly mutating flu viruses. Therefore, the development of a broad-spectrum peptide vaccine that can stimulate an optimal antibody response has emerged as an innovative approach to addressing the influenza threat. In this study, an immunoinformatic approach was employed to rapidly predict immunodominant epitopes from different antigens, aiming to develop an effective multiepitope influenza vaccine (MEV). The immunodominant B-cell linear epitopes of seasonal influenza strains hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) were predicted using an antibody-peptide microarray, involving a human cohort including vaccinees and infected patients. On the other hand, bioinformatics tools were used to predict immunodominant cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) and helper T-cell (HTL) epitopes. Subsequently, these epitopes were evaluated by various immunoinformatic tools. Epitopes with high antigenicity, high immunogenicity, non-allergenicity, non-toxicity, as well as exemplary conservation were then connected in series with appropriate linkers and adjuvants to construct a broad-spectrum MEV. Moreover, the structural analysis revealed that the MEV candidates exhibited good stability, and the docking results demonstrated their strong affinity to Toll-like receptors 4 (TLR4). In addition, molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the stable interaction between TLR4 and MEVs. Three injections with MEVs showed a high level of B-cell and T-cell immune responses according to the immunological simulations in silico. Furthermore, in-silico cloning was performed, and the results indicated that the MEVs could be produced in considerable quantities in Escherichia coli (E. coli). Based on these findings, it is reasonable to create a broad-spectrum MEV against different subtypes of influenza A and B viruses in silico.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lifang Yuan
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
| | - Xu Li
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China; Department of Pathogenic Biology and Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, Hunan, PR China.
| | - Minchao Li
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China.
| | - Rongjun Bi
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China
| | - Yingrui Li
- Shenzhen Digital Life Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518000, PR China.
| | - Jiaping Song
- Shenzhen Digital Life Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518000, PR China.
| | - Wei Li
- Shenzhen Digital Life Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518000, PR China.
| | - Mingchen Yan
- Shenzhen Digital Life Institute, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518000, PR China
| | - Huanle Luo
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510080, PR China.
| | - Caijun Sun
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510080, PR China.
| | - Yuelong Shu
- School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen 518107, PR China; School of Public Health (Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR China; Key Laboratory of Tropical Disease Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou 510080, PR China; Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100176, PR China.
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Buhler S, Sollet ZC, Bettens F, Schäfer A, Ansari M, Ferrari-Lacraz S, Villard J. HLA variants and TCR diversity against SARS-CoV-2 in the pre-COVID-19 era. HLA 2023; 102:720-730. [PMID: 37461808 DOI: 10.1111/tan.15158] [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: 12/08/2022] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 11/11/2023]
Abstract
HLA antigen presentation and T-cell mediated immunity are critical to control acute viral infection such as COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2. Recent data suggest that both the depth of peptide presentation and the breadth of the T-cell repertoire are associated with disease outcome. It has also been shown that unexposed subjects can develop strong T-cell responses against SARS-CoV-2 due to heterologous immunity. In this study, we explored the anti-SARS-CoV-2 T-cell repertoire by analyzing previously published T-cell receptor (TCR) CDR3β immunosequencing data in a cohort of 116 healthy donors and in the context of immune reconstitution after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in 116 recipients collected during the pre-COVID-19 era. For this, 143,310 publicly available SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell sequences were investigated among the 3.5 million clonotypes in the cohort. We also performed HLA class I peptide binding predictions using the reference proteome of the virus and high resolution genotyping data in these patients. We could demonstrate that individuals are fully equipped at the genetic level to recognize SARS-CoV-2. This is evidenced by the 5% median cumulative frequency of clonotypes having their sequence matched to a SARS-CoV-2 specific T-cell. In addition, any combination of HLA class I variants in this cohort is associated with a broad capacity of presenting hundreds of SARS-CoV-2 derived peptides. These results could be explained by heterologous immunity and random somatic TCR recombination. We speculate that these observations could explain the efficacy of the specific immune response against SARS-CoV-2 in individuals without risk factors of immunodeficiency and infected prior to vaccination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphane Buhler
- Transplantation Immunology Unit and National Reference Laboratory for Histocompatibility, Department of Diagnostic, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Zuleika Calderin Sollet
- Transplantation Immunology Unit and National Reference Laboratory for Histocompatibility, Department of Diagnostic, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Florence Bettens
- Transplantation Immunology Unit and National Reference Laboratory for Histocompatibility, Department of Diagnostic, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Antonia Schäfer
- Transplantation Immunology Unit and National Reference Laboratory for Histocompatibility, Department of Diagnostic, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marc Ansari
- CANSEARCH Research Platform for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Division of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Department of Women, Child and Adolescent, University Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Sylvie Ferrari-Lacraz
- Transplantation Immunology Unit and National Reference Laboratory for Histocompatibility, Department of Diagnostic, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jean Villard
- Transplantation Immunology Unit and National Reference Laboratory for Histocompatibility, Department of Diagnostic, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland
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Barry PA, Iyer SS, Gibson L. Re-Evaluating Human Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Design: Prediction of T Cell Epitopes. Vaccines (Basel) 2023; 11:1629. [PMID: 38005961 PMCID: PMC10674879 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines11111629] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 10/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
HCMV vaccine development has traditionally focused on viral antigens identified as key targets of neutralizing antibody (NAb) and/or T cell responses in healthy adults with chronic HCMV infection, such as glycoprotein B (gB), the glycoprotein H-anchored pentamer complex (PC), and the unique long 83 (UL83)-encoded phosphoprotein 65 (pp65). However, the protracted absence of a licensed HCMV vaccine that reduces the risk of infection in pregnancy regardless of serostatus warrants a systematic reassessment of assumptions informing vaccine design. To illustrate this imperative, we considered the hypothesis that HCMV proteins infrequently detected as targets of T cell responses may contain important vaccine antigens. Using an extant dataset from a T cell profiling study, we tested whether HCMV proteins recognized by only a small minority of participants encompass any T cell epitopes. Our analyses demonstrate a prominent skewing of T cell responses away from most viral proteins-although they contain robust predicted CD8 T cell epitopes-in favor of a more restricted set of proteins. Our findings raise the possibility that HCMV may benefit from evading the T cell recognition of certain key proteins and that, contrary to current vaccine design approaches, including them as vaccine antigens could effectively take advantage of this vulnerability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter A. Barry
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Center for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA;
- California National Primate Research Center, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Smita S. Iyer
- Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA;
| | - Laura Gibson
- Departments of Medicine and of Pediatrics, Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA
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van den Bulk J, Verdegaal EM, van der Ploeg M, Visser M, Nunes JB, de Ru AH, Tjokrodirijo RT, Ijsselsteijn ME, Janssen NI, van der Breggen R, de Bruin L, de Kok P, Janssen GM, Ruano D, Kapiteijn EH, van Veelen PA, de Miranda NF, van der Burg SH. Neoantigen Targetability in Progressive Advanced Melanoma. Clin Cancer Res 2023; 29:4278-4288. [PMID: 37540567 PMCID: PMC10570682 DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-23-1106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 08/06/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The availability of (neo)antigens and the infiltration of tumors by (neo)antigen-specific T cells are crucial factors in cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the targetability of (neo)antigens in advanced progessive melanoma and explore the potential for continued T-cell-based immunotherapy. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We examined a cohort of eight patients with melanoma who had sequential metastases resected at early and later time points. Antigen-presenting capacity was assessed using IHC and flow cytometry. T-cell infiltration was quantified through multiplex immunofluorescence. Whole-exome and RNA sequencing were conducted to identify neoantigens and assess the expression of neoantigens and tumor-associated antigens. Mass spectrometry was used to evaluate antigen presentation. Tumor recognition by autologous T cells was assessed by coculture assays with cell lines derived from the metastatic lesions. RESULTS We observed similar T-cell infiltration in paired early and later metastatic (LM) lesions. Although elements of the antigen-presenting machinery were affected in some LM lesions, both the early and later metastasis-derived cell lines were recognized by autologous T cells. At the genomic level, the (neo)antigen landscape was dynamic, but the (neo)antigen load was stable between paired lesions. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that subsequently isolated tumors from patients with late-stage melanoma retain sufficient antigen-presenting capacity, T-cell infiltration, and a stable (neo)antigen load, allowing recognition of tumor cells by T cells. This indicates a continuous availability of T-cell targets in metastases occurring at different time points and supports further exploration of (neo)antigen-specific T-cell-based therapeutic approaches for advanced melanoma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jitske van den Bulk
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Els M.E. Verdegaal
- Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Manon van der Ploeg
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Marten Visser
- Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Joana B. Nunes
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Arnoud H. de Ru
- Center of Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Rayman T.N. Tjokrodirijo
- Center of Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Natasja I. Janssen
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Ruud van der Breggen
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Linda de Bruin
- Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Pita de Kok
- Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - George M.C. Janssen
- Center of Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Dina Ruano
- Department of Pathology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Ellen H.W. Kapiteijn
- Department of Medical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Peter A. van Veelen
- Center of Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | | | - Sjoerd H. van der Burg
- Department of Medical Oncology, Oncode Institute, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
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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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Elgebaly SA, Peacock WF, Christenson RH, Kreutzer DL, Faraag AHI, Sarguos AMM, El-Khazragy N. Integrated Bioinformatics Analysis Confirms the Diagnostic Value of Nourin-Dependent miR-137 and miR-106b in Unstable Angina Patients. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:14783. [PMID: 37834231 PMCID: PMC10573268 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241914783] [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: 08/27/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The challenge of rapidly diagnosing myocardial ischemia in unstable angina (UA) patients presenting to the Emergency Department (ED) is due to a lack of sensitive blood biomarkers. This has prompted an investigation into microRNAs (miRNAs) related to cardiac-derived Nourin for potential diagnostic application. The Nourin protein is rapidly expressed in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (UA and acute myocardial infarction (AMI)). MicroRNAs regulate gene expression through mRNA binding and, thus, may represent potential biomarkers. We initially identified miR-137 and miR-106b and conducted a clinical validation, which demonstrated that they were highly upregulated in ACS patients, but not in healthy subjects and non-ACS controls. Using integrated comprehensive bioinformatics analysis, the present study confirms that the Nourin protein targets miR-137 and miR-106b, which are linked to myocardial ischemia and inflammation associated with ACS. Molecular docking demonstrated robust interactions between the Nourin protein and miR137/hsa-miR-106b, involving hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions, with -10 kcal/mol binding energy. I-TASSER generated Nourin analogs, with the top 10 chosen for structural insights. Antigenic regions and MHCII epitopes within the Nourin SPGADGNGGEAMPGG sequence showed strong binding to HLA-DR/DQ alleles. The Cytoscape network revealed interactions of -miR137/hsa-miR--106b and Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) in myocardial ischemia. RNA Composer predicted the secondary structure of miR-106b. Schrödinger software identified key Nourin-RNA interactions critical for complex stability. The study identifies miR-137 and miR-106b as potential ACS diagnostic and therapeutic targets. This research underscores the potential of miRNAs targeting Nourin for precision ACS intervention. The analysis leverages RNA Composer, Schrödinger, and I-TASSER tools to explore interactions and structural insights. Robust Nourin-miRNA interactions are established, bolstering the case for miRNA-based interventions in ischemic injury. In conclusion, the study contributes to UA and AMI diagnosis strategies through bioinformatics-guided exploration of Nourin-targeting miRNAs. Supported by comprehensive molecular analysis, the hypoxia-induced miR-137 for cell apoptosis (a marker of cell damage) and the inflammation-induced miR-106b (a marker of inflammation) confirmed their potential clinical use as diagnostic biomarkers. This research reinforces the growing role of miR-137/hsa-miR-106b in the early diagnosis of myocardial ischemia in unstable angina patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salwa A. Elgebaly
- Research & Development, Nour Heart, Inc., Vienna, VA 22180, USA
- Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06032, USA;
| | - W. Frank Peacock
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77057, USA;
| | - Robert H. Christenson
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 2120, USA;
| | - Donald L. Kreutzer
- Department of Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT 06032, USA;
| | - Ahmed Hassan Ibrahim Faraag
- Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science Helwan University, Cairo 11795, Egypt;
- School of Biotechnology, Badr University, Cairo 11829, Egypt
| | | | - Nashwa El-Khazragy
- Department of Clinical Pathology-Hematology, Ain Shams Medical Research Institute (MASRI), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt;
- Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology, Egypt Center for Research and Regenerative Medicine (ECRRM), Cairo11599, Egypt
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11
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Yang K, Halima A, Chan TA. Antigen presentation in cancer - mechanisms and clinical implications for immunotherapy. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2023; 20:604-623. [PMID: 37328642 DOI: 10.1038/s41571-023-00789-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Over the past decade, the emergence of effective immunotherapies has revolutionized the clinical management of many types of cancers. However, long-term durable tumour control is only achieved in a fraction of patients who receive these therapies. Understanding the mechanisms underlying clinical response and resistance to treatment is therefore essential to expanding the level of clinical benefit obtained from immunotherapies. In this Review, we describe the molecular mechanisms of antigen processing and presentation in tumours and their clinical consequences. We examine how various aspects of the antigen-presentation machinery (APM) shape tumour immunity. In particular, we discuss genomic variants in HLA alleles and other APM components, highlighting their influence on the immunopeptidomes of both malignant cells and immune cells. Understanding the APM, how it is regulated and how it changes in tumour cells is crucial for determining which patients will respond to immunotherapy and why some patients develop resistance. We focus on recently discovered molecular and genomic alterations that drive the clinical outcomes of patients receiving immune-checkpoint inhibitors. An improved understanding of how these variables mediate tumour-immune interactions is expected to guide the more precise administration of immunotherapies and reveal potentially promising directions for the development of new immunotherapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kailin Yang
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Ahmed Halima
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Timothy A Chan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Center, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
- Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
- National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
- Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
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12
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Nemirov K, Authié P, Souque P, Moncoq F, Noirat A, Blanc C, Bourgine M, Majlessi L, Charneau P. Preclinical proof of concept of a tetravalent lentiviral T-cell vaccine against dengue viruses. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1208041. [PMID: 37654495 PMCID: PMC10466046 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1208041] [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: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 07/17/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Dengue virus (DENV) is responsible for approximately 100 million cases of dengue fever annually, including severe forms such as hemorrhagic dengue and dengue shock syndrome. Despite intensive vaccine research and development spanning several decades, a universally accepted and approved vaccine against dengue fever has not yet been developed. The major challenge associated with the development of such a vaccine is that it should induce simultaneous and equal protection against the four DENV serotypes, because past infection with one serotype may greatly increase the severity of secondary infection with a distinct serotype, a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE). Using a lentiviral vector platform that is particularly suitable for the induction of cellular immune responses, we designed a tetravalent T-cell vaccine candidate against DENV ("LV-DEN"). This vaccine candidate has a strong CD8+ T-cell immunogenicity against the targeted non-structural DENV proteins, without inducing antibody response against surface antigens. Evaluation of its protective potential in the preclinical flavivirus infection model, i.e., mice knockout for the receptor to the type I IFN, demonstrated its significant protective effect against four distinct DENV serotypes, based on reduced weight loss, viremia, and viral loads in peripheral organs of the challenged mice. These results provide proof of concept for the use of lentiviral vectors for the development of efficient polyvalent T-cell vaccine candidates against all DENV serotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kirill Nemirov
- Pasteur-TheraVectys Joint Lab, Institut Pasteur, Université de Paris, Virology Department, Paris, France
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13
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Liu R, Hu YF, Huang JD, Fan X. A Bayesian approach to estimate MHC-peptide binding threshold. Brief Bioinform 2023; 24:bbad208. [PMID: 37279464 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad208] [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: 03/22/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-peptide binding is a critical step in enabling a peptide to serve as an antigen for T-cell recognition. Accurate prediction of this binding can facilitate various applications in immunotherapy. While many existing methods offer good predictive power for the binding affinity of a peptide to a specific MHC, few models attempt to infer the binding threshold that distinguishes binding sequences. These models often rely on experience-based ad hoc criteria, such as 500 or 1000nM. However, different MHCs may have different binding thresholds. As such, there is a need for an automatic, data-driven method to determine an accurate binding threshold. In this study, we proposed a Bayesian model that jointly infers core locations (binding sites), the binding affinity and the binding threshold. Our model provided the posterior distribution of the binding threshold, enabling accurate determination of an appropriate threshold for each MHC. To evaluate the performance of our method under different scenarios, we conducted simulation studies with varying dominant levels of motif distributions and proportions of random sequences. These simulation studies showed desirable estimation accuracy and robustness of our model. Additionally, when applied to real data, our results outperformed commonly used thresholds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Liu
- Department of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Ye-Fan Hu
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 3/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
- Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 4/F Professional Block, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
- BayVax Biotech Limited, Hong Kong Science Park, Pak Shek Kok, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Jian-Dong Huang
- School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 3/F, Laboratory Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Hong Kong SAR, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Clinical Oncology Center, Shenzhen Key Laboratory for Cancer Metastasis and Personalized Therapy, The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen 518053, China
- Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510120, China
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive and Brain Research, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Xiaodan Fan
- Department of Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China
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14
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Eltschkner S, Mellinger S, Buus S, Nielsen M, Paulsson KM, Lindkvist-Petersson K, Westerdahl H. The structure of songbird MHC class I reveals antigen binding that is flexible at the N-terminus and static at the C-terminus. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1209059. [PMID: 37483599 PMCID: PMC10360169 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1209059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Long-distance migratory animals such as birds and bats have evolved to withstand selection imposed by pathogens across the globe, and pathogen richness is known to be particularly high in tropical regions. Immune genes, so-called Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) genes, are highly duplicated in songbirds compared to other vertebrates, and this high MHC diversity has been hypothesised to result in a unique adaptive immunity. To understand the rationale behind the evolution of the high MHC genetic diversity in songbirds, we determined the structural properties of an MHC class I protein, Acar3, from a long-distance migratory songbird, the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus (in short: Acar). The structure of Acar3 was studied in complex with pathogen-derived antigens and shows an overall antigen presentation similar to human MHC class I. However, the peptides bound to Acar3 display an unusual conformation: Whereas the N-terminal ends of the peptides display enhanced flexibility, the conformation of their C-terminal halves is rather static. This uncommon peptide-binding mode in Acar3 is facilitated by a central Arg residue within the peptide-binding groove that fixes the backbone of the peptide at its central position, and potentially permits successful interactions between MHC class I and innate immune receptors. Our study highlights the importance of investigating the immune system of wild animals, such as birds and bats, to uncover unique immune mechanisms which may neither exist in humans nor in model organisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Eltschkner
- Molecular Plant Pathology, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Samantha Mellinger
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Soren Buus
- Department of Experimental Immunology, Institute of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Morten Nielsen
- Immunoinformatics and Machine Learning, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Kajsa M. Paulsson
- Antigen Presentation, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Karin Lindkvist-Petersson
- Medical Structural Biology, Department of Experimental Medical Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- LINXS - Institute of Advanced Neutron and X-ray Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Helena Westerdahl
- Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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15
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Homan EJ, Bremel RD. Determinants of tumor immune evasion: the role of T cell exposed motif frequency and mutant amino acid exposure. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1155679. [PMID: 37215122 PMCID: PMC10196236 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1155679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 04/17/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Few neoepitopes detected in tumor biopsies are immunogenic. Tumor-specific T cell responses require both the presentation of an epitope that differs from wildtype and the presence of T cells with neoepitope-cognate receptors. We show that mutations detected in tumor biopsies result in an increased frequency of rare amino acid combinations compared to the human proteome and gastrointestinal microorganisms. Mutations in a large data set of oncogene and tumor suppressor gene products were compared to wildtype, and to the count of corresponding amino acid motifs in the human proteome and gastrointestinal microbiome. Mutant amino acids in T cell exposed positions of potential neoepitopes consistently generated amino acid motifs that are less common in both proteome reference datasets. Approximately 10% of the mutant amino acid motifs are absent from the human proteome. Motif frequency does not change when mutants were positioned in the MHC anchor positions hidden from T cell receptors. Analysis of neoepitopes in GBM and LUSC cases showed less common T cell exposed motifs, and HLA binding preferentially placing mutant amino acids in an anchor position for both MHC I and MHC II. Cross-presentation of mutant exposed neoepitopes by MHC I and MHC II was particularly uncommon. Review of a tumor mutation dataset known to generate T cell responses showed immunogenic epitopes were those with mutant amino acids exposed to the T cell receptor and with exposed pentamer motifs present in the human and microbiome reference databases. The study illustrates a previously unrecognized mechanism of tumor immune evasion, as rare T cell exposed motifs produced by mutation are less likely to have cognate T cells in the T cell repertoire. The complex interactions of HLA genotype, binding positions, and mutation specific changes in T cell exposed motif underscore the necessity of evaluating potential neoepitopes in each individual patient.
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16
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Han L, Wu S, Zhang T, Peng W, Zhao M, Yue C, Wen W, Cai W, Li M, Wallny HJ, Avila DW, Mwangi W, Nair V, Ternette N, Guo Y, Zhao Y, Chai Y, Qi J, Liang H, Gao GF, Kaufman J, Liu WJ. A Wider and Deeper Peptide-Binding Groove for the Class I Molecules from B15 Compared with B19 Chickens Correlates with Relative Resistance to Marek's Disease. JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY (BALTIMORE, MD. : 1950) 2023; 210:668-680. [PMID: 36695776 PMCID: PMC7614295 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2200211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The chicken MHC is known to confer decisive resistance or susceptibility to various economically important pathogens, including the iconic oncogenic herpesvirus that causes Marek's disease (MD). Only one classical class I gene, BF2, is expressed at a high level in chickens, so it was relatively easy to discern a hierarchy from well-expressed thermostable fastidious specialist alleles to promiscuous generalist alleles that are less stable and expressed less on the cell surface. The class I molecule BF2*1901 is better expressed and more thermostable than the closely related BF2*1501, but the peptide motif was not simpler as expected. In this study, we confirm for newly developed chicken lines that the chicken MHC haplotype B15 confers resistance to MD compared with B19. Using gas phase sequencing and immunopeptidomics, we find that BF2*1901 binds a greater variety of amino acids in some anchor positions than does BF2*1501. However, by x-ray crystallography, we find that the peptide-binding groove of BF2*1901 is narrower and shallower. Although the self-peptides that bound to BF2*1901 may appear more various than those of BF2*1501, the structures show that the wider and deeper peptide-binding groove of BF2*1501 allows stronger binding and thus more peptides overall, correlating with the expected hierarchies for expression level, thermostability, and MD resistance. Our study provides a reasonable explanation for greater promiscuity for BF2*1501 compared with BF2*1901, corresponding to the difference in resistance to MD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lingxia Han
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, China
- National Poultry Laboratory Animal Resource Center, Harbin 150001, China
- Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Laboratory Animal and Comparative Medicine, Harbin 150069, China
| | - Shaolian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Ting Zhang
- Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory, Life Sciences Institute & Collaborative Innovation Centre of Regenerative Medicine and Medical BioResource Development and Application, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
| | - Weiyu Peng
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, China
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
| | - Min Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Can Yue
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
- Research Unit of Adaptive Evolution and Control of Emerging Viruses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100052, China
- Savaid Medical School, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Wanxin Wen
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Wenbo Cai
- State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Biotechnology, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150001, China
| | - Min Li
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
| | | | - David W. Avila
- The Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel CH4001, Switzerland
| | - William Mwangi
- The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright GU24 0NF, United Kingdom
| | - Venugopal Nair
- The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright GU24 0NF, United Kingdom
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SZ, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola Ternette
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Headington OX37BN, United Kingdom
| | - Yaxin Guo
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
- Research Unit of Adaptive Evolution and Control of Emerging Viruses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100052, China
| | - Yingze Zhao
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
- Research Unit of Adaptive Evolution and Control of Emerging Viruses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100052, China
| | - Yan Chai
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Jianxun Qi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Hao Liang
- Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory, Life Sciences Institute & Collaborative Innovation Centre of Regenerative Medicine and Medical BioResource Development and Application, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
| | - George F. Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
- Research Unit of Adaptive Evolution and Control of Emerging Viruses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100052, China
| | - Jim Kaufman
- The Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel CH4001, Switzerland
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, United Kingdom
- Department of Veterinary Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0ES, United Kingdom
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, United Kingdom
| | - William J. Liu
- Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory, Life Sciences Institute & Collaborative Innovation Centre of Regenerative Medicine and Medical BioResource Development and Application, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, China
- NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100052, China
- Research Unit of Adaptive Evolution and Control of Emerging Viruses, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100052, China
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17
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Beikzadeh B. Immunoinformatics design of multi-epitope vaccine using OmpA, OmpD and enterotoxin against non-typhoidal salmonellosis. BMC Bioinformatics 2023; 24:63. [PMID: 36823524 PMCID: PMC9950014 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-023-05183-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) is one of the important bacteria that cause foodborne diseases and invasive infections in children and elderly people. Since NTS infection is difficult to control due to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant species and its adverse effect on immune response, the development of a vaccine against NTS would be necessary. This study aimed to develop a multi-epitope vaccine against the most prevalent serovars of NTS (Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Enteritidis) using an immunoinformatics approach and targeting OmpA, OmpD, and enterotoxin (Stn). RESULTS Initially, the B cell and T cell epitopes were predicted. Then, epitopes and suitable adjuvant were assembled by molecular linkers to construct a multi-epitope vaccine. The computational tools predicted the tertiary structure, refined the tertiary structure and validated the final vaccine construct. The effectiveness of the vaccine was evaluated via molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, and in silico immune simulation. The vaccine model had good binding affinity and stability with MHC-I, MHC-II, and toll-like receptors (TLR-1, 2, 4) as well as activation of T cells, IgM, IgG, IFN-γ and IL-2 responses. Furthermore, after codon optimization of the vaccine sequence, this sequence was cloned in E. coli plasmid vector pET-30a (+) within restriction sites of HindIII and BamHI. CONCLUSIONS This study, for the first time, introduced a multi-epitope vaccine based on OmpA, OmpD and enterotoxin (Stn) of NTS that could stimulate T and B cell immune responses and produced in the prokaryotic system. This vaccine was validated in-silico phase which is an essential study to reduce challenges before in vitro and in vivo studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Babak Beikzadeh
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
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18
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Li Y, Xiu Z, Li S, Zhu Y, Li Y, Zhao R, Li Y, Yang X, Ge C, Li N, Jin N, Shang C, Li X, Han J. Human adenovirus type 7 virus-like particle vaccine induces Dendritic cell maturation through the TLR4/NF-κB pathway and is highly immunogenic. Antiviral Res 2023; 212:105559. [PMID: 36813181 DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2023.105559] [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: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/18/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Human adenovirus type 7 (HAdv-7) infection is the main cause of upper respiratory tract infection, bronchitis and pneumonia in children. At present, there are no anti-adenovirus drugs or preventive vaccines in the market. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a safe and effective anti-adenovirus type 7 vaccine. In this study, we designed a virus-like particle vaccine expressing the epitopes of hexon and penton of adenovirus type 7 with hepatitis B core protein (HBc) as the vector to induce high-level humoral and cellular immune responses. To evaluate the effectiveness of the vaccine, we first detected the expression of molecular markers on the surface of antigen presenting cells and the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines in vitro. We then measured the levels of neutralizing antibodies and T cell activation in vivo. The results showed that the HAdv-7 virus-like particles (VLPs) recombinant subunit vaccine could activate the innate immune response, including the TLR4/NF-κB pathway which upregulated the expression of MHC II, CD80, CD86, CD40 and cytokines. The vaccine also triggered a strong neutralizing antibody and cellular immune response and activated T lymphocytes. Therefore, the HAdv-7 VLPs promoted humoral and cellular immune responses, thereby potentially enhancing protection against HAdv-7 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiquan Li
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China; Medical College, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133002, PR China
| | - Zhiru Xiu
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China
| | - Shanzhi Li
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China
| | - Yilong Zhu
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China
| | - Yaru Li
- Medical College, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133002, PR China
| | - Renshuang Zhao
- Medical College, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133002, PR China
| | - Yue Li
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China
| | - Xia Yang
- Medical College, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133002, PR China
| | - Chenchen Ge
- Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130122, PR China
| | - Nan Li
- Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130122, PR China
| | - Ningyi Jin
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China; Medical College, Yanbian University, Yanji, 133002, PR China; Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130122, PR China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, PR China
| | - Chao Shang
- Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130122, PR China.
| | - Xiao Li
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China; Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130122, PR China.
| | - Jicheng Han
- Academician Workstation of Jilin Province, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, 130117, PR China; Changchun Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, 130122, PR China.
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19
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Lan BH, Becker M, Freund C. The mode of action of tapasin on major histocompatibility class I (MHC-I) molecules. J Biol Chem 2023; 299:102987. [PMID: 36758805 PMCID: PMC10040737 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.102987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Revised: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Tapasin (Tsn) plays a critical role in antigen processing and presentation by major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) molecules. The mechanism of Tsn-mediated peptide loading and exchange hinges on the conformational dynamics governing the interaction of Tsn and MHC-I with recent structural and functional studies pinpointing the critical sites of direct or allosteric regulation. In this review, we highlight these recent findings and relate them to the extensive molecular and cellular data that are available for these evolutionary interdependent proteins. Furthermore, allotypic differences of MHC-I with regard to the editing and chaperoning function of Tsn are reviewed and related to the mechanistic observations. Finally, evolutionary aspects of the mode of action of Tsn will be discussed, a short comparison with the Tsn-related molecule TAPBPR (Tsn-related protein) will be given, and the impact of Tsn on noncanonical MHC-I molecules will be described.
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Affiliation(s)
- By Huan Lan
- Institute of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laboratory of Protein Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Moritz Becker
- Institute of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laboratory of Protein Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Christian Freund
- Institute of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Laboratory of Protein Biochemistry, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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20
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Korotaeva AA, Borunova AA, Kuzevanova AY, Zabotina TN, Alimov AA. [Molecular mechanisms of impaired antigenic presentation as a cause of tumor escape from immune surveillance]. Arkh Patol 2023; 85:76-83. [PMID: 38010642 DOI: 10.17116/patol20238506176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
The review summarizes data on the features of antigen presentation in tumor cells. The molecular mechanisms of the antitumor immune response are considered with an emphasis on the ability of tumor cells to avoid the action of immune surveillance. The features of expression of MHC molecules depending on treatment regimens are provided. Ways to improve existing and create new treatment regimens aimed at elimination of tumor cells because of antitumor immune response are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- A A Korotaeva
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russia
| | - A A Borunova
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - T N Zabotina
- N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology, Moscow, Russia
| | - A A Alimov
- Research Centre for Medical Genetics, Moscow, Russia
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21
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Castro A, Kaabinejadian S, Yari H, Hildebrand W, Zanetti M, Carter H. Subcellular location of source proteins improves prediction of neoantigens for immunotherapy. EMBO J 2022; 41:e111071. [PMID: 36314681 PMCID: PMC9753441 DOI: 10.15252/embj.2022111071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2022] [Revised: 09/20/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Antigen presentation via the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is essential for anti-tumor immunity. However, the rules that determine which tumor-derived peptides will be immunogenic are still incompletely understood. Here, we investigated whether constraints on peptide accessibility to the MHC due to protein subcellular location are associated with peptide immunogenicity potential. Analyzing over 380,000 peptides from studies of MHC presentation and peptide immunogenicity, we find clear spatial biases in both eluted and immunogenic peptides. We find that including parent protein location improves the prediction of peptide immunogenicity in multiple datasets. In human immunotherapy cohorts, the location was associated with a neoantigen vaccination response, and immune checkpoint blockade responders generally had a higher burden of neopeptides from accessible locations. We conclude that protein subcellular location adds important information for optimizing cancer immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Castro
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology ProgramUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCAUSA
| | - Saghar Kaabinejadian
- Department of Microbiology and ImmunologyUniversity of Oklahoma Health Sciences CenterOklahoma CityOKUSA
- Pure MHC LLCOklahoma CityOKUSA
| | - Hooman Yari
- Department of Microbiology and ImmunologyUniversity of Oklahoma Health Sciences CenterOklahoma CityOKUSA
| | - William Hildebrand
- Department of Microbiology and ImmunologyUniversity of Oklahoma Health Sciences CenterOklahoma CityOKUSA
| | - Maurizio Zanetti
- The Laboratory of Immunology and Department of MedicineUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCAUSA
- Moores Cancer CenterUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCAUSA
| | - Hannah Carter
- Moores Cancer CenterUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCAUSA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Medical GeneticsUniversity of California San DiegoLa JollaCAUSA
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22
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Jiang S, Nan F, Zhang S, Zhang X, Li Z, Yu Z, Liu F, Li J, Zhou X, Niu D, Wang H, Zhang X, Liu W, Yang X, Wang Y, Wang B. CRM197-conjugated multi antigen dominant epitope for effective human cytomegalovirus vaccine development. Int J Biol Macromol 2022; 224:79-93. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.10.105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Revised: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 10/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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23
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Sidhom JW, Oliveira G, Ross-MacDonald P, Wind-Rotolo M, Wu CJ, Pardoll DM, Baras AS. Deep learning reveals predictive sequence concepts within immune repertoires to immunotherapy. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabq5089. [PMID: 36112691 PMCID: PMC9481116 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq5089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 07/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
T cell receptor (TCR) sequencing has been used to characterize the immune response to cancer. However, most analyses have been restricted to quantitative measures such as clonality that do not leverage the complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) sequence. We use DeepTCR, a framework of deep learning algorithms, to reveal sequence concepts that are predictive of response to immunotherapy. We demonstrate that DeepTCR can predict response and use the model to infer the antigenic specificities of the predictive signature and their unique dynamics during therapy. The predictive signature of nonresponse is associated with high frequencies of TCRs predicted to recognize tumor-specific antigens, and these tumor-specific TCRs undergo a higher degree of dynamic changes on therapy in nonresponders versus responders. These results are consistent with a biological model where the hallmark of nonresponders is an accumulation of tumor-specific T cells that undergo turnover on therapy, possibly because of the dysfunctional state of these T cells in nonresponders.
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Affiliation(s)
- John-William Sidhom
- Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Giacomo Oliveira
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | | | - Catherine J. Wu
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Drew M. Pardoll
- Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Alexander S. Baras
- Bloomberg Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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24
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Soto LF, Romaní AC, Jiménez-Avalos G, Silva Y, Ordinola-Ramirez CM, Lopez Lapa RM, Requena D. Immunoinformatic analysis of the whole proteome for vaccine design: An application to Clostridium perfringens. Front Immunol 2022; 13:942907. [PMID: 36110855 PMCID: PMC9469472 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.942907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens is a dangerous bacterium and known biological warfare weapon associated with several diseases, whose lethal toxins can produce necrosis in humans. However, there is no safe and fully effective vaccine against C. perfringens for humans yet. To address this problem, we computationally screened its whole proteome, identifying highly immunogenic proteins, domains, and epitopes. First, we identified that the proteins with the highest epitope density are Collagenase A, Exo-alpha-sialidase, alpha n-acetylglucosaminidase and hyaluronoglucosaminidase, representing potential recombinant vaccine candidates. Second, we further explored the toxins, finding that the non-toxic domain of Perfringolysin O is enriched in CTL and HTL epitopes. This domain could be used as a potential sub-unit vaccine to combat gas gangrene. And third, we designed a multi-epitope protein containing 24 HTL-epitopes and 34 CTL-epitopes from extracellular regions of transmembrane proteins. Also, we analyzed the structural properties of this novel protein using molecular dynamics. Altogether, we are presenting a thorough immunoinformatic exploration of the whole proteome of C. perfringens, as well as promising whole-protein, domain-based and multi-epitope vaccine candidates. These can be evaluated in preclinical trials to assess their immunogenicity and protection against C. perfringens infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis F. Soto
- Escuela Profesional de Genética y Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
| | - Ana C. Romaní
- Escuela Profesional de Genética y Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
| | - Gabriel Jiménez-Avalos
- Departamento de Ciencias Celulares y Moleculares, Laboratorio de Bioinformática, Biología Molecular y Desarrollos Tecnológicos, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH), Lima, Peru
| | - Yshoner Silva
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
| | - Carla M. Ordinola-Ramirez
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
| | - Rainer M. Lopez Lapa
- Departamento de Salud Pública, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
- Instituto de Ganadería y Biotecnología, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza de Amazonas, Chachapoyas, Peru
| | - David Requena
- Laboratory of Cellular Biophysics, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: David Requena,
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25
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Pastor Y, Ghazzaui N, Hammoudi A, Centlivre M, Cardinaud S, Levy Y. Refining the DC-targeting vaccination for preventing emerging infectious diseases. Front Immunol 2022; 13:949779. [PMID: 36016929 PMCID: PMC9396646 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.949779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of safe, long-term, effective vaccines is still a challenge for many infectious diseases. Thus, the search of new vaccine strategies and production platforms that allow rapidly and effectively responding against emerging or reemerging pathogens has become a priority in the last years. Targeting the antigens directly to dendritic cells (DCs) has emerged as a new approach to enhance the immune response after vaccination. This strategy is based on the fusion of the antigens of choice to monoclonal antibodies directed against specific DC surface receptors such as CD40. Since time is essential, in silico approaches are of high interest to select the most immunogenic and conserved epitopes to improve the T- and B-cells responses. The purpose of this review is to present the advances in DC vaccination, with special focus on DC targeting vaccines and epitope mapping strategies and provide a new framework for improving vaccine responses against infectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yadira Pastor
- Vaccine Research Institute, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Inserm U955, Team 16, Créteil, France
| | - Nour Ghazzaui
- Vaccine Research Institute, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Inserm U955, Team 16, Créteil, France
| | - Adele Hammoudi
- Vaccine Research Institute, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Inserm U955, Team 16, Créteil, France
| | - Mireille Centlivre
- Vaccine Research Institute, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Inserm U955, Team 16, Créteil, France
| | - Sylvain Cardinaud
- Vaccine Research Institute, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Inserm U955, Team 16, Créteil, France
| | - Yves Levy
- Vaccine Research Institute, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Inserm U955, Team 16, Créteil, France
- Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Groupe Henri-Mondor Albert-Chenevier, Service Immunologie Clinique, Créteil, France
- *Correspondence: Yves Levy,
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26
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Aziz S, Waqas M, Halim SA, Ali A, Iqbal A, Iqbal M, Khan A, Al-Harrasi A. Exploring whole proteome to contrive multi-epitope-based vaccine for NeoCoV: An immunoinformtics and in-silico approach. Front Immunol 2022; 13:956776. [PMID: 35990651 PMCID: PMC9382669 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.956776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Neo-Coronavirus (NeoCoV) is a novel Betacoronavirus (β-CoVs or Beta-CoVs) discovered in bat specimens in South Africa during 2011. The viral sequence is highly similar to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, particularly that of structural proteins. Thus, scientists have emphasized the threat posed by NeoCoV associated with human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) usage, which could lead to a high death rate and faster transmission rate in humans. The development of a NeoCoV vaccine could provide a promising option for the future control of the virus in case of human infection. In silico predictions can decrease the number of experiments required, making the immunoinformatics approaches cost-effective and convenient. Herein, with the aid of immunoinformatics and reverse vaccinology, we aimed to formulate a multi-epitope vaccine that may be used to prevent and treat NeoCoV infection. Based on the NeoCoV proteins, B-cell, cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL), and helper T lymphocyte (HTL) epitopes were shortlisted. Four vaccines (Neo-1-4) were devised by fusing shortlisted epitopes with appropriate adjuvants and linkers. The secondary and three-dimensional structures of final vaccines were then predicted. The binding interactions of these potential vaccines with toll-like immune receptors (TLR-2, TLR-3, and TLR-4) and major histocompatibility complex molecules (MHC-I and II) reveal that they properly fit into the receptors' binding domains. Besides, Neo-1 and Neo-4 vaccines exhibited better docking energies of -101.08 kcal/mol and -114.47 kcal/mol, respectively, with TLR-3 as compared to other vaccine constructs. The constructed vaccines are highly antigenic, non-allergenic, soluble, non-toxic, and topologically assessable with good physiochemical characteristics. Codon optimization and in-silico cloning confirmed efficient expression of the designed vaccines in Escherichia coli strain K12. In-silico immune simulation indicated that Neo-1 and Neo-4 vaccines could induce a strong immune response against NeoCoV. Lastly, the binding stability and strong binding affinity of Neo-1 and Neo-4 with TLR-3 receptor were validated using molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations (Molecular Mechanics/Generalized Born Surface Area method). The final vaccines require experimental validation to establish their safety and effectiveness in preventing NeoCoV infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahkaar Aziz
- Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, the University of Agriculture Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Waqas
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Birkat-ul-Mouz, Nizwa, Oman
- Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Hazara University Mansehra, Mansehra, Pakistan
| | - Sobia Ahsan Halim
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Birkat-ul-Mouz, Nizwa, Oman
| | - Amjad Ali
- Department of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Hazara University Mansehra, Mansehra, Pakistan
| | - Aqib Iqbal
- Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, the University of Agriculture Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Maaz Iqbal
- Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, the University of Agriculture Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan
| | - Ajmal Khan
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Birkat-ul-Mouz, Nizwa, Oman
| | - Ahmed Al-Harrasi
- Natural and Medical Sciences Research Center, University of Nizwa, Birkat-ul-Mouz, Nizwa, Oman
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27
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Halabi S, Kaufman J. New vistas unfold: Chicken MHC molecules reveal unexpected ways to present peptides to the immune system. Front Immunol 2022; 13:886672. [PMID: 35967451 PMCID: PMC9372762 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.886672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The functions of a wide variety of molecules with structures similar to the classical class I and class II molecules encoded by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been studied by biochemical and structural studies over decades, with many aspects for humans and mice now enshrined in textbooks as dogma. However, there is much variation of the MHC and MHC molecules among the other jawed vertebrates, understood in the most detail for the domestic chicken. Among the many unexpected features in chickens is the co-evolution between polymorphic TAP and tapasin genes with a dominantly-expressed class I gene based on a different genomic arrangement compared to typical mammals. Another important discovery was the hierarchy of class I alleles for a suite of properties including size of peptide repertoire, stability and cell surface expression level, which is also found in humans although not as extreme, and which led to the concept of generalists and specialists in response to infectious pathogens. Structural studies of chicken class I molecules have provided molecular explanations for the differences in peptide binding compared to typical mammals. These unexpected phenomena include the stringent binding with three anchor residues and acidic residues at the peptide C-terminus for fastidious alleles, and the remodelling binding sites, relaxed binding of anchor residues in broad hydrophobic pockets and extension at the peptide C-terminus for promiscuous alleles. The first few studies for chicken class II molecules have already uncovered unanticipated structural features, including an allele that binds peptides by a decamer core. It seems likely that the understanding of how MHC molecules bind and present peptides to lymphocytes will broaden considerably with further unexpected discoveries through biochemical and structural studies for chickens and other non-mammalian vertebrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Samer Halabi
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Jim Kaufman
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Jim Kaufman,
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28
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Lee YH, Hyun YS, Jo HA, Baek IC, Kim SM, Sohn HJ, Kim TG. Comprehensive analysis of mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen-specific CD4+ T cell responses restricted by single HLA class II allotype in an individual. Front Immunol 2022; 13:897781. [PMID: 35967347 PMCID: PMC9366214 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.897781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is generally asymptomatic as latent tuberculosis, but it is still known as the world’s leading bacterial cause of death. The diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection relies on the evidence of cellular immunity to mycobacterial antigens. Since the association between HLA class II and tuberculosis infection has been reported in several population groups, a detailed study on the CD4+ T cell response to major tuberculosis antigens is needed. To elucidate which HLA class II allotypes in an individual are preferentially used in tuberculosis, CD4+ T cells specific to TB10.4, Ag85b, ESAT-6, and CFP-10 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens were analyzed comprehensively. A total of 33 healthy donors were analyzed by ex vivo and cultured ELISPOT using panels of artificial antigen-presenting cells expressing a single HLA class II allotype. The CD4+ T cell responses were increased by an average of 39-fold in cultured ELISPOT compared with ex vivo ELISPOT. In ex vivo and cultured ELISPOT, CD4+ T cell responses showed significantly higher by HLA-DR than those of HLA-DQ and HLA-DP locus. In cultured ELISPOT, 9 HLA-DR allotypes, 4 HLA-DQ allotypes, and 3 HLA-DP allotypes showed positive CD4+ T cell responses. Among ten donors with positive CD4+ T cell responses when tested for mixed Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens, seven donors were positive for only a single allotype, and three were positive for two allotypes in an individual. However, only one allotype was used for a single antigen-specific response when a single tuberculosis antigen was used individually. These results on the distribution of HLA class II allotypes showing high CD4+ T-cell responses to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens and the intra-individual allotype dominance will provide valuable information for understanding the immunobiology and immunogenetics of tuberculosis, which can contribute to the development of more effective vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Hun Lee
- Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - You-Seok Hyun
- Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyeong-A Jo
- Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - In-Cheol Baek
- Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Sun-Mi Kim
- Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyun-Jung Sohn
- Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Tai-Gyu Kim
- Department of Microbiology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biomedicine and Health Sciences, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- Catholic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Bank, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Tai-Gyu Kim,
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29
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Basir HRG, Majzoobi MM, Ebrahimi S, Noroozbeygi M, Hashemi SH, Keramat F, Mamani M, Eini P, Alizadeh S, Solgi G, Di D. Susceptibility and Severity of COVID-19 Are Both Associated With Lower Overall Viral–Peptide Binding Repertoire of HLA Class I Molecules, Especially in Younger People. Front Immunol 2022; 13:891816. [PMID: 35911710 PMCID: PMC9331187 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.891816] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2022] [Accepted: 06/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
An important number of studies have been conducted on the potential association between human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes and COVID-19 susceptibility and severity since the beginning of the pandemic. However, case–control and peptide-binding prediction methods tended to provide inconsistent conclusions on risk and protective HLA alleles, whereas some researchers suggested the importance of considering the overall capacity of an individual’s HLA Class I molecules to present SARS-CoV-2-derived peptides. To close the gap between these approaches, we explored the distributions of HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 1st-field alleles in 142 Iranian patients with COVID-19 and 143 ethnically matched healthy controls, and applied in silico predictions of bound viral peptides for each individual’s HLA molecules. Frequency comparison revealed the possible predisposing roles of HLA-A*03, B*35, and DRB1*16 alleles and the protective effect of HLA-A*32, B*58, B*55, and DRB1*14 alleles in the viral infection. None of these results remained significant after multiple testing corrections, except HLA-A*03, and no allele was associated with severity, either. Compared to peptide repertoires of individual HLA molecules that are more likely population-specific, the overall coverage of virus-derived peptides by one’s HLA Class I molecules seemed to be a more prominent factor associated with both COVID-19 susceptibility and severity, which was independent of affinity index and threshold chosen, especially for people under 60 years old. Our results highlight the effect of the binding capacity of different HLA Class I molecules as a whole, and the more essential role of HLA-A compared to HLA-B and -C genes in immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamid Reza Ghasemi Basir
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | | | - Samaneh Ebrahimi
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Mina Noroozbeygi
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Seyed Hamid Hashemi
- Brucellosis Research Centre, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Fariba Keramat
- Brucellosis Research Centre, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Mojgan Mamani
- Brucellosis Research Centre, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Peyman Eini
- Brucellosis Research Centre, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Saeed Alizadeh
- Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
| | - Ghasem Solgi
- Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran
- *Correspondence: Ghasem Solgi, ; Da Di,
| | - Da Di
- Anthropology Unit, Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- *Correspondence: Ghasem Solgi, ; Da Di,
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30
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Halima A, Vuong W, Chan TA. Next-generation sequencing: unraveling genetic mechanisms that shape cancer immunotherapy efficacy. J Clin Invest 2022; 132:154945. [PMID: 35703181 PMCID: PMC9197511 DOI: 10.1172/jci154945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunity is governed by fundamental genetic processes. These processes shape the nature of immune cells and set the rules that dictate the myriad complex cellular interactions that power immune systems. Everything from the generation of T cell receptors and antibodies, control of epitope presentation, and recognition of pathogens by the immunoediting of cancer cells is, in large part, made possible by core genetic mechanisms and the cellular machinery that they encode. In the last decade, next-generation sequencing has been used to dissect the complexities of cancer immunity with potent effect. Sequencing of exomes and genomes has begun to reveal how the immune system recognizes “foreign” entities and distinguishes self from non-self, especially in the setting of cancer. High-throughput analyses of transcriptomes have revealed deep insights into how the tumor microenvironment affects immunotherapy efficacy. In this Review, we discuss how high-throughput sequencing has added to our understanding of how immune systems interact with cancer cells and how cancer immunotherapies work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed Halima
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, and
| | - Winston Vuong
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, and
| | - Timothy A Chan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, and.,Center for Immunotherapy and Precision Immuno-Oncology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.,National Center for Regenerative Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
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Lu M, Xu L, Jian X, Tan X, Zhao J, Liu Z, Zhang Y, Liu C, Chen L, Lin Y, Xie L. dbPepNeo2.0: A Database for Human Tumor Neoantigen Peptides From Mass Spectrometry and TCR Recognition. Front Immunol 2022; 13:855976. [PMID: 35493528 PMCID: PMC9043652 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.855976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Neoantigens are widely reported to induce T-cell response and lead to tumor regression, indicating a promising potential to immunotherapy. Previously, we constructed an open-access database, i.e., dbPepNeo, providing a systematic resource for human tumor neoantigens to storage and query. In order to expand data volume and application scope, we updated dbPepNeo to version 2.0 (http://www.biostatistics.online/dbPepNeo2). Here, we provide about 801 high-confidence (HC) neoantigens (increased by 170%) and 842,289 low-confidence (LC) HLA immunopeptidomes (increased by 107%). Notably, 55 class II HC neoantigens and 630 neoantigen-reactive T-cell receptor-β (TCRβ) sequences were firstly included. Besides, two new analytical tools are developed, DeepCNN-Ineo and BLASTdb. DeepCNN-Ineo predicts the immunogenicity of class I neoantigens, and BLASTdb performs local alignments to look for sequence similarities in dbPepNeo2.0. Meanwhile, the web features and interface have been greatly improved and enhanced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manman Lu
- College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China
| | - Linfeng Xu
- Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China.,School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Xingxing Jian
- Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China.,Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Xiaoxiu Tan
- Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China.,Department of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jingjing Zhao
- College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhenhao Liu
- Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu Zhang
- Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China.,School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Chunyu Liu
- College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China
| | - Lanming Chen
- College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yong Lin
- School of Health Science and Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Lu Xie
- College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China.,Shanghai-Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) Key Laboratory of Health and Disease Genomics, Institute for Genome and Bioinformatics, Shanghai Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Technologies, Shanghai, China.,Bioinformatics Center, National Clinical Research Centre for Geriatric Disorders, Department of Geriatrics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
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32
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Palmer WH, Telford M, Navarro A, Santpere G, Norman PJ. Human herpesvirus diversity is altered in HLA class I binding peptides. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2123248119. [PMID: 35486690 PMCID: PMC9170163 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2123248119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Herpesviruses are ubiquitous, genetically diverse DNA viruses, with long-term presence in humans associated with infrequent but significant pathology. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I presents intracellularly derived peptide fragments from infected tissue cells to CD8+ T and natural killer cells, thereby directing antiviral immunity. Allotypes of highly polymorphic HLA class I are distinguished by their peptide binding repertoires. Because this HLA class I variation is a major determinant of herpesvirus disease, we examined if sequence diversity of virus proteins reflects evasion of HLA presentation. Using population genomic data from Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), and Varicella–Zoster virus, we tested whether diversity differed between the regions of herpesvirus proteins that can be recognized, or not, by HLA class I. Herpesviruses exhibit lytic and latent infection stages, with the latter better enabling immune evasion. Whereas HLA binding peptides of lytic proteins are conserved, we found that EBV and HCMV proteins expressed during latency have increased peptide sequence diversity. Similarly, latent, but not lytic, herpesvirus proteins have greater population structure in HLA binding than nonbinding peptides. Finally, we found patterns consistent with EBV adaption to the local HLA environment, with less efficient recognition of EBV isolates by high-frequency HLA class I allotypes. Here, the frequency of CD8+ T cell epitopes inversely correlated with the frequency of HLA class I recognition. Previous analyses have shown that pathogen-mediated natural selection maintains exceptional polymorphism in HLA residues that determine peptide recognition. Here, we show that HLA class I peptide recognition impacts diversity of globally widespread pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
- William H. Palmer
- Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045
| | - Marco Telford
- Neurogenomics Group, Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB), Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510
| | - Arcadi Navarro
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS), Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- Centre for Genomic Regulation, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelona Beta Brain Research Center, Pasqual Maragall Foundation, 08005 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gabriel Santpere
- Neurogenomics Group, Research Programme on Biomedical Informatics (GRIB), Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
- Department of Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510
| | - Paul J. Norman
- Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045
- Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045
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33
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Persson ML, Douglas AM, Alvaro F, Faridi P, Larsen MR, Alonso MM, Vitanza NA, Dun MD. The intrinsic and microenvironmental features of diffuse midline glioma; implications for the development of effective immunotherapeutic treatment strategies. Neuro Oncol 2022; 24:1408-1422. [PMID: 35481923 PMCID: PMC9435509 DOI: 10.1093/neuonc/noac117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffuse midline glioma (DMG), including those of the brainstem (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), are pediatric tumors of the central nervous system (CNS). Recognized as the most lethal of all childhood cancers, palliative radiotherapy remains the only proven treatment option, however, even for those that respond, survival is only temporarily extended. DMG harbor an immunologically “cold” tumor microenvironment (TME) with few infiltrating immune cells. The mechanisms underpinning the cold TME are not well understood. Low expression levels of immune checkpoint proteins, including PD-1, PD-L1, and CTLA-4, are recurring features of DMG and likely contribute to the lack of response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The unique epigenetic signatures (including stem cell-like methylation patterns), a low tumor mutational burden, and recurring somatic mutations (H3K27M, TP53, ACVR1, MYC, and PIK3CA), possibly play a role in the reduced efficacy of traditional immunotherapies. Therefore, to circumvent the lack of efficacy thus far seen for the use of ICIs, adoptive cell transfer (including chimeric antigen receptor T cells) and the use of oncolytic viruses, are currently being evaluated for the treatment of DMG. It remains an absolute imperative that we improve our understanding of DMG’s intrinsic and TME features if patients are to realize the potential benefits offered by these sophisticated treatments. Herein, we summarize the limitations of immunotherapeutic approaches, highlight the emerging safety and clinical efficacy shown for sophisticated cell-based therapies, as well as the evolving knowledge underpinning the DMG-immune axis, to guide the development of immunotherapies that we hope will improve outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mika L Persson
- Cancer Signalling Research Group, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.,Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Alicia M Douglas
- Cancer Signalling Research Group, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.,Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Frank Alvaro
- Cancer Signalling Research Group, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.,Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia.,John Hunter Children's Hospital, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
| | - Pouya Faridi
- Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Martin R Larsen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Protein Research Group, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Marta M Alonso
- Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.,Program in Solid Tumors and Biomarkers, Foundation for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Nicholas A Vitanza
- The Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA.,Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, Bone Marrow Transplant, and Cellular Therapy, Department of Pediatrics, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Matthew D Dun
- Cancer Signalling Research Group, School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.,Precision Medicine Program, Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia
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34
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Buckley PR, Lee CH, Ma R, Woodhouse I, Woo J, Tsvetkov VO, Shcherbinin DS, Antanaviciute A, Shughay M, Rei M, Simmons A, Koohy H. Evaluating performance of existing computational models in predicting CD8+ T cell pathogenic epitopes and cancer neoantigens. Brief Bioinform 2022; 23:6573960. [PMID: 35471658 PMCID: PMC9116217 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbac141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 03/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
T cell recognition of a cognate peptide-major histocompatibility complex (pMHC) presented on the surface of infected or malignant cells is of the utmost importance for mediating robust and long-term immune responses. Accurate predictions of cognate pMHC targets for T cell receptors would greatly facilitate identification of vaccine targets for both pathogenic diseases and personalized cancer immunotherapies. Predicting immunogenic peptides therefore has been at the center of intensive research for the past decades but has proven challenging. Although numerous models have been proposed, performance of these models has not been systematically evaluated and their success rate in predicting epitopes in the context of human pathology has not been measured and compared. In this study, we evaluated the performance of several publicly available models, in identifying immunogenic CD8+ T cell targets in the context of pathogens and cancers. We found that for predicting immunogenic peptides from an emerging virus such as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, none of the models perform substantially better than random or offer considerable improvement beyond HLA ligand prediction. We also observed suboptimal performance for predicting cancer neoantigens. Through investigation of potential factors associated with ill performance of models, we highlight several data- and model-associated issues. In particular, we observed that cross-HLA variation in the distribution of immunogenic and non-immunogenic peptides in the training data of the models seems to substantially confound the predictions. We additionally compared key parameters associated with immunogenicity between pathogenic peptides and cancer neoantigens and observed evidence for differences in the thresholds of binding affinity and stability, which suggested the need to modulate different features in identifying immunogenic pathogen versus cancer peptides. Overall, we demonstrate that accurate and reliable predictions of immunogenic CD8+ T cell targets remain unsolved; thus, we hope our work will guide users and model developers regarding potential pitfalls and unsettled questions in existing immunogenicity predictors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul R Buckley
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,MRC WIMM Centre for Computational Biology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Chloe H Lee
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,MRC WIMM Centre for Computational Biology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Ruichong Ma
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,Department of Neurosurgery, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Isaac Woodhouse
- Centre for Immuno-Oncology, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jeongmin Woo
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,MRC WIMM Centre for Computational Biology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Dmitrii S Shcherbinin
- Department of Genomics of Adaptive Immunity, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia,Institute of Translational Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Agne Antanaviciute
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,MRC WIMM Centre for Computational Biology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Mikhail Shughay
- Department of Genomics of Adaptive Immunity, Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow, 117997, Russia,Institute of Translational Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | - Margarida Rei
- The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Old Road Campus Research Building, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Alison Simmons
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Hashem Koohy
- MRC Human Immunology Unit, Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine (WIMM), John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,MRC WIMM Centre for Computational Biology, Medical Research Council (MRC) Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,Alan Turning Fellow, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom,Corresponding author: Hashem Koohy, Associate Professor of Systems immunology, Alan Turing Fellow, Group Head, MRC Human Immunology Unit, MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK. Tel: 44(0)1865222430; E-mail:
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Sánchez-Martínez A, Acevedo-Sáenz L, Alzate-Ángel JC, Álvarez CM, Guzmán F, Roman T, Urcuqui-Inchima S, Cardona-Maya WD, Velilla PA. Functional Profile of CD8 + T-Cells in Response to HLA-A*02:01-Restricted Mutated Epitopes Derived from the Gag Protein of Circulating HIV-1 Strains from Medellín, Colombia. Front Immunol 2022; 13:793982. [PMID: 35392101 PMCID: PMC8980466 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.793982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
CD8+ T-cells play a crucial role in the control of HIV replication. HIV-specific CD8+ T-cell responses rapidly expand since the acute phase of the infection, and it has been observed that HIV controllers harbor CD8+ T-cells with potent anti-HIV capacity. The development of CD8+ T-cell-based vaccine against HIV-1 has focused on searching for immunodominant epitopes. However, the strong immune pressure of CD8+ T-cells causes the selection of viral variants with mutations in immunodominant epitopes. Since HIV-1 mutations are selected under the context of a specific HLA-I, the circulation of viral variants with these mutations is highly predictable based on the most prevalent HLA-I within a population. We previously demonstrated the adaptation of circulating strains of HIV-1 to the HLA-A*02 molecule by identifying mutations under positive selection located in GC9 and SL9 epitopes derived from the Gag protein. Also, we used an in silico prediction approach and evaluated whether the mutations found had a higher or lower affinity to the HLA-A*02. Although this strategy allowed predicting the interaction between mutated peptides and HLA-I, the functional response of CD8+ T-cells that these peptides induce is unknown. In the present work, peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 12 HIV-1+ HLA-A*02:01+ individuals were stimulated with the mutated and wild-type peptides derived from the GC9 and SL9 epitopes. The functional profile of CD8+ T-cells was evaluated using flow cytometry, and the frequency of subpopulations was determined according to their number of functions and the polyfunctionality index. The results suggest that the quality of the response (polyfunctionality) could be associated with the binding affinity of the peptide to the HLA molecule, and the functional profile of specific CD8+ T-cells to mutated epitopes in individuals under cART is maintained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra Sánchez-Martínez
- Grupo Inmunovirología, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Liliana Acevedo-Sáenz
- Grupo Cuidado Enfermería CES, Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad CES, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Juan Carlos Alzate-Ángel
- Grupo Inmunovirología, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia.,Unidad de Micología Médica y Experimental, Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas, Medellín, Universidad de Santander (CIB-UDES), Bucaramanga, Colombia
| | - Cristian M Álvarez
- Grupo de Inmunología Celular e Inmunogenética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Fanny Guzmán
- Núcleo de Biotecnología Curauma, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Tanya Roman
- Núcleo de Biotecnología Curauma, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | - Silvio Urcuqui-Inchima
- Grupo Inmunovirología, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Walter D Cardona-Maya
- Grupo Reproducción, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia
| | - Paula Andrea Velilla
- Grupo Inmunovirología, Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Antioquia UdeA, Medellín, Colombia
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36
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Pretti MAM, Galvani RG, Scherer NM, Farias AS, Boroni M. In silico analysis of mutant epitopes in new SARS-CoV-2 lineages suggest global enhanced CD8+ T cell reactivity and also signs of immune response escape. INFECTION, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2022; 99:105236. [PMID: 35149224 PMCID: PMC8824006 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2022.105236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 01/31/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern have emerged since the COVID-19 outburst, notably the lineages detected in the UK, South Africa, and Brazil. Their increased transmissibility and higher viral load put them in the spotlight. Much has been investigated on the ability of those new variants to evade antibody recognition. However, little attention has been given to pre-existing and induced SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell responses by new lineages. In this work, we predicted SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cell epitopes from the main variants of concern and their potential to trigger or hinder CD8+ T cell response by using HLA binding and TCR reactivity in silico predictions. Also, we estimated the population's coverage for different lineages, which accounts for the ability to present a set of peptides based on the most frequent HLA alleles of a given population. We considered binding predictions to 110 ccClass I HLA alleles from 29 countries to investigate differences in the fraction of individuals expected to respond to a given epitope set from new and previous lineages. We observed a higher population coverage for the variant detected in the UK (B.1.1.7), and South Africa (B.1.351), as well as for the Brazilian P.1 lineage, but not P.2, compared to the reference lineage. Moreover, individual mutations such as Spike N501Y and Nucleocapsid D138Y were predicted to have an overall stronger affinity through HLA-I than the reference sequence while Spike E484K shows signs of evasion. In summary, we provided evidence for the existence of potentially immunogenic and conserved epitopes across new SARS-CoV-2 variants, but also mutant peptides exhibiting diminished or abolished HLA-I binding. It also highlights the augmented population coverage for three new lineages. Whether these changes imply more T cell reactivity or potential to evade from CD8+ T cell responses requires experimental verification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Antônio M Pretti
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Division of Experimental and Translational Research, Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Program of Immunology and Tumor Biology, Division of Experimental and Translational Research, Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Rômulo G Galvani
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Division of Experimental and Translational Research, Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Faculdade de Biomedicina, Universidade Veiga de Almeida, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Laboratory for Thymus Research (LPT), Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Nicole M Scherer
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Division of Experimental and Translational Research, Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Alessandro S Farias
- Autoimmune Research Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center (OCRC), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; National Institute of Science and Technology on Neuroimmunomodulation (INCT-NIM), Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Experimental Medicine Research Cluster (EMRC), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
| | - Mariana Boroni
- Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Division of Experimental and Translational Research, Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Experimental Medicine Research Cluster (EMRC), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil.
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37
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Pymm P, Tenzer S, Wee E, Weimershaus M, Burgevin A, Kollnberger S, Gerstoft J, Josephs TM, Ladell K, McLaren JE, Appay V, Price DA, Fugger L, Bell JI, Schild H, van Endert P, Harkiolaki M, Iversen AKN. Epitope length variants balance protective immune responses and viral escape in HIV-1 infection. Cell Rep 2022; 38:110449. [PMID: 35235807 PMCID: PMC9631117 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 10/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and natural killer (NK) cell responses to a single optimal 10-mer epitope (KK10) in the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) protein p24Gag are associated with enhanced immune control in patients expressing human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B∗27:05. We find that proteasomal activity generates multiple length variants of KK10 (4-14 amino acids), which bind TAP and HLA-B∗27:05. However, only epitope forms ≥8 amino acids evoke peptide length-specific and cross-reactive CTL responses. Structural analyses reveal that all epitope forms bind HLA-B∗27:05 via a conserved N-terminal motif, and competition experiments show that the truncated epitope forms outcompete immunogenic epitope forms for binding to HLA-B∗27:05. Common viral escape mutations abolish (L136M) or impair (R132K) production of KK10 and longer epitope forms. Peptide length influences how well the inhibitory NK cell receptor KIR3DL1 binds HLA-B∗27:05 peptide complexes and how intraepitope mutations affect this interaction. These results identify a viral escape mechanism from CTL and NK responses based on differential antigen processing and peptide competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip Pymm
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Clinical Neurology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK; Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, University of Melbourne, 1G Royalparade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Stefan Tenzer
- Institute of Immunology, University Medical Center of the Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz, Langenbeckstrasse 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Edmund Wee
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Clinical Neurology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK
| | - Mirjana Weimershaus
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 1151, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker, 149 Rue de Severs, 75015 Paris, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR8253, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker, 149 Rue de Severs, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Anne Burgevin
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 1151, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker, 149 Rue de Severs, 75015 Paris, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR8253, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker, 149 Rue de Severs, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Simon Kollnberger
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, CF14 4XN Cardiff, UK
| | - Jan Gerstoft
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, The National University Hospital, Blegdamsvej 9, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Tracy M Josephs
- Drug Discovery Biology, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 381 Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Kristin Ladell
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, CF14 4XN Cardiff, UK
| | - James E McLaren
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, CF14 4XN Cardiff, UK
| | - Victor Appay
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 1135, Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses, Sorbonne Université, Boulevard de l'Hopital, 75013 Paris, France; International Research Center of Medical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 2-2-1 Honjo, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto City 860-0811, Japan
| | - David A Price
- Division of Infection and Immunity, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Heath Park, CF14 4XN Cardiff, UK; Systems Immunity Research Institute, Cardiff University School of Medicine, University Hospital of Wales, Tenovus Building, CF14 4XN Cardiff, UK
| | - Lars Fugger
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Clinical Neurology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK; Medical Research Council Human Immunology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, OX3 9DS Oxford, UK
| | - John I Bell
- Office of the Regius Professor of Medicine, The Richard Doll Building, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, OX3 7LF Oxford, UK
| | - Hansjörg Schild
- Institute of Immunology, University Medical Center of the Johannes-Gutenberg University of Mainz, Langenbeckstrasse 1, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Peter van Endert
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, Unité 1151, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker, 149 Rue de Severs, 75015 Paris, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR8253, Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker, 149 Rue de Severs, 75015 Paris, France
| | - Maria Harkiolaki
- Structural Biology Group, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, OX3 7LF Oxford, UK; Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Fermi Avenue, OX11 0DE Didcot, UK
| | - Astrid K N Iversen
- Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Clinical Neurology, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Headley Way, Oxford OX3 9DS, UK.
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Li H, van der Merwe PA, Sivakumar S. Biomarkers of response to PD-1 pathway blockade. Br J Cancer 2022; 126:1663-1675. [PMID: 35228677 PMCID: PMC9174485 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-022-01743-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 29.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 01/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The binding of T cell immune checkpoint proteins programmed death 1 (PD-1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) to their ligands allows immune evasion by tumours. The development of therapeutic antibodies, termed checkpoint inhibitors, that bind these molecules or their ligands, has provided a means to release this brake on the host anti-tumour immune response. However, these drugs are costly, are associated with potentially severe side effects, and only benefit a small subset of patients. It is therefore important to identify biomarkers that discriminate between responders and non-responders. This review discusses the determinants for a successful response to antibodies that bind PD-1 or its ligand PD-L1, dividing them into markers found in the tumour biopsy and those in non-tumour samples. It provides an update on the established predictive biomarkers (tumour PD-L1 expression, tumour mismatch repair deficiency and tumour mutational burden) and assesses the evidence for new potential biomarkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanxiao Li
- Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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Taylor BC, Balko JM. Mechanisms of MHC-I Downregulation and Role in Immunotherapy Response. Front Immunol 2022; 13:844866. [PMID: 35296095 PMCID: PMC8920040 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.844866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Immunotherapy has become a key therapeutic strategy in the treatment of many cancers. As a result, research efforts have been aimed at understanding mechanisms of resistance to immunotherapy and how anti-tumor immune response can be therapeutically enhanced. It has been shown that tumor cell recognition by the immune system plays a key role in effective response to T cell targeting therapies in patients. One mechanism by which tumor cells can avoid immunosurveillance is through the downregulation of Major Histocompatibility Complex I (MHC-I). Downregulation of MHC-I has been described as a mechanism of intrinsic and acquired resistance to immunotherapy in patients with cancer. Depending on the mechanism, the downregulation of MHC-I can sometimes be therapeutically restored to aid in anti-tumor immunity. In this article, we will review current research in MHC-I downregulation and its impact on immunotherapy response in patients, as well as possible strategies for therapeutic upregulation of MHC-I.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brandie C. Taylor
- Department of Medicine, Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Justin M. Balko
- Department of Medicine, Cancer Biology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- *Correspondence: Justin M. Balko,
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40
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Paiva IA, Familiar-Macedo D, Badolato-Corrêa J, Carvalho FR, Dias HG, Pauvolid-Corrêa A, dos Santos CF, Silva AA, de Azeredo EL, Vianna RADO, Cardoso CAA, Grifoni A, Sette A, Weiskopf D, de-Oliveira-Pinto LM. Involvement of Th1Th17 Cell Subpopulations in the Immune Responses of Mothers Who Gave Birth to Children with Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS). Viruses 2022; 14:v14020250. [PMID: 35215843 PMCID: PMC8879837 DOI: 10.3390/v14020250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
High levels of T helper 17 cell (Th17)-related cytokines have been shown in acute Zika virus (ZIKV) infection. We hypothesized that the high levels of Th17-related cytokines, associated with a regulatory environment during pregnancy, create a favorable milieu for the differentiation of CD4+Th17 cells. We present data from a cross-sectional study on mothers who confirmed ZIKV infection by qRT-PCR and their children. We also recruited non-pregnant women infected with ZIKV in the same period. ZIKV infection occurred between 2015 and 2017. We collected samples for this study between 2018 and 2019, years after the initial infection. We highlight that, after in vitro stimulation with ZIKV CD4 megapool (ZIKV MP), we found a lower frequency of IL-17-producing CD4+ T cells (Th17), especially in the mothers, confirmed by the decrease in IL-17 production in the supernatant. However, a higher frequency of CD4+ IL-17+ IFN-γ+ T cells (Th1Th17) responding to the ZIKV MP was observed in the cells of the mothers and children but not in those of the non-pregnant women. Our data indicate that the priming of CD4 T cells of the Th1Th17 phenotype occurred preferentially in the mothers who gave birth to children with CZS and in the children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iury Amancio Paiva
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
| | - Débora Familiar-Macedo
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
| | - Jéssica Badolato-Corrêa
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
| | - Fabiana Rabe Carvalho
- Multiuser Laboratory for Research in Nephrology and Medical Science, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24033-900, Brazil; (F.R.C.); (A.A.S.); (C.A.A.C.)
| | - Helver Gonçalves Dias
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
| | - Alex Pauvolid-Corrêa
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-4458, USA;
- Laboratory of Respiratory Viruses and Measles, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil
| | - Caroline Fernandes dos Santos
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
| | - Andréa Alice Silva
- Multiuser Laboratory for Research in Nephrology and Medical Science, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24033-900, Brazil; (F.R.C.); (A.A.S.); (C.A.A.C.)
| | - Elzinandes Leal de Azeredo
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
| | | | - Claudete Aparecida Araújo Cardoso
- Multiuser Laboratory for Research in Nephrology and Medical Science, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24033-900, Brazil; (F.R.C.); (A.A.S.); (C.A.A.C.)
- Department of Maternal and Child, School of Medicine, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói 24033-900, Brazil;
| | - Alba Grifoni
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), San Diego, CA 92037, USA; (A.G.); (A.S.); (D.W.)
| | - Alessandro Sette
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), San Diego, CA 92037, USA; (A.G.); (A.S.); (D.W.)
- Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
| | - Daniela Weiskopf
- Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), San Diego, CA 92037, USA; (A.G.); (A.S.); (D.W.)
| | - Luzia Maria de-Oliveira-Pinto
- Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro 21040-360, Brazil; (I.A.P.); (D.F.-M.); (J.B.-C.); (H.G.D.); (C.F.d.S.); (E.L.d.A.)
- Correspondence:
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41
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Michalik M, Djahanschiri B, Leo JC, Linke D. An Update on "Reverse Vaccinology": The Pathway from Genomes and Epitope Predictions to Tailored, Recombinant Vaccines. METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (CLIFTON, N.J.) 2022; 2412:45-71. [PMID: 34918241 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1892-9_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
In this chapter, we review the computational approaches that have led to a new generation of vaccines in recent years. There are many alternative routes to develop vaccines based on the concept of reverse vaccinology. They all follow the same basic principles-mining available genome and proteome information for antigen candidates, and recombinantly expressing them for vaccine production. Some of the same principles have been used successfully for cancer therapy approaches. In this review, we focus on infectious diseases, describing the general workflow from bioinformatic predictions of antigens and epitopes down to examples where such predictions have been used successfully for vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Bardya Djahanschiri
- Institute of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Jack C Leo
- Department of Biosciences, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - Dirk Linke
- Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
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Chhibber A, Huang L, Zhang H, Xu J, Cristescu R, Liu X, Mehrotra DV, Shen J, Shaw PM, Hellmann MD, Snyder A. Germline HLA landscape does not predict efficacy of pembrolizumab monotherapy across solid tumor types. Immunity 2022; 55:56-64.e4. [PMID: 34986342 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2021] [Revised: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 12/08/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
We evaluated the impact of class I and class II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotypes, heterozygosity, and diversity on the efficacy of pembrolizumab. Seventeen pembrolizumab clinical trials across eight tumor types and one basket trial in patients with advanced solid tumors were included (n > 3,500 analyzed). Germline DNA was genotyped using a custom genotyping array. HLA diversity (measured by heterozygosity and evolutionary divergence) across class I loci was not associated with improved response to pembrolizumab, either within each tumor type evaluated or across all patients. Similarly, HLA heterozygosity at each class I and class II gene was not associated with response to pembrolizumab after accounting for the number of tests conducted. No conclusive association between HLA genotype and response to pembrolizumab was identified in this dataset. Germline HLA genotype or diversity alone is not an important independent determinant of response to pembrolizumab and should not be used for clinical decision-making in patients treated with pembrolizumab.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aparna Chhibber
- Department of Biomarker and Genome Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Lingkang Huang
- Department of Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Hong Zhang
- Department of Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Jialin Xu
- Department of Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Razvan Cristescu
- Department of Biomarker and Genome Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Xiaoqiao Liu
- Department of Biomarker and Genome Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Devan V Mehrotra
- Department of Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Judong Shen
- Department of Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA
| | - Peter M Shaw
- Department of Biomarker and Genome Sciences, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA.
| | - Matthew D Hellmann
- Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY 10065, USA; Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA.
| | - Alexandra Snyder
- Department of Medical Oncology, Merck & Co., Kenilworth, NJ 07033, USA.
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43
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Immunoinformatics prediction of potential immunodominant epitopes from human coronaviruses and association with autoimmunity. Immunogenetics 2022; 74:213-229. [PMID: 35006282 PMCID: PMC8744044 DOI: 10.1007/s00251-021-01250-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Cross-reactivity between different human coronaviruses (HCoVs) might contribute to COVID-19 outcomes. Here, we aimed to predict conserved peptides among different HCoVs that could elicit cross-reacting B cell and T cell responses. Three hundred fifty-one full-genome sequences of HCoVs, including SARS-CoV-2 (51), SARS-CoV-1 (50), MERS-CoV (50), and common cold species OC43 (50), NL63 (50), 229E (50), and HKU1 (50) were downloaded aligned using Geneious Prime 20.20. Identification of epitopes in the conserved regions of HCoVs was carried out using the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB) to predict B- and T-cell epitopes. Further, we identified sequences that bind multiple common MHC and modeled the three-dimensional structures of the protein regions. The search yielded 73 linear and 35 discontinuous epitopes. A total of 16 B-cell and 19 T-cell epitopes were predicted through a comprehensive bioinformatic screening of conserved regions derived from HCoVs. The 16 potentially cross-reactive B-cell epitopes included 12 human proteins and four viral proteins among the linear epitopes. Likewise, we identified 19 potentially cross-reactive T-cell epitopes covering viral proteins. Interestingly, two conserved regions: LSFVSLAICFVIEQF (NSP2) and VVHSVNSLVSSMEVQSL (spike), contained several matches that were described epitopes for SARS-CoV. Most of the predicted B cells were buried within the SARS-CoV-2 protein regions’ functional domains, whereas T-cell stretched close to the functional domains. Additionally, most SARS-CoV-2 predicted peptides (80%) bound to different HLA types associated with autoimmune diseases. We identified a set of potential B cell and T cell epitopes derived from the HCoVs that could contribute to different diseases manifestation, including autoimmune disorders.
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44
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Abstract
Immune principles formulated by Jenner, Pasteur, and early immunologists served as fundamental propositions for vaccine discovery against many dreadful pathogens. However, decisive success in the form of an efficacious vaccine still eludes for diseases such as tuberculosis, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis. Several antileishmanial vaccine trials have been undertaken in past decades incorporating live, attenuated, killed, or subunit vaccination, but the goal remains unmet. In light of the above facts, we have to reassess the principles of vaccination by dissecting factors associated with the hosts' immune response. This chapter discusses the pathogen-associated perturbations at various junctures during the generation of the immune response which inhibits antigenic processing, presentation, or remodels memory T cell repertoire. This can lead to ineffective priming or inappropriate activation of memory T cells during challenge infection. Thus, despite a protective primary response, vaccine failure can occur due to altered immune environments in the presence of pathogens.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sunil Kumar
- National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, Maharashtra, India
| | | | - Bhaskar Saha
- National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, Maharashtra, India.
- Trident Academy of Creative Technology, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
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45
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Gartner JJ, Parkhurst MR, Gros A, Tran E, Jafferji MS, Copeland A, Hanada KI, Zacharakis N, Lalani A, Krishna S, Sachs A, Prickett TD, Li YF, Florentin M, Kivitz S, Chatmon SC, Rosenberg SA, Robbins PF. A machine learning model for ranking candidate HLA class I neoantigens based on known neoepitopes from multiple human tumor types. NATURE CANCER 2021; 2:563-574. [PMID: 34927080 DOI: 10.1038/s43018-021-00197-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Tumor neoepitopes presented by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I are recognized by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and are targeted by adoptive T-cell therapies. Identifying which mutant neoepitopes from tumor cells are capable of recognition by T cells can assist in the development of tumor-specific, cell-based therapies and can shed light on antitumor responses. Here, we generate a ranking algorithm for class I candidate neoepitopes by using next-generation sequencing data and a dataset of 185 neoepitopes that are recognized by HLA class I-restricted TIL from individuals with metastatic cancer. Random forest model analysis showed that the inclusion of multiple factors impacting epitope presentation and recognition increased output sensitivity and specificity compared to the use of predicted HLA binding alone. The ranking score output provides a set of class I candidate neoantigens that may serve as therapeutic targets and provides a tool to facilitate in vitro and in vivo studies aimed at the development of more effective immunotherapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jared J Gartner
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Maria R Parkhurst
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Alena Gros
- Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), Cellex Center, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eric Tran
- Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, Providence Cancer Institute, Portland, OR, USA
| | | | - Amy Copeland
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Ken-Ichi Hanada
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Nikolaos Zacharakis
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Almin Lalani
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sri Krishna
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Abraham Sachs
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Todd D Prickett
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Yong F Li
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Maria Florentin
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Scott Kivitz
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Samuel C Chatmon
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Steven A Rosenberg
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Paul F Robbins
- Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
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46
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Khalid K, Irum S, Ullah SR, Andleeb S. In-Silico Vaccine Design Based on a Novel Vaccine Candidate Against Infections Caused by Acinetobacter baumannii. Int J Pept Res Ther 2021; 28:16. [PMID: 34873398 PMCID: PMC8636788 DOI: 10.1007/s10989-021-10316-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii is notorious for causing serious infections of the skin, lungs, soft tissues, bloodstream, and urinary tract. Despite the overwhelming information available so far, there has still been no approved vaccine in the market to prevent these infections. Therefore, this study focuses on developing a rational vaccine design using the technique of epitope mapping to curb the infections caused by A. baumannii. An outer membrane protein with immunogenic potential as well as all the properties of a good vaccine candidate was selected and used to calculate epitopes for selection on the basis of a low percentile rank, high binding scores, good immunological properties, and non-allergenicity. Thus, a 240 amino-acid vaccine sequence was obtained by manually joining all the epitopes in sequence-wise manner with the appropriate linkers, namely AAY, GPGPG, and EAAAK. Additionally, a 50S ribosomal protein L7/L12, agonist to the human innate immune receptors was attached to the N-terminus to increase the overall immune response towards the vaccine. As a result, enhanced overall protein stability, expression, immunostimulatory capabilities, and solubility of the designed construct were observed. Molecular dynamic simulations revealed the compactness and stability of the polypeptide construct. Moreover, molecular docking exhibited strong binding of the designed vaccine with TLR-4 and TLR-9. In-silico immune simulations indicated an immense increment in T-cell and B-cell populations. Bioinformatic tools also significantly assisted with optimizing codons which allowed for successful cloning of constructs into desired host vectors. Using in-silico tools to design a vaccine against A. baumannii demonstrated that this construct could pave the way for successfully combating infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kashaf Khalid
- Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000 Pakistan
| | - Sidra Irum
- Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000 Pakistan
| | - Sidra Rahmat Ullah
- Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000 Pakistan
| | - Saadia Andleeb
- Department of Industrial Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, 44000 Pakistan
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47
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Martin PJ, Levine DM, Storer BE, Zheng X, Jain D, Heavner B, Norris BM, Geraghty DE, Spellman SR, Sather CL, Wu F, Hansen JA. A Model of Minor Histocompatibility Antigens in Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Front Immunol 2021; 12:782152. [PMID: 34868058 PMCID: PMC8636906 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.782152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Accepted: 10/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Minor histocompatibility antigens (mHAg) composed of peptides presented by HLA molecules can cause immune responses involved in graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and graft-versus-leukemia effects after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). The current study was designed to identify individual graft-versus-host genomic mismatches associated with altered risks of acute or chronic GVHD or relapse after HCT between HLA-genotypically identical siblings. Our results demonstrate that in allogeneic HCT between a pair of HLA-identical siblings, a mHAg manifests as a set of peptides originating from annotated proteins and non-annotated open reading frames, which i) are encoded by a group of highly associated recipient genomic mismatches, ii) bind to HLA allotypes in the recipient, and iii) evoke a donor immune response. Attribution of the immune response and consequent clinical outcomes to individual peptide components within this set will likely differ from patient to patient according to their HLA types.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Martin
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - David M Levine
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Barry E Storer
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Xiuwen Zheng
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Deepti Jain
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Ben Heavner
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Brandon M Norris
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Daniel E Geraghty
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Stephen R Spellman
- Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, National Marrow Donor Program, Minneapolis, MN, United States
| | - Cassie L Sather
- Genomics & Bioinformatics Shared Resource, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - Feinan Wu
- Genomics & Bioinformatics Shared Resource, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States
| | - John A Hansen
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States.,Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, United States
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48
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Schwartz JC, Maccari G, Heimeier D, Hammond JA. Highly-contiguous bovine genomes underpin accurate functional analyses and updated nomenclature of MHC class I. HLA 2021; 99:167-182. [PMID: 34802191 DOI: 10.1111/tan.14494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Revised: 11/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I region of cattle is both highly polymorphic and, unlike many species, highly variable in gene content between haplotypes. Cattle MHC class I alleles were historically grouped by sequence similarity in the more conserved 3' end of the coding sequence to form phylogenetic allele groups. This has formed the basis of current cattle MHC class I nomenclature. We presently describe and compare five fully assembled MHC class I haplotypes using the latest cattle and yak genome assemblies. Of the five previously described "pseudogenes" in the cattle MHC class I region, Pseudogene 3 is putatively functional in all haplotypes and Pseudogene 6 and Pseudogene 7 are putatively functional in some haplotypes. This was reinforced by evidence of transcription. Based on full gene sequences as well as 3' coding sequence, we identified distinct subgroups of BoLA-3 and BoLA-6 that represent distinct genetic loci. We further examined allele-specific expression using transcriptomic data revealing that certain alleles are consistently weakly expressed compared to others. These observations will help to inform further studies into how MHC class I region variability influences T cell and natural killer cell functions in cattle.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Giuseppe Maccari
- The Pirbright Institute, Pirbright, UK.,Anthony Nolan Research Institute, London, UK
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49
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Identification and Characterization of Rift Valley Fever Virus-Specific T Cells Reveals a Dependence on CD40/CD40L Interactions for Prevention of Encephalitis. J Virol 2021; 95:e0150621. [PMID: 34495703 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01506-21] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is an arbovirus found throughout Africa. It causes disease that is typically mild and self-limiting; however, some infected individuals experience severe manifestations, including hepatitis, encephalitis, or even death. Reports of RVFV encephalitis are notable among immunosuppressed individuals, suggesting a role for adaptive immunity in preventing this severe complication. This phenomenon has been modeled in C57BL/6 mice depleted of CD4 T cells prior to infection with DelNSs RVFV (RVFV containing a deletion of nonstructural protein NSs), resulting in late-onset encephalitis accompanied by high levels of viral RNA in the brain in 30% of animals. In this study, we sought to define the specific type(s) of CD4 T cells that mediate protection from RVFV encephalitis. The viral epitopes targeted by CD4 and CD8 T cells were defined in C57BL/6 mice, and tetramers for both CD4 and CD8 T cells were generated. RVFV-specific CD8 T cells were expanded and of a cytotoxic and proliferating phenotype in the liver following infection. RVFV-specific CD4 T cells were identified in the liver and spleen following infection and phenotyped as largely Th1 or Tfh subtypes. Knockout mice lacking various aspects of pathways important in Th1 and Tfh development and function were used to demonstrate that T-bet, CD40, CD40L, and major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC-II) mediated protection from RVFV encephalitis, while gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) were dispensable. Virus-specific antibody responses correlated with protection from encephalitis in all mouse strains, suggesting that Tfh/B cell interactions modulate clinical outcome in this model. IMPORTANCE The prevention of RVFV encephalitis requires intact adaptive immunity. In this study, we developed reagents to detect RVFV-specific T cells and provide evidence for Tfh cells and CD40/CD40L interactions as critical mediators of this protection.
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50
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CAR T cells with dual targeting of CD19 and CD22 in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a phase 1 trial. Nat Med 2021; 27:1797-1805. [PMID: 34642489 PMCID: PMC8516648 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-021-01497-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells targeting CD19 or CD22 have shown remarkable activity in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). The major cause of treatment failure is antigen downregulation or loss. Dual antigen targeting could potentially prevent this, but the clinical safety and efficacy of CAR T cells targeting both CD19 and CD22 remain unclear. We conducted a phase 1 trial in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed or refractory B-ALL (n = 15) to test AUTO3, autologous transduced T cells expressing both anti-CD19 and anti-CD22 CARs (AMELIA trial, EUDRA CT 2016-004680-39). The primary endpoints were the incidence of grade 3–5 toxicity in the dose-limiting toxicity period and the frequency of dose-limiting toxicities. Secondary endpoints included the rate of morphological remission (complete response or complete response with incomplete bone marrow recovery) with minimal residual disease-negative response, as well as the frequency and severity of adverse events, expansion and persistence of AUTO3, duration of B cell aplasia, and overall and event-free survival. The study endpoints were met. AUTO3 showed a favorable safety profile, with no dose-limiting toxicities or cases of AUTO3-related severe cytokine release syndrome or neurotoxicity reported. At 1 month after treatment the remission rate (that is, complete response or complete response with incomplete bone marrow recovery) was 86% (13 of 15 patients). The 1 year overall and event-free survival rates were 60% and 32%, respectively. Relapses were probably due to limited long-term AUTO3 persistence. Strategies to improve CAR T cell persistence are needed to fully realize the potential of dual targeting CAR T cell therapy in B-ALL. Bicistronic CAR T cells targeting CD19 and CD22 exhibit clinical activity and low toxicity in pediatric and young adult patients with B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, with relapses associated with limited CAR T cell persistence.
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