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Montoya B, Melo-Silva CR, Tang L, Kafle S, Lidskiy P, Bajusz C, Vadovics M, Muramatsu H, Abraham E, Lipinszki Z, Chatterjee D, Scher G, Benitez J, Sung MMH, Tam YK, Catanzaro NJ, Schäfer A, Andino R, Baric RS, Martinez DR, Pardi N, Sigal LJ. mRNA-LNP vaccine-induced CD8 + T cells protect mice from lethal SARS-CoV-2 infection in the absence of specific antibodies. Mol Ther 2024:S1525-0016(24)00236-3. [PMID: 38605519 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The role of CD8+ T cells in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis or mRNA-LNP vaccine-induced protection from lethal COVID-19 is unclear. Using mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 virus (MA30) in C57BL/6 mice, we show that CD8+ T cells are unnecessary for the intrinsic resistance of female or the susceptibility of male mice to lethal SARS-CoV-2 infection. Also, mice immunized with a di-proline prefusion-stabilized full-length SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S-2P) mRNA-LNP vaccine, which induces Spike-specific antibodies and CD8+ T cells specific for the Spike-derived VNFNFNGL peptide, are protected from SARS-CoV-2 infection-induced lethality and weight loss, while mice vaccinated with mRNA-LNPs encoding only VNFNFNGL are protected from lethality but not weight loss. CD8+ T cell depletion ablates protection in VNFNFNGL but not in S-2P mRNA-LNP-vaccinated mice. Therefore, mRNA-LNP vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells are dispensable when protective antibodies are present but essential for survival in their absence. Hence, vaccine-induced CD8+ T cells may be critical to protect against SARS-CoV-2 variants that mutate epitopes targeted by protective antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Montoya
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Carolina R Melo-Silva
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Lingjuan Tang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Samita Kafle
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Peter Lidskiy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Csaba Bajusz
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; National Laboratory for Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Máté Vadovics
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Hiromi Muramatsu
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Edit Abraham
- National Laboratory for Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary; MTA SZBK Lendület Laboratory of Cell Cycle Regulation, Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Zoltan Lipinszki
- National Laboratory for Biotechnology, Institute of Genetics, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary; MTA SZBK Lendület Laboratory of Cell Cycle Regulation, Synthetic and Systems Biology Unit, Institute of Biochemistry, HUN-REN Biological Research Centre, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Debotri Chatterjee
- Department of Neurosciences, Thomas Jefferson University Vickie and Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Gabrielle Scher
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Juliana Benitez
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | | | - Ying K Tam
- Acuitas Therapeutics, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Nicholas J Catanzaro
- Department of Epidemiology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Alexandra Schäfer
- Department of Epidemiology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Raul Andino
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Ralph S Baric
- Department of Epidemiology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - David R Martinez
- Department of Immunobiology, Center for Infection and Immunity, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Norbert Pardi
- Department of Microbiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| | - Luis J Sigal
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
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Knudson CJ, Alves-Peixoto P, Muramatsu H, Stotesbury C, Tang L, Lin PJC, Tam YK, Weissman D, Pardi N, Sigal LJ. Lipid-nanoparticle-encapsulated mRNA vaccines induce protective memory CD8 T cells against a lethal viral infection. Mol Ther 2021; 29:2769-2781. [PMID: 33992803 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
It is well established that memory CD8 T cells protect susceptible strains of mice from mousepox, a lethal viral disease caused by ectromelia virus (ECTV), the murine counterpart to human variola virus. While mRNA vaccines induce protective antibody (Ab) responses, it is unknown whether they also induce protective memory CD8 T cells. We now show that immunization with different doses of unmodified or N(1)-methylpseudouridine-modified mRNA (modified mRNA) in lipid nanoparticles (LNP) encoding the ECTV gene EVM158 induced similarly strong CD8 T cell responses to the epitope TSYKFESV, albeit unmodified mRNA-LNP had adverse effects at the inoculation site. A single immunization with 10 μg modified mRNA-LNP protected most susceptible mice from mousepox, and booster vaccination increased the memory CD8 T cell pool, providing full protection. Moreover, modified mRNA-LNP encoding TSYKFESV appended to green fluorescent protein (GFP) protected against wild-type ECTV infection while lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus glycoprotein (GP) modified mRNA-LNP protected against ECTV expressing GP epitopes. Thus, modified mRNA-LNP can be used to create protective CD8 T cell-based vaccines against viral infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cory J Knudson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Pedro Alves-Peixoto
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA; Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, Braga 4710-057, Portugal; ICVS/3B's-PT Government Associate Laboratory, Braga/Guimarães 4806-909, Portugal
| | - Hiromi Muramatsu
- Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Colby Stotesbury
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | - Lingjuan Tang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA
| | | | - Ying K Tam
- Acuitas Therapeutics, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
| | - Drew Weissman
- Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Norbert Pardi
- Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Luis J Sigal
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Bluemle Life Science Building, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
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Li W, Jing Z, Wang S, Li Q, Xing Y, Shi H, Li S, Hong Z. P22 virus-like particles as an effective antigen delivery nanoplatform for cancer immunotherapy. Biomaterials 2021; 271:120726. [PMID: 33636548 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.120726] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
As a new strategy for cancer immunotherapy, therapeutic cancer vaccines have been greatly improved in recent years. However, addressing the needs to quickly and efficiently elicit a high-intensity immune response against neoantigen peptides, especially to induce an effective cytotoxic lymphocyte (CTL) reaction, remain challenges in this field. In this study, virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from the phage P22 were adopted to load peptide antigens on the surface, to test whether VLP technology can be used as a platform for efficient peptide antigen delivery by therapeutic cancer vaccines. The B and T epitopes (OVAB peptide and OVAT peptide) of ovalbumin (OVA) were used here as model antigens and fused individually at the C terminus of the coat protein (CP), which allowed display on the surface of P22 particles to form two types of vaccine particles (VLP-OVAB and VLP-OVAT). Subsequent experiments showed that VLP-OVAB induced an antibody titer against the peptide antigen as high as 5.0 × 105 and that VLP-OVAT induced highly effective cross-presentation and then strongly activated a T epitope-specific CTL response. Mouse tumor model experiments showed that VLP-OVAT could significantly inhibit tumor growth by increasing the proportions of CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells and effector memory T cells (TEM cells) and lowering the proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) among tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and splenocytes. Compared with other chemically synthesized nanomaterials, VLPs have obvious advantages as vaccine carriers due to their clear chemical composition, fixed spatial structure, excellent biocompatibility, and relatively high potential for clinical translation. Therefore, this platform may lay a solid foundation for the design and preparation of personalized therapeutic vaccines based on neoantigen peptides.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China
| | - Zhe Jing
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China
| | - Shuqing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China
| | - Qiyu Li
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China
| | - Yutong Xing
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China
| | - Haobo Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China
| | - Shuang Li
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China.
| | - Zhangyong Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemical Biology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, PR China.
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Alves-Peixoto P, Férez M, Knudson CJ, Stotesbury C, Melo-Silva CR, Wong EB, Correia-Neves M, Sigal LJ. Chronic Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Infection Causes Susceptibility to Mousepox and Impairs Natural Killer Cell Maturation and Function. J Virol 2020; 94:e01831-19. [PMID: 31776282 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.01831-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Chronic viral infections. like those of humans with cytomegalovirus, human immunodeficiency virus (even when under antiretroviral therapy), and hepatitis C virus or those of mice with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) clone 13 (CL13), result in immune dysfunction that predisposes the host to severe infections with unrelated pathogens. It is known that C57BL/6 (B6) mice are resistant to mousepox, a lethal disease caused by the orthopoxvirus ectromelia virus (ECTV), and that this resistance requires natural killer (NK) cells and other immune cells. We show that most B6 mice chronically infected with CL13 succumb to mousepox but that most of those that recovered from acute infection with the LCMV Armstrong (Arm) strain survive. We also show that B6 mice chronically infected with CL13 and those that recovered from Arm infection have a reduced frequency and a reduced number of NK cells. However, at steady state, NK cells in mice that have recovered from Arm infection mature normally and, in response to ECTV, get activated, become more mature, proliferate, and increase their cytotoxicity in vivo Conversely, in mice chronically infected with CL13, NK cells are immature and residually activated, and following ECTV infection, they do not mature, proliferate, or increase their cytotoxicity. Given the well-established importance of NK cells in resistance to mousepox, these data suggest that the NK cell dysfunction caused by CL13 persistence may contribute to the susceptibility of CL13-infected mice to mousepox. Whether chronic infections similarly affect NK cells in humans should be explored.IMPORTANCE Infection of adult mice with the clone 13 (CL13) strain of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) is extensively used as a model of chronic infection. In this paper, we show that mice chronically infected with CL13 succumb to challenge with ectromelia virus (ECTV; the agent of mousepox) and that natural killer (NK) cells in CL13-infected mice are reduced in numbers and have an immature and partially activated phenotype but do respond to ECTV. These data may provide additional clues why humans chronically infected with certain pathogens are less resistant to viral diseases.
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Qiu F, Becker KW, Knight FC, Baljon JJ, Sevimli S, Shae D, Gilchuk P, Joyce S, Wilson JT. Poly(propylacrylic acid)-peptide nanoplexes as a platform for enhancing the immunogenicity of neoantigen cancer vaccines. Biomaterials 2018; 182:82-91. [PMID: 30107272 DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.07.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2018] [Revised: 07/26/2018] [Accepted: 07/27/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Cancer vaccines targeting patient-specific tumor neoantigens have recently emerged as a promising component of the rapidly expanding immunotherapeutic armamentarium. However, neoantigenic peptides typically elicit weak CD8+ T cell responses, and so there is a need for universally applicable vaccine delivery strategies to enhance the immunogenicity of these peptides. Ideally, such vaccines could also be rapidly fabricated using chemically synthesized peptide antigens customized to an individual patient. Here, we describe a strategy for simple and rapid packaging of peptide antigens into pH-responsive nanoparticles with endosomal escape activity. Electrostatically-stabilized polyplex nanoparticles (nanoplexes) can be assembled instantaneously by mixing decalysine-modified antigenic peptides and poly(propylacrylic acid) (pPAA), a polyanion with pH-dependent, membrane destabilizing activity. These nanoplexes increase and prolong antigen uptake and presentation on MHC-I (major histocompatibility complex class I) molecules expressed by dendritic cells, resulting in enhanced activation of CD8+ T cells. Using an intranasal immunization route, nanoplex vaccines inhibit formation of lung metastases in a murine melanoma model. Additionally, nanoplex vaccines strongly synergize with the adjuvant α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) in stimulating robust CD8+ T cell responses, significantly increasing survival time in mice with established melanoma tumors. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that peptide/pPAA nanoplexes offer a facile and versatile platform for enhancing CD8+ T cell responses to peptide antigens, with potential to complement ongoing advancements in the development of neoantigen-targeted cancer vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Feng Qiu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Laboratory of Anaesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Translational Neuroscience Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China
| | - Kyle W Becker
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
| | - Frances C Knight
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA
| | | | - Sema Sevimli
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
| | - Daniel Shae
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA
| | - Pavlo Gilchuk
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, USA; Department of Veterans Administration Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, USA
| | - Sebastian Joyce
- Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, USA; Department of Veterans Administration Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, USA
| | - John T Wilson
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, USA; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA.
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