bims-traimu 2022-09-25 papers

Issue of 2022–09–25
four papers selected by
Yantong Wan, Southern Medical University

NPJ Vaccines. 2022 Sep 23. 7(1): 110

Inactivated rabies-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine provides long-term immune response unaffected by vector immunity.

Catherine Yankowski, Christoph Wirblich, Drishya Kurup, Matthias J Schnell.

The objective of this study is to further analyze recombinant rabies virus-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, CORAVAX, as an effective COVID-19 vaccine strategy. CORAVAX has proven immunogenic and protective against SARS-CoV-2 in animal models. Here, we have screened adjuvants for the highest quality antibody titers, negated the concern of pre-existing rabies-vector immunity, and established its potential as a long-term COVID-19 vaccine. We have tested toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) agonists, inflammasome activators, and alum adjuvants in CORAVAX and found TLR4-activating MPLA-AddaVax to have the greatest potential. We followed the humoral immune response to CORAVAX in mice with pre-existing rabies virus immunity and saw no significant differences compared to naive mice. We then followed the immune response to CORAVAX over several months and 1-year post-immunization. Mice maintained high antigen-specific serum antibody titers as well as long-lived antibody-secreting cells in the spleen and bone marrow. We believe this rabies-vector strategy combats the problem of waning immunity of other COVID-19 vaccines. These results together support CORAVAX's potential during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-022-00532-7

Dermatitis. 2022 Sep 22.

Neonatal Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Vaccination to Prevent Early-Life Eczema: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Laure F Pittet, Lisbeth M Thøstesen, Peter Aaby, Poul-Erik Kofoed, Nigel Curtis, Christine S Benn.

ABSTRACT: Increasing evidence suggests that early-life bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine could prevent atopic eczema through its beneficial off-target effects. In this meta-analysis, 3 randomized control trials with similar methods were included and enabled robust estimations with low heterogeneity, involving a total of 5655 children randomized to early-life BCG Denmark (n = 2832) or no BCG (n = 2823). Meta-analyses suggest a beneficial effect of BCG to prevent eczema (risk ratio [RR], 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82-0.98). In subgroup analyses, BCG was more beneficial in boys (RR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.74-0.95) and in children born to 2 atopic parents (RR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.68-0.97). The NNT to prevent one case of eczema among children of 1 or 2 atopic parent was 20 (95% CI, 12-50). Bacillus Calmette-Guérin Denmark leads to an 11% reduction in the risk of eczema in early life. A greater effect was observed with increasing predisposition. Given its well-established safety profile, neonatal BCG vaccination should be considered for children of atopic parents.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/DER.0000000000000945

Int Immunopharmacol. 2022 Sep 15. pii: S1567-5769(22)00722-6. [Epub ahead of print]112 109238

Mycobacterium tuberculosis dormancy regulon proteins Rv2627c and Rv2628 as Toll like receptor agonist and as potential adjuvant.

Parul Bhatt, Monika Sharma, Prem Prakash Sharma, Brijesh Rathi, Sadhna Sharma.

During latency, DosR proteins of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) get activated and help the bacterium to remain dormant. We have shown earlier that 2 such proteins Rv2627c and Rv2628 are immunogenic and induce a TH1 kind of immune response. In this study, through in-vitro experiments we have confirmed that Rv2627c and Rv2628 proteins act as protein Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) agonist-adjuvant. Rv2627c and Rv2628 stimulated THP-1 macrophages showed an increased expression of TLR2, TLR4 and co-stimulatory molecules CD40, CD80, CD86 and antigen presenting molecule HLA-DR. Further studies also found enhanced expression of downstream signaling molecules of TLR activation like MyD88, NF-κB-p65 and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Inhibition studies using TLR blocking antibodies decreased the expression of co-stimulatory molecules, MyD88, NF-κB-p65, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Rv2627c and Rv2628 stimulation of HEK-TLR2 reporter cell line confirmed the interaction of these proteins with TLR2. Moreover, molecular docking and simulations of Rv2627c and Rv2628 proteins with TLR2 and TLR4 showed stable interactions. The adjuvant activity of Rv2628 was further validated by a protein adjuvanted with pre-clinically validated peptides as multi-epitope vaccine construct which showed good binding with TLR2 and TLR4 and activate dendritic cells and induce sustained pro-inflammatory cytokine response by C-ImmSim analysis. We propose that our vaccine construct will produce a better immune response than BCG and can be taken up as a post-exposure therapeutic subunit vaccine along with standard TB therapy. We also anticipate that our construct can be taken up as a protein adjuvant with other vaccine candidates as these can activate macrophages through TLR signaling.

Keywords: DosR regulon; Multi-epitope vaccine construct; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Protein adjuvant; TLR agonist

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intimp.2022.109238

J Immunol. 2022 Sep 23. pii: ji2200178. [Epub ahead of print]

Polarization and β-Glucan Reprogram Immunomodulatory Metabolism in Human Macrophages and Ex Vivo in Human Lung Cancer Tissues.

Teresa W-M Fan, Saeed Daneshmandi, Teresa A Cassel, Mohammad B Uddin, James Sledziona, Patrick T Thompson, Penghui Lin, Richard M Higashi, Andrew N Lane.

Immunomodulatory (IM) metabolic reprogramming in macrophages (Mϕs) is fundamental to immune function. However, limited information is available for human Mϕs, particularly in response plasticity, which is critical to understanding the variable efficacy of immunotherapies in cancer patients. We carried out an in-depth analysis by combining multiplex stable isotope-resolved metabolomics with reversed phase protein array to map the dynamic changes of the IM metabolic network and key protein regulators in four human donors' Mϕs in response to differential polarization and M1 repolarizer β-glucan (whole glucan particles [WGPs]). These responses were compared with those of WGP-treated ex vivo organotypic tissue cultures (OTCs) of human non-small cell lung cancer. We found consistently enhanced tryptophan catabolism with blocked NAD+ and UTP synthesis in M1-type Mϕs (M1-Mϕs), which was associated with immune activation evidenced by increased release of IL-1β/CXCL10/IFN-γ/TNF-α and reduced phagocytosis. In M2a-Mϕs, WGP treatment of M2a-Mϕs robustly increased glucose utilization via the glycolysis/oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway while enhancing UDP-N-acetyl-glucosamine turnover and glutamine-fueled gluconeogenesis, which was accompanied by the release of proinflammatory IL-1β/TNF-α to above M1-Mϕ's levels, anti-inflammatory IL-10 to above M2a-Mϕ's levels, and attenuated phagocytosis. These IM metabolic responses could underlie the opposing effects of WGP, i.e., reverting M2- to M1-type immune functions but also boosting anti-inflammation. Variable reprogrammed Krebs cycle and glutamine-fueled synthesis of UTP in WGP-treated OTCs of human non-small cell lung cancer were observed, reflecting variable M1 repolarization of tumor-associated Mϕs. This was supported by correlation with IL-1β/TNF-α release and compromised tumor status, making patient-derived OTCs unique models for studying variable immunotherapeutic efficacy in cancer patients.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.2200178