Quantification of a cell-mediated immune response against varicella zoster virus by assessing responder CD4high memory cell proliferation in activated whole blood cultures.

BACKGROUND: Herpes zoster (HZ) is caused by reactivation of a latent varicella zoster virus (VZV). The potential to develop HZ increases with age due to waning of memory cell-mediated immunity (CMI), mainly the CD4 response. Therefore, VZV-CD4-memory T cells (CD4-M) count in blood could serve as a barometer for HZ protection. However, direct quantification of these cells is known to be difficult because they are few in number in the blood. We thus developed a method to measure the proliferation level of CD4-M cells responding to VZV antigen in whole blood culture. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from 32 children (2-15 years old) with or without a history of varicella infection, 18 young adults (28-45 years old), and 80 elderly (50-86 years old) with a history of varicella infection. The elderly group was vaccinated, and blood samples were taken 2 months and 1 year after VZV vaccination. Then, 1 mL of blood was mixed with VZV, diluted 1/10 in medium, and cultured. CD4-M cells were identified and measured by flow cytometry. RESULTS: There was distinct proliferation of CD3+CD4highCD45RA-RO+ (CD4high-M) cells specific to VZV antigen at day 9. The majority of CD4high-M cells had the effector memory phenotype CCR7- and was granzyme B-positive. CD4high-M cells were detected in blood culture from varicella-immune but not varicella-non-immune children. Meanwhile, a higher level of CD4high-M proliferation was observed in young adults than in the elderly. The CD4high-M proliferation level was boosted 2 months after VZV vaccination and maintained for at least 1 year in the elderly. CONCLUSION: Quantifying VZV responder CD4high -M cell proliferation is a convenient way to measure VZV CMI using small blood volumes. Our method can be applied to measure VZV vaccine-induced CMI in the elderly. Clinical study registry numbers: (www.clinicaltrials.jp) 173532 and 183985.

Dextran sulfate-resistant A/Puerto Rico/8/34 influenza virus is associated with the emergence of specific mutations in the neuraminidase glycoprotein.

Dextran sulfate (DS) is a negatively charged sulfated polysaccharide that suppresses the replication of influenza A viruses. The suppression was thought to be associated with inhibition of the hemagglutinin-dependent fusion activity. However, we previously showed that suppression by DS was observed not only at the initial stage of viral infection, but also later when virus is released from infected cells due to inhibition of neuraminidase (NA) activity. In the present study, we isolated DS-resistant A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8) influenza viruses and analyzed the inhibition by DS. We found six mutations in NA genes of five independent resistant PR8 viruses and each resistant NA gene had two mutations. All mutations were from basic to acidic or neutral amino acids. In addition, R430L, K432E or K435E in the 430-435 region was a common mutation in all resistant NA genes. To determine which amino acid(s) are responsible for this resistance, a panel of recombinant viruses containing a PR8 and A/WSN/33(WSN) chimeric NA gene or an NA gene with different mutation(s) was generated using reverse genetics. Using recombinant viruses containing a PR8/WSN chimeric NA, we showed that one third of the C-terminal region of PR8 NA was responsible for DS-sensitivity. Recombinant viruses with a single mutation in NA replicated better than wild-type PR8 in the presence of DS, but were still DS-sensitive. However, replication of recombinant viruses with double mutations from the resistant viruses was not affected by the presence or absence of DS. In addition, resistant recombinant viruses were found to be sensitive to the NA inhibitor, oseltamivir and the oseltamivir-resistant recombinant virus was sensitive to DS. These results suggested that DS is an NA inhibitor with a different mechanism of action from the currently used NA inhibitors and that DS could be used in combination with these inhibitors to treat influenza virus infections.

Neuraminidase gene homology contributes to the protective activity of influenza vaccines prepared from the influenza virus library.

Whole-virus (WV) vaccines from influenza A/duck/Hokkaido/77 (H3N2), and its reassortant strains H3N4, H3N5 and H3N7, which have the same haemagglutinin (HA) gene but different neuraminidase (NA) genes, were prepared from our influenza virus library. Mice were intranasally immunized with equivalent doses of each vaccine (1-0.01 µg per mouse). All of the mice that received the highest dose of each vaccine (1 µg per mouse) showed equivalent high HA-inhibiting (HI) antibody titres and survived the H3N2 challenge viruses. However, mice that received lower doses of vaccine (0.1 or 0.01 µg per mouse) containing a heterologous NA had lower survival rates than those given the H3N2-based vaccine. The lungs of mice challenged with H3N2 virus showed a significantly higher virus clearance rate when the vaccine contained the homologous NA (N2) versus a heterologous NA, suggesting that NA contributed to the protection, especially when the HI antibody level was low. These results suggested that, even if vaccines prepared for a possible upcoming pandemic do not induce sufficient HI antibodies, WV vaccines can still be effective through other matched proteins such as NA.

Improved antibody production in Chinese hamster ovary cells by ATF4 overexpression.

To improve antibody production in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, the humanized antibody-producing CHO DP-12-SF cell line was transfected with the gene encoding activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4), a central factor in the unfolded protein response. Overexpression of ATF4 significantly enhanced the production of antibody in the CHO DP-12-SF cell line. The specific IgG production rate of in the ATF4-overexpressing CHO-ATF4-16 cells was approximately 2.4 times that of the parental host cell line. Clone CHO-ATF4-16 did not show any change in growth rate compared with the parental cells or mock-transfected CHO-DP12-SF cells. The expression levels of mRNAs encoding both the antibody heavy and light chains in the CHO-ATF4-16 clone were analyzed. This analysis showed that ATF4 overexpression improved the total production and specific production rate of antibody without affecting the mRNA transcription level. These results indicate that ATF4 overexpression is a promising method for improving recombinant IgG production in CHO cells.

An MDCK cell culture-derived formalin-inactivated influenza virus whole-virion vaccine from an influenza virus library confers cross-protective immunity by intranasal administration in mice.

It is currently impossible to predict the next pandemic influenza virus strain. We have thus established a library of influenza viruses of all hemagglutinin and neuraminidase subtypes and their genes. In this article, we examine the applicability of a rapid production model for the preparation of vaccines against emerging pandemic influenza viruses. This procedure utilizes the influenza virus library, cell culture-based vaccine production, and intranasal administration to induce a cross-protective immune response. First, an influenza virus reassortant from the library, A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-3/2007 (H5N1), was passaged 22 times (P22) in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. The P22 virus had a titer of >2 ×10(8) PFU/ml, which was 40 times that of the original strain, with 4 point mutations, which altered amino acids in the deduced protein sequences encoded by the PB2 and PA genes. We then produced a formalin-inactivated whole-virion vaccine from the MDCK cell-cultured A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-3/2007 (H5N1) P22 virus. Intranasal immunization of mice with this vaccine protected them against challenges with lethal influenza viruses of homologous and heterologous subtypes. We further demonstrated that intranasal immunization with the vaccine induced cross-reactive neutralizing antibody responses against the homotypic H5N1 influenza virus and its antigenic variants and cross-reactive cell-mediated immune responses to the homologous virus, its variants within a subtype, and even an influenza virus of a different subtype. These results indicate that a rapid model for emergency vaccine production may be effective for producing the next generation of pandemic influenza virus vaccines.

Influenza virus neuraminidase contributes to the dextran sulfate-dependent suppressive replication of some influenza A virus strains.

Dextran sulfate (DS), a negatively charged, sulfated polysaccharide, suppresses the replication of an influenza A virus strain, and this suppression is associated with inhibition of the hemagglutinin (HA)-dependent fusion activity. However, it remains unknown whether the replication of all or just some influenza A virus strains is suppressed by DS, or whether HA is the only target for the replication suppression. In the present study, we found that DS inhibited the replication of some, but not all influenza A virus strains. The suppression in the DS-sensitive strains was dose-dependent and neutralized by diethylaminoethyl-dextran (DD), which has a positive charge. The suppression by DS was observed not only at the initial stage of viral infection, which includes viral attachment and entry, but also at the late stage, which includes virus assembly and release from infected cells. Electron microscopy revealed that the DS induced viral aggregation at the cell surface. The neuraminidase (NA) activity of the strains whose viral replication was inhibited at the late stage was also more suppressed by DS than that of the strains whose replication was not inhibited, and this inhibition of NA activity was also neutralized by adding positively charged DD. Furthermore, we found that replacing the NA gene of a strain in which viral replication was inhibited by DS at the late stage with the NA gene from a strain in which viral replication was not inhibited, eliminated the DS-dependent suppression. These results suggest that the influenza virus NA contributes to the DS-suppressible virus release from infected cells at the late stage, and the suppression may involve the inhibition of NA activity by DS's negative charge.

Comparison of the cross-reactive anti-influenza neutralizing activity of polymeric and monomeric IgA monoclonal antibodies.

Here we examined whether polymeric IgA (pIgA) and monomeric IgA (mIgA) antibodies differ in their ability to neutralize drift viruses within the same subtype. We used an IgA monoclonal antibody (mAb; H1-21) against influenza virus strain A/Hiroshima/52/2005 (A/Hiroshima; H3N2). The mAb was obtained after immunizing mice mucosally with a split-virion (SV) vaccine. The mAb contained both mIgA and pIgA forms. It reacted with the homologous virus and cross-reacted with drift viruses A/New York/55/2004 (H3N2) and A/Wyoming/3/2003 (H3N2) in hemagglutinin-inhibition (HI) and neutralizing Ab assays. The mAb also cross-reacted with A/Panama/2007/99 (H3N2) in an ELISA. We separated the mAb into pIgA and mIgA fractions by gel filtration, and then tested them for neutralizing Ab activity. The neutralizing activity for the A/Hiroshima/52/2005, A/New York/55/2004, and A/Wyoming/3/2003 viruses was lower for the mIgA than the pIgA fraction. However, the neutralizing efficiency for drift variants relative to that for the homotype did not differ between pIgA and mIgA, and pIgA only neutralized variants that could also be neutralized by mIgA. These results suggest that the polymerization of IgA enhances its antiviral immune responses, but does not increase the number of influenza virus strains neutralized by the IgA.

Intranasal immunization with a formalin-inactivated human influenza A virus whole-virion vaccine alone and intranasal immunization with a split-virion vaccine with mucosal adjuvants show similar levels of cross-protection.

The antigenicity of seasonal human influenza virus changes continuously; thus, a cross-protective influenza vaccine design needs to be established. Intranasal immunization with an influenza split-virion (SV) vaccine and a mucosal adjuvant induces cross-protection; however, no mucosal adjuvant has been assessed clinically. Formalin-inactivated intact human and avian viruses alone (without adjuvant) induce cross-protection against the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus. However, it is unknown whether seasonal human influenza formalin-inactivated whole-virion (WV) vaccine alone induces cross-protection against strains within a subtype or in a different subtype of human influenza virus. Furthermore, there are few reports comparing the cross-protective efficacy of the WV vaccine and SV vaccine-mucosal adjuvant mixtures. Here, we found that the intranasal human influenza WV vaccine alone induced both the innate immune response and acquired immune response, resulting in cross-protection against drift variants within a subtype of human influenza virus. The cross-protective efficacy conferred by the WV vaccine in intranasally immunized mice was almost the same as that conferred by a mixture of SV vaccine and adjuvants. The level of cross-protective efficacy was correlated with the cross-reactive neutralizing antibody titer in the nasal wash and bronchoalveolar fluids. However, neither the SV vaccine with adjuvant nor the WV vaccine induced cross-reactive virus-specific cytotoxic T-lymphocyte activity. These results suggest that the intranasal human WV vaccine injection alone is effective against variants within a virus subtype, mainly through a humoral immune response, and that the cross-protection elicited by the WV vaccine and the SV vaccine plus mucosal adjuvants is similar.