Seasonal Betacoronavirus Antibodies' Expansion Post-BNT161b2 Vaccination Associates with Reduced SARS-CoV-2 VoC Neutralization.

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is known to induce antibodies that recognize also variants of concerns (VoCs) of the virus. However, epidemiological and laboratory evidences indicate that these antibodies have a reduced neutralization ability against VoCs. We studied binding and neutralizing antibodies against the Spike protein domains and subunits of the Wuhan-Hu-1 virus and its alpha, beta, delta VoCs and of seasonal betacoronaviruses (HKU1 and OC43) in a cohort of 31 health care workers prospectively followed post-vaccination with BNT162b2-Comirnaty. The study of sequential samples collected up to 64 days post-vaccination showed that serological assays measuring IgG against Wuhan-Hu-1 antigens were a poor proxy for VoC neutralization. In addition, in subjects who had asymptomatic or mild COVID-19 prior to vaccination, the loss of nAbs following disease could be rapid and accompanied by post-vaccination antibody levels similar to those of naïve vaccinees. Interestingly, in health care workers naïve for SARS-CoV-2 infection, vaccination induced a rapid and transient reactivation of pre-existing seasonal coronaviruses IgG responses that was associated with a subsequent reduced ability to neutralize alpha and beta VoCs.

Immunization with an SIV-based IDLV Expressing HIV-1 Env 1086 Clade C Elicits Durable Humoral and Cellular Responses in Rhesus Macaques.

The design of an effective HIV-1 vaccine remains a major challenge. Several vaccine strategies based on viral vectors have been evaluated in preclinical and clinical trials, with largely disappointing results. Integrase defective lentiviral vectors (IDLV) represent a promising vaccine candidate given their ability to induce durable and protective immune responses in mice after a single immunization. Here, we evaluated the immunogenicity of a SIV-based IDLV in nonhuman primates. Six rhesus monkeys were primed intramuscularly with IDLV-Env and boosted with the same vector after 1 year. A single immunization with IDLV-Env induced broad humoral and cellular immune responses that waned over time but were still detectable at 1 year postprime. The boost with IDLV-Env performed at 1 year from the prime induced a remarkable increase in both antibodies and T-cell responses. Antibody binding specificity showed a predominant cross-clade gp120-directed response. Monkeys' sera efficiently blocked anti-V2 and anti-CD4 binding site antibodies, neutralized the tier 1 MW965.26 pseudovirus and mediated antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Durable polyfunctional Env-specific T-cell responses were also elicited. Our study demonstrates that an IDLV-Env-based vaccine induces functional, comprehensive, and durable immune responses in Rhesus macaques. These results support further evaluation of IDLV as a new HIV-1 vaccine delivery platform.

T Cell Peptide Prediction, Immune Response, and Host-Pathogen Relationship in Vaccinated and Recovered from Mild COVID-19 Subjects.

COVID-19 remains a significant threat, particularly to vulnerable populations. The emergence of new variants necessitates the development of treatments and vaccines that induce both humoral and cellular immunity. This study aimed to identify potentially immunogenic SARS-CoV-2 peptides and to explore the intricate host-pathogen interactions involving peripheral immune responses, memory profiles, and various demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors. Using in silico and experimental methods, we identified several CD8-restricted SARS-CoV-2 peptides that are either poorly studied or have previously unreported immunogenicity: fifteen from the Spike and three each from non-structural proteins Nsp1-2-3-16. A Spike peptide, LA-9, demonstrated a 57% response rate in ELISpot assays using PBMCs from 14 HLA-A*02:01 positive, vaccinated, and mild-COVID-19 recovered subjects, indicating its potential for diagnostics, research, and multi-epitope vaccine platforms. We also found that younger individuals, with fewer vaccine doses and longer intervals since infection, showed lower anti-Spike (ELISA) and anti-Wuhan neutralizing antibodies (pseudovirus assay), higher naïve T cells, and lower central memory, effector memory, and CD4hiCD8low T cells (flow cytometry) compared to older subjects. In our cohort, a higher prevalence of Vδ2-γδ and DN T cells, and fewer naïve CD8 T cells, seemed to correlate with strong cellular and lower anti-NP antibody responses and to associate with Omicron infection, absence of confusional state, and habitual sporting activity.

B cell immunofocusing and repriming in two HIV-1 Env immunization regimens.

Diverse and rapidly mutating viruses pose challenges to immunogen and vaccine design. In this study, we evaluated the ability of memory B-cells obtained from two independent NHP trials to cross-react with individual HIV-1 vaccine components of two different multivalent immunization strategies. We demonstrated that while an HIV-1 Env multiclade, multivalent immunization regimen resulted in a dominant memory B-cell response that converged toward shared epitopes, in a sequential immunization with clonally-related non-stabilized gp140 HIV-1 Envs followed by SOSIP-stabilized gp140 trimers, the change in immunogen format resulted in repriming of the B-cell response.

Successful therapeutic vaccination with integrase defective lentiviral vector expressing nononcogenic human papillomavirus E7 protein.

Persistent infection with high risk genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of cervical cancer, one of most common cancer among woman worldwide, and represents an important risk factor associated with other anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers in men and women. Here, we designed a therapeutic vaccine based on integrase defective lentiviral vector (IDLV) to deliver a mutated nononcogenic form of HPV16 E7 protein, considered as a tumor specific antigen for immunotherapy of HPV-associated cervical cancer, fused to calreticulin (CRT), a protein able to enhance major histocompatibility complex class I antigen presentation (IDLV-CRT/E7). Vaccination with IDLV-CRT/E7 induced a potent and persistent E7-specific T cell response up to 1 year after a single immunization. Importantly, a single immunization with IDLV-CRT/E7 was able to prevent growth of E7-expressing TC-1 tumor cells and to eradicate established tumors in mice. The strong therapeutic effect induced by the IDLV-based vaccine in this preclinical model suggests that this strategy may be further exploited as a safe and attractive anticancer immunotherapeutic vaccine in humans.

Integrase Defective Lentiviral Vector Promoter Impacts Transgene Expression in Target Cells and Magnitude of Vector-Induced Immune Responses.

Integrase defective lentiviral vectors (IDLVs) are a promising vaccine delivery platform given their ability to induce high magnitude and durable antigen-specific immune responses. IDLVs based on the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) are significantly more efficient at transducing human and simian dendritic cells (DCs) compared to HIV-based vectors, resulting in a higher expansion of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. Additionally, IDLV persistence and continuous antigen expression in muscle cells at the injection site contributes to the durability of the vaccine-induced immune responses. Here, to further optimize transgene expression levels in both DCs and muscle cells, we generated ten novel lentiviral vectors (LVs) expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) under different hybrid promoters. Our data show that three of the tested hybrid promoters resulted in the highest transgene expression levels in mouse DCs, monkey DCs and monkey muscle cells. We then used the three LVs with the highest in vitro transgene expression levels to immunize BALB/c mice and observed high magnitude T cell responses at 3 months post-prime. Our study demonstrates that the choice of the vector promoter influences antigen expression levels in target cells and the ensuing magnitude of T cell responses in vivo.

Different configurations of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein delivered by integrase-defective lentiviral vectors induce persistent functional immune responses, characterized by distinct immunogenicity profiles.

Several COVID-19 vaccine strategies utilizing new formulations for the induction of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) and T cell immunity are still under evaluation in preclinical and clinical studies. Here we used Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV)-based integrase defective lentiviral vector (IDLV) delivering different conformations of membrane-tethered Spike protein in the mouse immunogenicity model, with the aim of inducing persistent nAbs against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VoC). Spike modifications included prefusion-stabilizing double proline (2P) substitutions, mutations at the furin cleavage site (FCS), D614G mutation and truncation of the cytoplasmic tail (delta21) of ancestral and Beta (B.1.351) Spike, the latter mutation to markedly improve IDLV membrane-tethering. BALB/c mice were injected once with IDLV delivering the different forms of Spike or the recombinant trimeric Spike protein with 2P substitutions and FCS mutations in association with a squalene-based adjuvant. Anti-receptor binding domain (RBD) binding Abs, nAbs and T cell responses were detected up to six months from a single immunization with escalating doses of vaccines in all mice, but with different levels and kinetics. Results indicated that IDLV delivering the Spike protein with all the combined modifications, outperformed the other candidates in terms of T cell immunity and level of both binding Abs and nAbs soon after the single immunization and persistence over time, showing the best capacity to neutralize all formerly circulating VoC Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Although present, the lowest response was detected against Omicron variants (BA.1, BA.2 and BA.4/5), suggesting that the magnitude of immune evasion may be related to the higher genetic distance of Omicron as indicated by increased number of amino acid substitutions in Spike acquired during virus evolution.

New Monoclonal Antibodies Specific for Different Epitopes of the Spike Protein of SARS-CoV-2 and Its Major Variants: Additional Tools for a More Specific COVID-19 Diagnosis.

The emergence of the new pathogen SARS-CoV-2 determined a rapid need for monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to detect the virus in biological fluids as a rapid tool to identify infected individuals to be treated or quarantined. The majority of commercially available antigenic tests for SARS-CoV-2 rely on the detection of N antigen in biologic fluid using anti-N antibodies, and their capacity to specifically identify subjects infected by SARS-CoV-2 is questionable due to several structural analogies among the N proteins of different coronaviruses. In order to produce new specific antibodies, BALB/c mice were immunized three times at 20-day intervals with a recombinant spike (S) protein. The procedure used was highly efficient, and 40 different specific mAbs were isolated, purified and characterized, with 13 ultimately being selected for their specificity and lack of cross reactivity with other human coronaviruses. The specific epitopes recognized by the selected mAbs were identified through a peptide library and/or by recombinant fragments of the S protein. In particular, the selected mAbs recognized different linear epitopes along the S1, excluding the receptor binding domain, and along the S2 subunits of the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 and its major variants of concern. We identified combinations of anti-S mAbs suitable for use in ELISA or rapid diagnostic tests, with the highest sensitivity and specificity coming from proof-of-concept tests using recombinant antigens, SARS-CoV-2 or biological fluids from infected individuals, that represent important additional tools for the diagnosis of COVID-19.

Simian immunodeficiency virus-Vpx for improving integrase defective lentiviral vector-based vaccines.

BACKGROUND: Integrase defective lentiviral vectors (IDLV) represent a promising delivery system for immunization purposes. Human dendritic cells (DC) are the main cell types mediating the immune response and are readily transduced by IDLV, allowing effective triggering of in vitro expansion of antigen-specific primed CD8+ T cells. However, IDLV expression in transduced DC is at lower levels than those of the integrase (IN) competent counterpart, thus requiring further improvement of IDLV for future use in the clinic. RESULTS: In this paper we show that the addition of simian immunodeficiency (SIV)-Vpx protein in the vector preparation greatly improves transduction of human and simian DC, but not of murine DC, thus increasing the ability of transduced DC to act as functional antigen presenting cells, in the absence of integrated vector sequences. Importantly, the presence of SIV-Vpx allows for using lower dose of input IDLV during in vitro transduction, thus further improving the IDLV safety profile. CONCLUSIONS: These results have significant implications for the development of IDLV-based vaccines.

Persistent immunogenicity of integrase defective lentiviral vectors delivering membrane-tethered native-like HIV-1 envelope trimers.

Integrase Defective Lentiviral Vectors (IDLVs) represent an attractive vaccine platform for delivering HIV-1 antigens, given their ability to induce specific and persistent immune responses in both mice and non-human primates (NHPs). Recent advances in HIV-1 immunogen design demonstrated that native-like HIV-1 Envelope (Env) trimers that mimic the structure of virion-associated Env induce neutralization breadth in rabbits and macaques. Here, we describe the development of an IDLV-based HIV-1 vaccine expressing either soluble ConSOSL.UFO.664 or membrane-tethered ConSOSL.UFO.750 native-like Env immunogens with enhanced bNAb epitopes exposure. We show that IDLV can be pseudotyped with properly folded membrane-tethered native-like UFO.750 trimers. After a single IDLV injection in BALB/c mice, IDLV-UFO.750 induced a faster humoral kinetic as well as higher levels of anti-Env IgG compared to IDLV-UFO.664. IDLV-UFO.750 vaccinated cynomolgus macaques developed unusually long-lasting anti-Env IgG antibodies, as underlined by their remarkable half-life both after priming and boost with IDLV. After boosting with recombinant ConM SOSIP.v7 protein, two animals developed neutralization activity against the autologous tier 1B ConS virus mediated by V1/V2 and V3 glycan sites responses. By combining the possibility to display stabilized trimeric Env on the vector particles with the ability to induce sustained humoral responses, IDLVs represent an appropriate strategy for delivering rationally designed antigens to progress towards an effective HIV-1 vaccine.

Cholera toxin impairs the differentiation of monocytes into dendritic cells, inducing professional antigen-presenting myeloid cells.

Cholera toxin (CT) is a potent adjuvant for mucosal vaccination; however, its mechanism of action has not been clarified completely. It is well established that peripheral monocytes differentiate into dendritic cells (DCs) both in vitro and in vivo and that monocytes are the in vivo precursors of mucosal CD103(-) proinflammatory DCs. In this study, we asked whether CT had any effects on the differentiation of monocytes into DCs. We found that CT-treated monocytes, in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin 4 (IL-4), failed to differentiate into classical DCs (CD14(low) CD1a(high)) and acquired a macrophage-like phenotype (CD14(high) CD1a(low)). Cells differentiated in the presence of CT expressed high levels of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC-I) and MHC-II and CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules and produced larger amounts of IL-1ß, IL-6, and IL-10 but smaller amounts of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and IL-12 than did monocytes differentiated into DCs in the absence of CT. The enzymatic activity of CT was found to be important for the skewing of monocytes toward a macrophage-like phenotype (Ma-DCs) with enhanced antigen-presenting functions. Indeed, treatment of monocytes with scalar doses of forskolin (FSK), an activator of adenylate cyclase, induced them to differentiate in a dose-dependent manner into a population with phenotype and functions similar to those found after CT treatment. Monocytes differentiated in the presence of CT induced the differentiation of naïve T lymphocytes toward a Th2 phenotype. Interestingly, we found that CT interferes with the differentiation of monocytes into DCs in vivo and promotes the induction of activated antigen-presenting cells (APCs) following systemic immunization.

Integrase-Defective Lentiviral Vector Is an Efficient Vaccine Platform for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Integrase-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLVs) have been used as a safe and efficient delivery system in several immunization protocols in murine and non-human primate preclinical models as well as in recent clinical trials. In this work, we validated in preclinical murine models our vaccine platform based on IDLVs as delivery system for cancer immunotherapy. To evaluate the anti-tumor activity of our vaccine strategy we generated IDLV delivering ovalbumin (OVA) as a non-self-model antigen and TRP2 as a self-tumor associated antigen (TAA) of melanoma. Results demonstrated the ability of IDLVs to eradicate and/or controlling tumor growth after a single immunization in preventive and therapeutic approaches, using lymphoma and melanoma expressing OVA. Importantly, LV-TRP2 but not IDLV-TRP2 was able to break tolerance efficiently and prevent tumor growth of B16F10 melanoma cells. In order to improve the IDLV efficacy, the human homologue of murine TRP2 was used, showing the ability to break tolerance and control the tumor growth. These results validate the use of IDLV for cancer therapy.

Safety and efficiency modifications of SIV-based integrase-defective lentiviral vectors for immunization.

Integrase-defective lentiviral vectors (IDLVs) represent an attractive platform for vaccine development as a result of the ability to induce persistent humoral- and cellular-mediated immune responses against the encoded transgene. Compared with the parental integrating vector, the main advantages for using IDLV are the reduced hazard of insertional mutagenesis and the decreased risk for vector mobilization by wild-type viruses. Here we report on the development and use in the mouse immunogenicity model of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-based IDLV containing a long deletion in the U3 region and with the 3' polypurine tract (PPT) removed from the transfer vector for improving safety and/or efficacy. Results show that a safer extended deletion of U3 sequences did not modify integrase-mediated or -independent integration efficiency. Interestingly, 3' PPT deletion impaired integrase-mediated integration but did not reduce illegitimate, integrase-independent integration efficiency, contrary to what was previously reported in the HIV system. Importantly, although the extended deletion in the U3 did not affect expression or immunogenicity from IDLV, deletion of 3' PPT considerably reduced both expression and immunogenicity of IDLV.

Robust Neutralizing Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 Develop and Persist in Subjects with Diabetes and COVID-19 Pneumonia.

CONTEXT: Demonstrating the ability to mount a neutralizing antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 in the presence of diabetes is crucial to understand COVID-19 pathogenesis, reinfection potential, and vaccine development. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to characterize the kinetics and durability of neutralizing antibody (Nab) response against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in the presence of hyperglycemia. METHODS: Using a lentiviral vector-based SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assay to measure Nabs, we characterized 150 patients randomly selected from a cohort of 509 patients with confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia. We analyzed Nab response according to the presence of diabetes or hyperglycemia, at the time of hospitalization and during the postdischarge follow-up: 1-, 3-, and 6-month outpatient visits. RESULTS: Among 150 randomly selected patients 40 (26.6%) had diabetes. Diabetes (hazard ratio [HR] 8.9, P < .001), glucose levels (HR 1.25 × 1.1 mmol/L, P < .001), and glucose variability (HR 1.17 × 0.6 mmol/L, P < .001) were independently associated with an increased risk of mortality. The neutralizing activity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients with diabetes was superimposable, as for kinetics and extent, to that of patients without diabetes. It was similar across glucose levels and correlated with the humoral response against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. Positivity for Nabs at the time of hospital admission conferred protection on mortality, both in the presence (HR 0.28, P = .046) or absence of diabetes (HR 0.26, P = .030). The longevity of the Nab response was not affected by diabetes. CONCLUSION: Diabetes and hyperglycemia do not affect the kinetics and durability of the neutralizing antibody response to SARS-CoV-2. These findings provide the rational to include patients with diabetes in the early phase of the vaccination campaign against SARS-CoV-2.

Anticancer Effects of Sublingual Type I IFN in Combination with Chemotherapy in Implantable and Spontaneous Tumor Models.

Salivary gland tumors are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms representing less than 10% of all head and neck tumors. Among salivary gland tumors, salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is a rare, but highly aggressive malignant tumor resembling ductal breast carcinoma. Sublingual treatments are promising for SDC due to the induction of both local and systemic biological effects and to reduced systemic toxicity compared to other administration routes. In the present study, we first established that the sublingual administration of type I IFN (IFN-I) is safe and feasible, and exerts antitumor effects both as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy in transplantable tumor models, i.e., B16-OVA melanoma and EG.7-OVA lymphoma. Subsequently, we proved that sublingual IFN-I in combination with cyclophosphamide (CTX) induces a long-lasting reduction of tumor mass in NeuT transgenic mice that spontaneously develop SDC. Most importantly, tumor shrinkage in NeuT transgenic micewas accompanied by the emergence of tumor-specific cellular immune responses both in the blood and in the tumor tissue. Altogether, these results provide evidence that sublingual IFN holds promise in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer.

Neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 in symptomatic COVID-19 is persistent and critical for survival.

Understanding how antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 evolve during infection may provide important insight into therapeutic approaches and vaccination for COVID-19. Here we profile the antibody responses of 162 COVID-19 symptomatic patients in the COVID-BioB cohort followed longitudinally for up to eight months from symptom onset to find SARS-CoV-2 neutralization, as well as antibodies either recognizing SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens and nucleoprotein, or specific for S2 antigen of seasonal beta-coronaviruses and hemagglutinin of the H1N1 flu virus. The presence of neutralizing antibodies within the first weeks from symptoms onset correlates with time to a negative swab result (p = 0.002), while the lack of neutralizing capacity correlates with an increased risk of a fatal outcome (p = 0.008). Neutralizing antibody titers progressively drop after 5-8 weeks but are still detectable up to 8 months in the majority of recovered patients regardless of age or co-morbidities, with IgG to spike antigens providing the best correlate of neutralization. Antibody responses to seasonal coronaviruses are temporarily boosted, and parallel those to SARS-CoV-2 without dampening the specific response or worsening disease progression. Our results thus suggest compromised immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 spike to be a major trait of COVID-19 patients with critical conditions, and thereby inform on the planning of COVID-19 patient care and therapy prioritization.

Isolation and Characterization of Mouse Monoclonal Antibodies That Neutralize SARS-CoV-2 and Its Variants of Concern Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta by Binding Conformational Epitopes of Glycosylated RBD With High Potency.

Antibodies targeting Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 have been suggested to account for the majority of neutralizing activity in COVID-19 convalescent sera and several neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) have been isolated, characterized and proposed as emergency therapeutics in the form of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). However, SARS-CoV-2 variants are rapidly spreading worldwide from the sites of initial identification. The variants of concern (VOC) B.1.1.7 (Alpha), B.1.351 (Beta), P.1 (Gamma) and B.1.167.2 (Delta) showed mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein potentially able to cause escape from nAb responses with a consequent reduction of efficacy of vaccines and mAbs-based therapy. We produced the recombinant RBD (rRBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein from the Wuhan-Hu 1 reference sequence in a mammalian system, for mice immunization to isolate new mAbs with neutralizing activity. Here we describe four mAbs that were able to bind the rRBD in Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay and the transmembrane full-length spike protein expressed in HEK293T cells by flow cytometry assay. Moreover, the mAbs recognized the RBD in supernatants of SARS-CoV-2 infected VERO E6 cells by Western Blot under non-reducing condition or in supernatants of cells infected with lentivirus pseudotyped for spike protein, by immunoprecipitation assay. Three out of four mAbs lost their binding efficiency to completely N-deglycosylated rRBD and none was able to bind the same recombinant protein expressed in Escherichia coli, suggesting that the epitopes recognized by three mAbs are generated by the conformational structure of the glycosylated native protein. Of particular relevance, three mAbs were able to inhibit Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 infection of VERO E6 cells in a plaque-reduction neutralization test and the Wuhan SARS-CoV-2 as well as the Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta VOC in a pseudoviruses-based neutralization test. These mAbs represent important additional tools for diagnosis and therapy of COVID-19 and may contribute to the understanding of the functional structure of SARS-CoV-2 RBD.

Polyclonal Treg cells enhance the activity of a mucosal adjuvant.

The efficacy of vaccines can be greatly improved by adjuvants that enhance and modify the magnitude and the duration of the immune response. Several approaches to design rational adjuvants are based on the suppression of regulatory T-cell (Treg) function. Here, we evaluated whether removal or addition of Treg at the time of vaccination with tetanus toxoid and the mucosal adjuvant cholera toxin (CT), would affect immune responses. We found that depletion/inactivation of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg, either by treatment of BALB/c mice with anti-CD25 monoclonal antibodies or by adoptive transfer of CD4(+)CD25(-) T lymphocytes depleted of CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg into nu/nu mice, impaired antibody production after mucosal immunization in the presence of CT. Conversely, transfer of polyclonal, but not Ag-specific, CD4(+)CD25(+)Foxp3(+) Treg to normal BALB/c mice enhanced CT-induced antibody responses. An increased titer of both immunoglobulin IgG1 and IgG2a antibody subclasses was found, however, the ratio between IgG1/IgG2a with or without polyclonal Treg was comparable, suggesting that polyclonal Treg influence the magnitude, but not the quality of the immune response. Recipients of polyclonal Treg that had been immunized with CT had an increased number of Ag-specific CD4(+) T cells with an activated phenotype (CD44(hi)) in the draining lymph nodes. This accumulation of Ag-specific CD4(+) T lymphocytes could favour the germinal centre formation and may promote T-dependent B-cell responses. Overall, our study indicates that Foxp3(+) Treg can not only function as suppressor cells but also as helper T cells, depending on the type of immune response being evaluated and the microenvironment in which the response is generated.

Nonintegrating Lentiviral Vector-Based Vaccine Efficiently Induces Functional and Persistent CD8+ T Cell Responses in Mice.

CD8+ T cells are an essential component of an effective host immune response to tumors and viral infections. Genetic immunization is particularly suitable for inducing CTL responses, because the encoded proteins enter the MHC class I processing pathway through either transgene expression or cross-presentation. In order to compare the efficiency and persistence of immune response induced by genetic vaccines, BALB/c mice were immunized either twice intramuscularly with DNA plasmid expressing a codon-optimized HIV-1 gp120 Envelope sequence together with murine GM-CSF sequence or with a single immunization using an integrase defective lentiviral vector (IDLV) expressing the same proteins. Results strongly indicated that the schedule based on IDLV vaccine was more efficient in inducing specific immune response, as evaluated three months after the last immunization by IFNgamma ELISPOT in both splenocytes and bone marrow- (BM-) derived cells, chromium release assay in splenocytes, and antibody detection in sera. In addition, IDLV immunization induced high frequency of polyfunctional CD8+ T cells able to simultaneously produce IFNgamma, TNFalpha, and IL2.

Development of antigen-specific T cells in mediastinal lymph nodes after intranasal immunization.

The power of cholera toxin (CT) as an effective mucosal adjuvant is well established. Because of the high toxicity of CT, its clinical use is unlikely. Therefore, the need to identify effective and non toxic mucosal adjuvants for human use is important. For this purpose, CT is largely used as a reference molecule for testing the efficacy of new candidate adjuvants in animal models. Here, we evaluated the kinetics and the localization of antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses elicited by intranasal immunization with tetanus toxoid antigen in the presence of CT. We show that an antigen-specific cellular immune response localized in the mediastinal lymph nodes can be observed already 1 week after the first immunization. The induction of an appreciable titer of an antibody-specific immune response was assessed after two immunizations. Therefore, we suggest that the efficacy of new candidate mucosal adjuvants can be tested by evaluating the cellular immune response in the mediastinal lymph nodes at early stages of immunization.