Wendeline Wagner

Zika virus protection by a single low-dose nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccination

Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently emerged as a pandemic associated with severe neuropathology in newborns and adults. There are no ZIKV-specific treatments or preventatives. Therefore, the development of a safe and effective vaccine is a high priority. Messenger RNA (mRNA) has emerged as a versatile and highly effective platform to deliver vaccine antigens and therapeutic proteins. Here we demonstrate that a single low-dose intradermal immunization with lipid-nanoparticle-encapsulated nucleoside-modified mRNA (mRNA–LNP) encoding the pre-membrane and envelope glycoproteins of a strain from the ZIKV outbreak in 2013 elicited potent and durable neutralizing antibody responses in mice and non-human primates. Immunization with 30 μg of nucleoside-modified ZIKV mRNA–LNP protected mice against ZIKV challenges at 2 weeks or 5 months after vaccination, and a single dose of 50 μg was sufficient to protect non-human primates against a challenge at 5 weeks after vaccination. These data demonstrate that nucleoside-modified mRNA–LNP elicits rapid and durable protective immunity and therefore represents a new and promising vaccine candidate for the global fight against ZIKV.

Control of viral rebound through therapeutic immunization with DermaVir.

Objective:To reconstitute immune responses capable of eliminating infected cells and suppressing viral load during chronic retroviral infection. Design:A topical, DNA-based therapeutic immunization (DermaVir) was designed to express most of the regulatory and structural viral genes in dendritic cells. Methods:DermaVir alone and in combination with antiretroviral drugs was tested in chronically SIV-infected macaques. Results:DermaVir provided virological, immunological and clinical benefit for SIV-infected macaques during chronic infection and AIDS. In combination with antiretroviral drugs, DermaVir augmented SIV-specific T-cell responses and enhanced control of viral load rebound during treatment interruptions. Conclusions:The results indicate the feasibility of therapeutic immunization even in immune compromised hosts, and suggest that DermaVir can complement antiretroviral drugs to sustain suppression of HIV-1 replication.

Gold drug auranofin restricts the viral reservoir in the monkey AIDS model and induces containment of viral load following ART suspension.

Objectives:A small pool of long-lived memory CD4+ T cells harboring the retroviral genome is one main obstacle to HIV eradication. We tested the impact of the gold compound, auranofin, on phenotype and viability of CD4+ T cells in vitro, and on persistence of lentiviral reservoir cells in vivo. Design:In-vitro and in-vivo study. The pro-differentiating effect of auranofin was investigated in human primary CD4+ T cells, and its capacity to deplete the viral DNA (vDNA) reservoir was tested in a pilot study involving six SIVmac251-infected macaques with viral loads stably suppressed by antiretroviral therapy (ART) (tenofovir/emtricitabine/raltegravir). The study was then amplified by intensifying ART using darunavir/r and including controls under intensified ART alone. All therapies were eventually suspended and viro-immunological parameters were monitored over time. Methods:Cell subpopulations were quantitated by flow cytometry following proper hematological analyses. Viral load and cell-associated vDNA were quantitated by Taqman real-time PCR. Results:In naïve, central memory and transitional memory CD4+ T cells, auranofin induced both phenotype changes and cell death which were more pronounced in the memory compartment. In the pilot study in vivo, auranofin transiently decreased the cell-associated vDNA reservoir in peripheral blood. When ART was intensified, a sustained decrease in vDNA was observed only in auranofin-treated monkeys but not in controls treated with intensified ART alone. After therapy suspension, only monkeys that had received auranofin showed a deferred and subsequently blunted viral load rebound. Conclusion:These findings represent a first step towards a remission of primate lentiviral infections.

Antibody-mediated protection against SHIV challenge includes systemic clearance of distal virus

HIV-1–specific broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) can protect rhesus monkeys against simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) challenge. However, the site of antibody interception of virus and the mechanism of antibody-mediated protection remain unclear. We administered a fully protective dose of the bNAb PGT121 to rhesus monkeys and challenged them intravaginally with SHIV-SF162P3. In PGT121-treated animals, we detected low levels of viral RNA and viral DNA in distal tissues for seven days following challenge. Viral RNA–positive tissues showed transcriptomic changes indicative of innate immune activation, and cells from these tissues initiated infection after adoptive transfer into naïve hosts. These data demonstrate that bNAb-mediated protection against a mucosal virus challenge can involve clearance of infectious virus in distal tissues.

Anti‐HIV‐1 immunotoxin 3B3(Fv)‐PE38: enhanced potency against clinical isolates in human PBMCs and macrophages, and negligible hepatotoxicity in macaques

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV‐1) infection dramatically suppresses viral load, leading to marked reductions in HIV‐1 associated morbidity and mortality. However, infected cell reservoirs and low‐level replication persist in the face of suppressive HAART, leading invariably to viral rebound upon cessation of treatment. Toxins engineered to target the Env glycoprotein on the surface of productively infected cells represent a complementary strategy to deplete these reservoirs. We described previously highly selective killing of Env‐expressing cell lines by CD4(178)‐PE40 and 3B3(Fv)‐PE38, recombinant derivatives of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exotoxin A containing distinct targeting moieties against gp120. In the present report, we compare the in vitro potency and breadth of these chimeric toxins against multiple clinical HIV‐1 isolates, replicating in biologically relevant primary human target cell types. In PBMCs, 3B3(Fv)‐PE38 blocked spreading infection by all isolates examined, with greater potency than CD4(178)‐PE40. 3B3(Fv)‐PE38 also potently inhibited spreading HIV‐1 infection in primary macrophages. Control experiments demonstrated that in both target cell types, most of the 3B3(Fv)‐PE38 activity was due to selective killing of infected cells, and not merely to neutralization by the antibody moiety of the chimeric toxin. High‐dose treatment of rhesus macaques with 3B3(Fv)‐PE38 did not induce liver toxicity, whereas equivalent dosage of CD4(178)‐PE40 induced mild hepatotoxicity. These findings highlight the potential use of 3B3(Fv)‐PE38 for depleting HIV‐infected cell reservoirs persisting in the face of HAART.

Investigational treatment suspension and enhanced cell-mediated immunity at rebound followed by drug-free remission of simian AIDS

BackgroundHIV infection persists despite antiretroviral treatment (ART) and is reignited as soon as therapies are suspended. This vicious cycle is fueled by the persistence of viral reservoirs that are invulnerable to standard ART protocols, and thus therapeutic agents able to target these reservoirs are needed. One such agent, auranofin, has recently been shown to decrease the memory T-cell reservoir in chronically SIVmac251-infected macaques. Moreover, auranofin could synergize with a fully suppressive ART protocol and induce a drug-free post-therapy containment of viremia.ResultsWe administered buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis currently in clinical trials for cancer, in combination with auranofin to chronically SIVmac251-infected macaques under highly-intensified ART (H-iART). The ART/auranofin/BSO therapeutic protocol was followed, after therapy suspension, by a significant decrease of viral RNA and DNA in peripheral blood as compared to pre-therapy levels. Drug-free post-therapy control of the infection was achieved in animals with pre-therapy viral loads ranging from values comparable to average human set points to levels largely higher. This control was dependent on the presence CD8+ cells and associated with enhanced levels of cell-mediated immune responses.ConclusionsThe level of post-therapy viral set point reduction achieved in this study is the largest reported so far in chronically SIVmac251-infected macaques and may represent a promising strategy to improve over the current “ART for life” plight.

Significant Depletion of CD4+ T Cells Occurs in the Oral Mucosa during Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Infection with the Infected CD4+ T Cell Reservoir Continuing to Persist in the Oral Mucosa during Antiretroviral Therapy

Human and simian immunodeficiency virus (HIV and SIV) infections are characterized by manifestation of numerous opportunistic infections and inflammatory conditions in the oral mucosa. The loss of CD4+ T cells that play a critical role in maintaining mucosal immunity likely contributes to this process. Here we show that CD4+ T cells constitute a minor population of T cells in the oral mucosa and display a predominantly central memory phenotype mirroring other mucosal sites such as the rectal mucosa. Chronic SIV infection was associated with a near total depletion of CD4+ T cells in the oral mucosa that appear to repopulate during antiretroviral therapy (ART). Repopulating CD4+ T cells harbored a large fraction of Th17 cells suggesting that ART potentially reconstitutes oral mucosal immunity. However, a minor fraction of repopulating CD4+ T cells harbored SIV DNA suggesting that the viral reservoir continues to persist in the oral mucosa during ART. Therapeutic approaches aimed at obtaining sustainable CD4+ T cell repopulation in combination with strategies that can eradicate the latent viral reservoir in the oral mucosa are essential for better oral health and long-term outcome in HIV infected patients.

Effect of chronic morphine administration on circulating dendritic cells in SIV-infected rhesus macaques

We studied the effect of chronic morphine administration on the circulating dendritic cell population dynamics associated with SIV infection using rhesus macaques. Animals were either first infected with SIV and then given chronic morphine, or visa versa. SIV infection increased the numbers of myeloid DCs (mDCs), but morphine treatment attenuated this mDC expansion. In contrast, morphine increased the numbers of plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) in SIV-infected animals. Finally, chronic morphine administration (no SIV) transiently increased the numbers of circulating pDCs. These results show that chronic morphine induces a significant alteration in the available circulating levels of critical antigen-presenting cells.