Zhanlong He

Comparative study of the immunogenicity in mice and monkeys of an inactivated CA16 vaccine made from a human diploid cell line

The coxsackie A16 virus (CA16), along with enterovirus 71 (EV71), is a primary pathogen that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). To control HFMD, CA16, and EV71 vaccines are needed. In this study, an experimental inactivated CA16 vaccine was prepared using human diploid cells, and the vaccine’s immunogenicity was analyzed in mice and rhesus monkeys. The results showed that the neutralizing antibody was developed in a dose-dependent manner, and was sustained for 70 days with an average GMT (geometric mean titer) level of 80 to 90 in immunized mouse and for 56 days with GMT of higher than 300 in monkeys. The neutralizing antibody had a cross-neutralizing activity against different viral strains (genotype A and B), and the specific IFN-γ-secreting cell response was activated by these virus strains in an ELISPOT assay. This study provides evidence for the potential use of inactivated CA16 as a candidate for use in vaccines.

Coxsackievirus A 16 infection does not interfere with the specific immune response induced by an enterovirus 71 inactivated vaccine in rhesus monkeys

Hand, foot and mouth disease is usually caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A 16 (CA16), which are members of the Picornaviridae family. In the present study, the characteristics of the immune response induced by an EV71 inactivated vaccine (made from human diploid cells) were explored in the presence of CA16 infection, based on the previously established neonatal rhesus monkey model. The typical clinical manifestations, including body temperature, viral viremia and virus shedding in the mouth, pharynx and feces, were characterized. A specific neutralizing antibody assay showed that the specific immune response induced by the EV71 inactivated vaccine was active against EV71 but not against CA16. No remarkable fluctuation in proinflammatory cytokine release was identified in the serum of immunized monkeys with EV71 vaccine and CA16 infections subsequently. The results showed that the specific immune response induced by the EV71 inactivated vaccine is effective against EV71 infection but is not affected by CA16 infection.

Pathologic and immunologic characteristics of coxsackievirus A16 infection in rhesus macaques

Coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16) causes human hand, foot and mouth disease, but its pathogenesis is unclear. In rhesus macaques, CV-A16 infection causes characteristic vesicles in the oral mucosa and limbs as well as viremia and positive viral loads in the tissues, suggesting that these animals reflect the pathologic process of the infection. An immunologic analysis indicated a defective immune response, which included undetectable neutralizing antibodies and IFN-γ-specific memory T-cells in macaques infected with CV-A16. Furthermore, existing neutralizing antibodies in macaques immunized with the inactivated vaccine were surprisingly unable to protect against a viral challenge despite the presence of a positive T-cell memory response against viral antigens. The virus was capable of infecting pre-conventional dendritic cells and replicating within them, which may correlate with the immunological characteristics observed in the animals.

Different microRNA alterations contribute to diverse outcomes following EV71 and CA16 infections: Insights from high-throughput sequencing in rhesus monkey peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and Coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) are the predominant pathogens of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Although these viruses exhibit genetic homology, the clinical manifestations caused by the two viruses have some discrepancies. In addition, the underlying mechanisms leading to these differences remain unclear. microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in numerous biological or pathological processes, including host responses to viral infections. Here, we focused on differences in miRNA expression patterns in rhesus monkey peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) infected with EV71 and CA16 at various time points using high-throughput sequencing. The results demonstrated that 106 known and 13 novel miRNAs exhibited significant differences, and 32 key miRNAs among them for target prediction presented opposite trends in the EV71- and CA16-infected samples. GO and pathway analysis of the predicted targets showed enrichment in 14 biological processes, 10 molecular functions, 8 cellular components and 104 pathways. Subsequently, regulatory networks of miRNA-transcription factors, miRNA-predicted targets, miRNA-GOs and miRNA-pathways were constructed to reveal the complex regulatory mechanisms of miRNAs during the infection phase. Ultimately, we analysed hierarchical GO categories of the predicted targets involved in immune system processes, which indicated that the innate and adaptive immunity following EV71 and CA16 infections may be remarkably distinct. In conclusion, this report is the first describing miRNA expression profiles in PBMCs with EV71 and CA16 infections using high-throughput sequencing. Our findings could provide a valuable basis for further studies on the regulatory roles of miRNAs related to the different immune responses caused by EV71 and CA16 infections.

Global gene expression analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in rhesus monkey infants with CA16 infection-induced HFMD.

Coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) is a dominant pathogen that results in hand, foot, and mouth disease and causes outbreaks worldwide, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Our previous study has demonstrated that the basic CA16 pathogenic process was successfully mimicked in rhesus monkey infant. The present study focused on the global gene expression changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of rhesus monkey infants with hand, foot, and mouth disease induced by CA16 infection at different time points. Genome-wide expression analysis was performed with Agilent whole-genome microarrays and established bioinformatics tools. Nine hundred and forty-eight significant differentially expressed genes that were associated with 5 gene ontology categories, including cell communication, cell cycle, immune system process, regulation of transcription and metabolic process were identified. Subsequently, the mapping of genes related to the immune system process by PANTHER pathway analysis revealed the predominance of inflammation mediated by chemokine and cytokine signaling pathways and the interleukin signaling pathway. Ultimately, co-expressed genes and their networks were analyzed. The results revealed the gene expression profile of the immune system in response to CA16 in rhesus monkey infants and suggested that such an immune response was generated as a result of the positive mobilization of the immune system. This initial microarray study will provide insights into the molecular mechanism of CA16 infection and will facilitate the identification of biomarkers for the evaluation of vaccines against this virus.

Relevance and Clinical Significance of Serum Resistin Level in Obese T2DM Rhesus Monkey Models

Resistin is a type of hormone-like adipocytokines, which is secreted specifically by adipocytes. It may be a key factor in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) from obesity- associated insulin resistance due to results that show that it has a close relationship with insulin resistance in rodents. We utilized the rhesus monkeys as study objects to preliminarily test the association with glucose metabolism and to conduct a correlation analysis for clinical parameters and serum resistin levels in obese rhesus monkey models of T2DM. The results suggested that resistin was significantly increased in T2DM monkeys (P <0.01), and that resistin had a positive correlation respectively with total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FPI) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), Insulin resistance index (HOA-IR), but a negative correlation with islet β-cell function (HOMA-β). In the course of glucose metabolism, reverse release change of resistin and insulin in T2DM monkeys occurred, but the phenomenon that was not observed in the control group, these findings indicated that resistin negatively regulated and interfered with carbohydrate metabolism in T2DM monkey models. The character of the releasing change of resistin might be a unique process in T2DM. Therefore, all of the results could provide references for clinical diagnostic criteria for human cases of T2DM, and could have clinical significance for obese T2DM diagnosis and degree of insulin resistance.

Nasal Infection of Enterovirus D68 Leading to Lower Respiratory Tract Pathogenesis in Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo)

Data from EV-D68-infected patients demonstrate that pathological changes in the lower respiratory tract are principally characterized by severe respiratory illness in children and acute flaccid myelitis. However, lack of a suitable animal model for EV-D68 infection has limited the study on the pathogenesis of this critical pathogen, and the development of a vaccine. Ferrets have been widely used to evaluate respiratory virus infections. In the current study, we used EV-D68-infected ferrets as a potential animal to identify impersonal indices, involving clinical features and histopathological changes in the upper and lower respiratory tract (URT and LRT). The research results demonstrate that the EV-D68 virus leads to minimal clinical symptoms in ferrets. According to the viral load detection in the feces, nasal, and respiratory tracts, the infection and shedding of EV-D68 in the ferret model was confirmed, and these results were supported by the EV-D68 VP1 immunofluorescence confocal imaging with α2,6-linked sialic acid (SA) in lung tissues. Furthermore, we detected the inflammatory cytokine/chemokine expression level, which implied high expression levels of interleukin (IL)-1a, IL-8, IL-5, IL-12, IL-13, and IL-17a in the lungs. These data indicate that systemic observation of responses following infection with EV-D68 in ferrets could be used as a model for EV-D68 infection and pathogenesis.

The Characteristics of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection in Rhesus Macaques and the Associated Pathological Features

As one of the major pathogens for human herpetic diseases, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) causes herpes labialis, genital herpes and herpetic encephalitis. Our aim here was to investigate the infectious process of HSV1 in rhesus macaques and the pathological features induced during this infection. Clinical symptoms that manifested in the rhesus macaque during HSV1 infection included vesicular lesions and their pathological features. Viral distribution in the nervous tissues and associated pathologic changes indicated the typical systematic pathological processes associated with viral distribution of HSV1. Interestingly, vesicular lesions recurred in oral skin or in mucosa associated with virus shedding in macaques within four to five months post-infection, and viral latency-associated transcript (LAT) mRNA was found in the trigeminal ganglia (TG) on day 365 post-infection. Neutralization testing and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISpot) detection of specific T cell responses confirmed the specific immunity induced by HSV1 infection. Thus, rhesus macaques could serve as an infectious model for HSV1 due to their typical clinical symptoms and the pathological recurrence associated with viral latency in nervous tissues.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus non-genetic Rhesus monkey model induced by high fat and high sucrose diet.

To build an ideal animal model for studying the mechanism of occurrence, developing and treating of diabetes become a more important issue, facing with the fact that the big threat of diabetes to human health has been worsen. First, we used the normal control diets or the high-fat/high-sucrose diets to feed the adult rhesus monkeys and the macaques induced by the high-fat/high-sucrose diets in the high-fat/high-sucrose group and the type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) group developed the hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia at 6 months in accordance with the precious researches that reported that minipigs, rats and mice could develop hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia, hyperlipidemia and obesity after being induced with high-fat/high-carbohydrate diets. Second, the rhesus monkeys in T2DM group were injected STZ at a low dosage of 35 mg/kg BW to induce glucose persistent elevation which maintained pretty well after 12 months. Third, we took the assay of glucose tolerance test and insulin resistance index, assessed the changing tendency of serum resistin and analysed the pathological characteristics of the tissues like pancreas and liver by staining in different ways. The results indicate the rhesus monkeys in T2DM group have lots of clinical features of T2DM. The experimental non-genetic T2DM rhesus monkeys model not only contribute to simulating of clinical manifestations and pathological features of human T2DM, but also may be a good kind of model for research on the treatment of T2DM and for new drugs evaluation.

Attenuated Phenotype and Immunogenic Characteristics of a Mutated Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Strain in the Rhesus Macaque

Herpes simplex virus type 1(HSV-1) presents a conundrum to public health worldwide because of its specific pathogenicity and clinical features. Some experimental vaccines, such as the recombinant viral glycoproteins, exhibit the viral immunogenicity of a host-specific immune response, but none of these has achieved a valid epidemiological protective efficacy in the human population. In the present study, we constructed an attenuated HSV-1 strain M3 through the partial deletion of UL7, UL41, and the latency-associated transcript (LAT) using the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The mutant strain exhibited lowered infectivity and virulence in macaques. Neutralization testing and ELISpot detection of the specific T-cell responses confirmed the specific immunity induced by M3 immunization and this immunity defended against the challenges of the wild-type strain and restricted the entry of the wild-type strain into the trigeminal ganglion. These results in rhesus macaques demonstrated the potential of the attenuated vaccine for the prevention of HSV-1 in humans.