Engineering new mycobacterial vaccine design for HIV-TB pediatric vaccine vectored by lysine auxotroph of BCG

In this study, we have engineered a new mycobacterial vaccine design by using an antibiotic-free plasmid selection system. We assembled a novel Escherichia coli (E. coli)-mycobacterial shuttle plasmid p2auxo.HIVA, expressing the HIV-1 clade A immunogen HIVA. This shuttle vector employs an antibiotic resistance-free mechanism for plasmid selection and maintenance based on glycine complementation in E. coli and lysine complementation in mycobacteria. This plasmid was first transformed into glycine auxotroph of E. coli strain and subsequently transformed into lysine auxotroph of Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain to generate vaccine BCG.HIVA 2auxo. We demonstrated that the episomal plasmid p2auxo.HIVA was stable in vivo over a 7-week period and genetically and phenotypically characterized the BCG.HIVA 2auxo vaccine strain. The BCG.HIVA 2auxo vaccine in combination with modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA). HIVA was safe and induced HIV-1 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis -specific interferon-γ-producing T-cell responses in adult BALB/c mice. Polyfunctional HIV-1-specific CD8+ T cells, which produce interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α and express the degranulation marker CD107a, were induced. Thus, we engineered a novel, safer, good laboratory practice-compatible BCG-vectored vaccine using prototype immunogen HIVA. This antibiotic-free plasmid selection system based on "double" auxotrophic complementation might be a new mycobacterial vaccine platform to develop not only recombinant BCG-based vaccines expressing second generation of HIV-1 immunogens but also other major pediatric pathogens to prime protective response soon after birth

Neutrophilia, lymphopenia and myeloid dysfunction: A living review of the quantitative changes to innate and adaptive immune cells which define COVID-19 pathology

Destabilisation of balanced immune cell numbers and frequencies is a common feature of viral infections. This occurs due to, and further enhances, viral immune evasion and survival. Since the discovery of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which manifests in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a great number of studies have described the association between this virus and pathologically increased or decreased immune cell counts. In this review, we consider the absolute and relative changes to innate and adaptive immune cell numbers, in COVID-19. In severe disease particularly, neutrophils are increased, which can lead to inflammation and tissue damage. Dysregulation of other granulocytes, basophils, and eosinophils represent an unusual COVID-19 phenomenon. Contrastingly, the impact on the different types of monocytes leans more strongly to an altered phenotype, e.g. HLA-DR expression, rather than numerical changes. However, it is the adaptive immune response which bears the most profound impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection. T cell lymphopenia correlates with increased risk of ICU admission and death; therefore, this parameter is particularly important for clinical decision making. Mild and severe disease differ in the rate of immune cell counts returning to normal levels post disease. Tracking the recovery trajectories of various immune cell counts may also have implications for long-term COVID-19 monitoring. This review represents a snapshot of our current knowledge, showing that much has been achieved in a short period of time. Alterations in counts of distinct immune cells represent an accessible metric to inform patient care decision or predict disease outcomes

Natural killer cell responses during SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination in people living with HIV-1

Natural killer (NK) cell subsets with adaptive properties are emerging as regulators of vaccine-induced T and B cell responses and are specialized towards antibody-dependent functions contributing to SARS-CoV-2 control. Although HIV-1 infection is known to affect the NK cell pool, the additional impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or vaccination on NK cell responses in people living with HIV (PLWH) has remained unexplored. Our data show that SARS-CoV-2 infection skews NK cells towards a more differentiated/adaptive CD57+FcεRIγ- phenotype in PLWH. A similar subset was induced following vaccination in SARS-CoV-2 naïve PLWH in addition to a CD56bright population with cytotoxic potential. Antibody-dependent NK cell function showed robust and durable responses to Spike up to 148 days post-infection, with responses enriched in adaptive NK cells. NK cell responses were further boosted by the first vaccine dose in SARS-CoV-2 exposed individuals and peaked after the second dose in SARS-CoV-2 naïve PLWH. The presence of adaptive NK cells associated with the magnitude of cellular and humoral responses. These data suggest that features of adaptive NK cells can be effectively engaged to complement and boost vaccine-induced adaptive immunity in potentially more vulnerable groups such as PLWH

Innate immunology in COVID-19-a living review. Part II: dysregulated inflammation drives immunopathology

The current pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a global health crisis and will likely continue to impact public health for years. As the effectiveness of the innate immune response is crucial to patient outcome, huge efforts have been made to understand how dysregulated immune responses may contribute to disease progression. Here we have reviewed current knowledge of cellular innate immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection, highlighting areas for further investigation and suggesting potential strategies for intervention. We conclude that in severe COVID-19 initial innate responses, primarily type I interferon, are suppressed or sabotaged which results in an early interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10 and IL-1β-enhanced hyperinflammation. This inflammatory environment is driven by aberrant function of innate immune cells: monocytes, macrophages and natural killer cells dispersing viral pathogen-associated molecular patterns and damage-associated molecular patterns into tissues. This results in primarily neutrophil-driven pathology including fibrosis that causes acute respiratory distress syndrome. Activated leukocytes and neutrophil extracellular traps also promote immunothrombotic clots that embed into the lungs and kidneys of severe COVID-19 patients, are worsened by immobility in the intensive care unit and are perhaps responsible for the high mortality. Therefore, treatments that target inflammation and coagulation are promising strategies for reducing mortality in COVID-19

Innate immunology in COVID-19?a living review. Part I: viral entry, sensing and evasion

The coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains a world health concern and can cause severe disease and high mortality in susceptible groups. While vaccines offer a chance to treat disease, prophylactic and anti-viral treatments are still of vital importance, especially in context of the mutative ability of this group of viruses. Therefore, it is essential to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of viral entry, innate sensing and immune evasion of SARS-CoV-2, which control the triggers of the subsequent excessive inflammatory response. Viral evasion strategies directly target anti-viral immunity, counteracting host restriction factors and hijacking signalling pathways to interfere with interferon production. In Part I of this review, we examine SARS-CoV-2 viral entry and the described immune evasion mechanisms to provide a perspective on how the failure in initial viral sensing by infected cells can lead to immune dysregulation causing fatal COVID-19, discussed in Part II

T cell phenotypes in COVID-19 - a living review

COVID-19 is characterized by profound lymphopenia in the peripheral blood, and the remaining T cells display altered phenotypes, characterized by a spectrum of activation and exhaustion. However, antigen-specific T cell responses are emerging as a crucial mechanism for both clearance of the virus and as the most likely route to long-lasting immune memory that would protect against re-infection. Therefore, T cell responses are also of considerable interest in vaccine development. Furthermore, persistent alterations in T cell subset composition and function post-infection have important implications for patients’ long-term immune function. In this review, we examine T cell phenotypes, including those of innate T cells, in both peripheral blood and lungs, and consider how key markers of activation and exhaustion correlate with, and may be able to predict, disease severity. We focus on SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells to elucidate markers that may indicate formation of antigen-specific T cell memory. We also examine peripheral T cell phenotypes in recovery and the likelihood of long-lasting immune disruption. Finally, we discuss T cell phenotypes in the lung as important drivers of both virus clearance and tissue damage. As our knowledge of the adaptive immune response to COVID-19 rapidly evolves, it has become clear that while some areas of the T cell response have been investigated in some detail, others, such as the T cell response in children remain largely unexplored. Therefore, this review will also highlight areas where T cell phenotypes require urgent characterisation

The role and uses of antibodies in COVID-19 infections: a living review

Coronavirus disease 2019 has generated a rapidly evolving field of research, with the global scientific community striving for solutions to the current pandemic. Characterizing humoral responses towards SARS-CoV-2, as well as closely related strains, will help determine whether antibodies are central to infection control, and aid the design of therapeutics and vaccine candidates. This review outlines the major aspects of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibody research to date, with a focus on the various prophylactic and therapeutic uses of antibodies to alleviate disease in addition to the potential of cross-reactive therapies and the implications of long-term immunity

Infection par le VIH-2 dans les macrophages primaires humains

Les macrophages sont une cible cellulaire importante du VIH-1 et sont impliqués dans la propagation virale et la constitution du réservoir. Les patients infectés par le VIH-2 présentent un contrôle naturel de l'infection qui est généralement absent chez les patients infectés par le VIH-1. Nous avons étudié ici la relation entre les macrophages et le VIH-2 afin d'évaluer leur contribution à la physiopathologie de l'infection. L'assemblage de particules virales dans des macrophages dérivés de monocytes (MDM) infectés par le VIH-2 se fait au niveau de la membrane de compartiments internes semblables aux VCC documentés dans les MDM infectés par le VIH-1. Les VCC des MDM infectés par le VIH-1 et le VIH-2 partagent la même composition protéique, et la même morphologie. Contrairement à Gag du VIH-1, la protéine Gag du VIH-2 est absente du cytosol et presque exclusivement localisée dans les VCC, ce qui suggère que Gag du VIH-2 est rapidement transportée vers le VCC une fois synthétisée dans le cytosol. Les particules de VIH-2 produites de novo par les MDM peuvent mûrir, mais sont faiblement infectieuses et se transmettent inefficacement aux cellules T activés. Cette faible infectiosité n'est pas associée avec l'expression du facteur de restriction BST-2 et n'est pas non plus améliorée par une baisse des niveaux d'expression de BST-2 induite par Vpu. Nos données suggèrent que les macrophages infectés par le VIH-2 ne contribuent probablement pas à la production et à la dissémination du virus in vivo. Cependant, les macrophages infectés par le VIH-2 peuvent représenter une source potentielle d'antigènes viraux qui pourraient stimuler les réponses des cellules T spécifiques du virus.Macrophages are an important cellular target of HIV-1 and are potentially involved in viral spreading and constitution of the viral reservoir. HIV-2-infected patients exhibit a natural virological control of the infection that is generally absent from HIV-1-infected patients. Here, we studied the relationship between macrophages and HIV-2 to approach their potential contribution to the physiopathology of HIV-2 infection. Viral particles assembly in HIV-2-infected monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) occurred at the limiting membrane of internal compartments similar to virus-containing compartments (VCCs) documented in HIV-1-infected MDMs. Indeed, VCCs from HIV-1 and HIV-2-infected MDMs shared protein composition, as seen by confocal microcopy, and morphology, as seen by electron microscopy. Strikingly, HIV-2 Gag was mostly absent from the cytosol and almost exclusively localized to the VCCs, whereas HIV-1 Gag was distributed in both locations, suggesting that HIV-2 Gag is rapidly transported to the VCC membranes once synthesized in the cytosol. HIV-2 particles produced de novo by MDMs can mature, but are poorly infectious and inefficiently transmitted to activated T cells. This low infectivity neither correlate with expression of the restriction factor BST-2, nor was improved by Vpu-induced down-modulation of BST-2 levels. Our data suggest that, HIV-2-infected macrophages are unlikely to contribute to viral production and dissemination in vivo. However, HIV-2-infected macrophages accumulate large amounts of intracellular virus that may represent a potential source of viral antigens that could stimulate virus specific T cell responses