Studies On Influenza Virus.

PhDMicrobiologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/183259/2/0000327.pd

Use of In Vivo-Induced Antigen Technology for Identification of Escherichia coli O157:H7 Proteins Expressed during Human Infection

Using in vivo-induced antigen technology (IVIAT), a modified immunoscreening technique that circumvents the need for animal models, we directly identified immunogenic Escherichia coli O157:H7 (O157) proteins expressed either specifically during human infection but not during growth under standard laboratory conditions or at significantly higher levels in vivo than in vitro. IVIAT identified 223 O157 proteins expressed during human infection, several of which were unique to this study. These in vivo-induced (ivi) proteins, encoded by ivi genes, mapped to the backbone, O islands (OIs), and pO157. Lack of in vitro expression of O157-specific ivi proteins was confirmed by proteomic analysis of a mid-exponential-phase culture of E. coli O157 grown in LB broth. Because ivi proteins are expressed in response to specific cues during infection and might help pathogens adapt to and counter hostile in vivo environments, those identified in this study are potential targets for drug and vaccine development. Also, such proteins may be exploited as markers of O157 infection in stool specimens

Characterization of Anti-Salmonella enterica Serotype Typhi Antibody Responses in Bacteremic Bangladeshi Patients by an Immunoaffinity Proteomics-Based Technology ▿ ‡

Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi is the cause of typhoid fever and a human-restricted pathogen. Currently available typhoid vaccines provide 50 to 90% protection for 2 to 5 years, and available practical diagnostic assays to identify individuals with typhoid fever lack sensitivity and/or specificity. Identifying immunogenic S. Typhi antigens expressed during human infection could lead to improved diagnostic assays and vaccines. Here we describe a platform immunoaffinity proteomics-based technology (IPT) that involves the use of columns charged with IgG, IgM, or IgA antibody fractions recovered from humans bacteremic with S. Typhi to capture S. Typhi proteins that were subsequently identified by mass spectrometry. This screening tool identifies immunogenic proteins recognized by antibodies from infected hosts. Using this technology and the plasma of patients with S. Typhi bacteremia in Bangladesh, we identified 57 proteins of S. Typhi, including proteins known to be immunogenic (PagC, HlyE, OmpA, and GroEL) and a number of proteins present in the human-restricted serotypes S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A but rarely found in broader-host-range Salmonella spp. (HlyE, CdtB, PltA, and STY1364). We categorized identified proteins into a number of major groupings, including those involved in energy metabolism, protein synthesis, iron homeostasis, and biosynthetic and metabolic functions and those predicted to localize to the outer membrane. We assessed systemic and mucosal anti-HlyE responses in S. Typhi-infected patients and detected anti-HlyE responses at the time of clinical presentation in patients but not in controls. These findings could assist in the development of improved diagnostic assays

Autologous Ex Vivo Lentiviral Gene Therapy for Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency.

BackgroundSevere combined immunodeficiency due to adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency (ADA-SCID) is a rare and life-threatening primary immunodeficiency.MethodsWe treated 50 patients with ADA-SCID (30 in the United States and 20 in the United Kingdom) with an investigational gene therapy composed of autologous CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) transduced ex vivo with a self-inactivating lentiviral vector encoding human ADA. Data from the two U.S. studies (in which fresh and cryopreserved formulations were used) at 24 months of follow-up were analyzed alongside data from the U.K. study (in which a fresh formulation was used) at 36 months of follow-up.ResultsOverall survival was 100% in all studies up to 24 and 36 months. Event-free survival (in the absence of reinitiation of enzyme-replacement therapy or rescue allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation) was 97% (U.S. studies) and 100% (U.K. study) at 12 months; 97% and 95%, respectively, at 24 months; and 95% (U.K. study) at 36 months. Engraftment of genetically modified HSPCs persisted in 29 of 30 patients in the U.S. studies and in 19 of 20 patients in the U.K. study. Patients had sustained metabolic detoxification and normalization of ADA activity levels. Immune reconstitution was robust, with 90% of the patients in the U.S. studies and 100% of those in the U.K. study discontinuing immunoglobulin-replacement therapy by 24 months and 36 months, respectively. No evidence of monoclonal expansion, leukoproliferative complications, or emergence of replication-competent lentivirus was noted, and no events of autoimmunity or graft-versus-host disease occurred. Most adverse events were of low grade.ConclusionsTreatment of ADA-SCID with ex vivo lentiviral HSPC gene therapy resulted in high overall and event-free survival with sustained ADA expression, metabolic correction, and functional immune reconstitution. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01852071, NCT02999984, and NCT01380990.)