Project description:To determine the influence of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-specific CD8+ T cells on the development of drug resistance mutations in the HIV-1 protease, we analyzed protease sequences from viruses from a human leukocyte antigen class I (HLA class I)-typed cohort of 94 HIV-1-positive individuals. In univariate statistical analyses (Fisher's exact test), minor and major drug resistance mutations as well as drug-associated polymorphisms showed associations with HLA class I alleles. All correlations with P values of 0.05 or less were considered to be relevant without corrections for multiple tests. A subset of these observed correlations was experimentally validated by enzyme-linked immunospot assays, allowing the definition of 10 new epitopes recognized by CD8+ T cells from patients with the appropriate HLA class I type. Several drug resistance-associated mutations in the protease acted as escape mutations; however, cells from many patients were still able to generate CD8+ T cells targeting the escape mutants. This result presumably indicates the usage of different T-cell receptors by CD8+ T cells targeting these epitopes in these patients. Our results support a fundamental role for HLA class I-restricted immune responses in shaping the sequence of the HIV-1 protease in vivo. This role may have important clinical implications both for the understanding of drug resistance pathways and for the design of therapeutic vaccines targeting drug-resistant HIV-1.
Project description:The non-polymorphic HLA-E molecule offers opportunities for new universal immunotherapeutic approaches to chronic infectious diseases. Chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is driven in part by T cell dysfunction due to elevated levels of the HBV envelope (Env) protein hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). Here we report the characterization of three genotypic variants of an HLA-E-binding HBsAg peptide, Env371-379, identified through bioinformatic predictions and verified by biochemical and cellular assays. Using a soluble affinity-enhanced T cell receptor (TCR) (a09b08)-anti-CD3 bispecific molecule to probe HLA-E presentation of the Env371-379 peptides, we demonstrate that only the most stable Env371-379 variant, L6I, elicits functional responses to a09b08-anti-CD3-redirected polyclonal T cells co-cultured with targets expressing endogenous HBsAg. Furthermore, HLA-E-Env371-379 L6I-specific CD8+ T cells are detectable in HBV-naïve donors and people with chronic HBV after in vitro priming. In conclusion, we provide evidence for HLA-E-mediated HBV Env peptide presentation, and highlight the effect of viral mutations on the stability and targetability of pHLA-E molecules.
Project description:RNA extracted from whole blood of healthy controls or podoconiosis patients and subject to RNA sequencing. Total RNA libraries were prepared using the QIAseq Stranded RNA library kit with rRNA and globin RNA depleted using the QIAseq FastSelect rRNA and globin mRNA removal kit.
Project description:Despite detailed analysis of the HIV-1-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response by various groups, its relation to viral load and viral sequence variation remains controversial. We analyzed HLA-A*0201 restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses in 17 HIV-1-infected individuals with viral loads ranging from < 400 to 221,000 HIV RNA molecules per milliliter of plasma. In 13 out of 17 infected subjects, CTL responses against the SLYNTVATL epitope (p17 Gag; aa 77-85) were detectable, whereas two other HLA-A*0201 restricted epitopes (ILKEPVHGV, IV9; and VIYQYMDDL, VL9) were only recognized by six and five individuals out of 17 individuals tested, respectively. Naturally occurring variants of the SL9 epitope were tested for binding to HLA-A*0201 and for recognition by specific T cell clones generated from five individuals. Although these variants were widely recognized, they differed by up to 10,000-fold in terms of variant peptide concentrations required for lysis of target cells. A comparison of viral sequences derived from 10 HLA-A*0201-positive individuals to sequences obtained from 11 HLA-A*0201-negative individuals demonstrated only weak evidence for immune selective pressure and thus question the in vivo efficacy of immunodominant CTL responses present during chronic HIV-1 infection.
Project description:AIM:To investigate the association between the polymorphism of HLA-DRB1, -DQA1 and -DQB1 alleles and viral hepatitis B. METHODS:HLA-DRB1, -DQA1 and -DQB1 alleles in 54 patients with chronic hepatitis B, 30 patients with acute hepatitis B and 106 normal control subjects were analyzed by using the polymerase chain reaction/sequence specific primer (PCR/SSP) technique. RESULTS:The allele frequency of HLA-DRB1*0301 in the chronic hepatitis B group was markedly higher than that in the normal control group (17.31% vs 5.67%), there was a significant correlation between them (chi2=12.3068, Pc=0.0074, RR=4.15). The allele frequency of HLA-DQA1*0501 in the chronic hepatitis B group was significantly higher than that in the normal control group (25.96% vs 13.68%), there was a significant correlation between them (chi2=9.2002, Pc=0.0157, RR=2.87). The allele frequency of HLA-DQB1*0301 in the chronic hepatitis B group was notably higher than that in the normal control group (35.58% vs 18.87%), there was a significant correlation between them (chi2=15.5938, Pc=0.0075, RR=4.07). The allele frequency of HLA-DRB1*1101/1104 in the chronic hepatitis B group was obviously lower than that in the normal control group (0.96% vs 13.33%), there was a significant correlation between them (chi2=11.9206, Pc=0.0145, RR=18.55). The allele frequency of HLA-DQA1*0301 in the chronic hepatitis B group was remarkably lower than that in the normal control group (14.42% vs 30%), there was a significant correlation between them (chi2=8.7396, Pc=0.0167, RR=0.35). CONCLUSION:HLA-DRB1*0301, HLA-DQA1*0501 and HLA-DQB1*0301 are closely related with susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B, and HLA-DRB1*1101/1104 and HLA-DQA1*0301 are closely related with resistance to chronic hepatitis B. These findings suggest that host HLA class II gene is an important factor determining the outcome of HBV infection.
Project description:Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) influence both innate and adaptive immunity. But while the role of KIRs in NK-mediated innate immunity is well-documented, the impact of KIRs on the T cell response in human disease is not known. Here we test the hypothesis that an individual's KIR genotype affects the efficiency of their HLA class I-mediated antiviral immune response and the outcome of viral infection. We show that, in two unrelated viral infections, hepatitis C virus and human T lymphotropic virus type 1, possession of the KIR2DL2 gene enhanced both protective and detrimental HLA class I-restricted anti-viral immunity. These results reveal a novel role for inhibitory KIRs. We conclude that inhibitory KIRs, in synergy with T cells, are a major determinant of the outcome of persistent viral infection.
Project description:A major limitation to understanding the associations of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and CD8+ and CD4+ T cell receptor (TCR) genes with disease pathophysiology is the technological barrier of identifying which HLA molecules, epitopes, and TCRs form functional complexes. Here, we present a high-throughput epitope identification system that combines capture of T cell-secreted cytokines by barcoded antigen-presenting cells (APCs), cell sorting, and next-generation sequencing to identify class I- and class II-restricted epitopes starting from highly complex peptide-encoding oligonucleotide pools. We engineered APCs to express anti-cytokine antibodies, a library of DNA-encoded peptides, and multiple HLA class I or II molecules. We demonstrate that these engineered APCs link T cell activation-dependent cytokines with the DNA that encodes the presented peptide. We validated this technology by showing that we could select known targets of viral epitope-, neoepitope-, and autoimmune epitope-specific TCRs, starting from mixtures of peptide-encoding oligonucleotides. Then, starting from 10 TCRβ sequences that are found commonly in humans but lack known targets, we identified seven CD8+ or CD4+ TCR-targeted epitopes encoded by the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) genome. These included known epitopes, as well as a class I and a class II CMV epitope that have not been previously described. Thus, our cytokine capture-based assay makes use of a signal secreted by both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells and allows pooled screening of thousands of encoded peptides to enable epitope discovery for orphan TCRs. Our technology may enable identification of HLA-epitope-TCR complexes relevant to disease control, etiology, or treatment.
Project description:Available evidences suggest that podoconiosis is triggered by long term exposure of bare feet to volcanic red clay soil particles. Previous genome-wide studies in Ethiopia showed association between the HLA class II region and disease susceptibility. However, functional relationships between the soil trigger, immunogenetic risk factors and the immunological basis of the disease are uncharted. Therefore, we aimed to characterise the immune profile and gene expression of podoconiosis patients relative to endemic healthy controls. Peripheral blood immunophenotyping of T cells indicated podoconiosis patients had significantly higher CD4 and CD8 T cell surface HLA-DR expression compared to healthy controls while CD62L expression was significantly lower. The levels of the activation markers CD40 and CD86 were significantly higher on monocytes and dendritic cell subsets in patients compared to the controls. RNA sequencing gene expression data indicated higher transcript levels for activation, scavenger receptors, and apoptosis markers while levels were lower for histones, T cell receptors, variable, and constant immunoglobulin chain in podoconiosis patients compared to healthy controls. Our finding provides evidence that podoconiosis is associated with high levels of immune activation and inflammation with over-expression of genes within the pro-inflammatory axis. This offers further support to a working hypothesis of podoconiosis as soil particle-driven, HLA-associated disease of immunopathogenic aetiology.
Project description:BackgroundEndurance exercise training, especially the high-intensity training, exhibits a strong influence on the immune system. However, the mechanisms underpinning the immune-regulatory effect of exercise remain unclear. Consequently, we chose to investigate the alterations in the transcriptional profile of blood leukocytes in young endurance athletes as compared with healthy sedentary controls, using Affymetrix human gene 1.1 ST array.ResultsGroup differences in the transcriptome were analyzed using Intensity-based Hierarchical Bayes method followed by a Logistic Regression-based gene set enrichment method. We identified 72 significant transcripts differentially expressed in the leukocyte transcriptome of young endurance athletes as compared with non-athlete controls with a false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05, comprising mainly the genes encoding ribosomal proteins and the genes involved in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. Gene set enrichment analysis identified three major gene set clusters: two were up-regulated in athletes including gene translation and ribosomal protein production, and mitochondria oxidative phosphorylation and biogenesis; one gene set cluster identified as transcriptionally downregulated in athletes was related to inflammation and immune activity.ConclusionOur data indicates that in young healthy individuals, intense endurance exercise training (exemplifed by athletic training) can chronically induce transcriptional changes in the peripheral blood leukocytes, upregulating genes related to protein production and mitochondrial energetics, and downregulating genes involved in inflammatory response. The findings of the study also provide support for the notion that peripheral blood can be used as a surrogate tissue to study the systemic effect of exercise training.
Project description:Tumors acquire numerous mutations during development and progression. When translated into proteins, these mutations give rise to neoantigens that can be recognized by T cells and generate antibodies, representing an exciting direction of cancer immunotherapy. While neoantigens have been reported in many cancer types, the profiling of neoantigens often focused on the class-I subtype that are presented to CD8 + T cells, and the relationship between neoantigen load and clinical outcomes was often inconsistent among cancer types. In this study, we described an informatics workflow, REAL-neo, for identification, quality control (QC), and prioritization of both class-I and class-II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) bound neoantigens that arise from somatic single nucleotide mutations (SNM), small insertions and deletions (INDEL), and gene fusions. We applied REAL-neo to 835 primary breast tumors in the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and performed comprehensive profiling and characterization of the detected neoantigens. We found recurrent HLA class-I and class-II restricted neoantigens across breast cancer cases, and uncovered associations between neoantigen load and clinical traits. Both class-I and class-II neoantigen loads from SNM and INDEL were found to predict overall survival independent of tumor mutational burden (TMB), breast cancer subtypes, tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) levels, tumor stage, and age at diagnosis. Our study highlighted the importance of accurate and comprehensive neoantigen profiling and QC, and is the first to report the predictive value of neoantigen load for overall survival in breast cancer.