Project description:Analysis of PBMC from 10 week old infants vaccinated with BCG at birth. During follow-up 26 infants developed tuberculosis (TB) (non-protected by BCG) and 20 infants did not develop TB despite documented exposure (protected by BCG). PBMC were stimulated with media only or reconstituted BCG for 4 and 12 hours. Results provide insight into the mechanisms behind the failure of BCG to protect against disease.
Project description:Cattle were vaccinated at week 0 with the live attenuated M. bovis BCG SSI vaccine strain; some animals remain as non-vaccinated controls. After eight weeks animals were challenged intranodally with 108 BCG Tokyo cfu. Lymph nodes were harvested at week 11 and bacterial load in lymph nodes evaluated. Some BCG vaccinates had bacterial loads similar to those found in non-vaccinated animals (not-protected) and some animals had lower bacterial loads (protected) than non-vaccinated animals. Immune responses to mycobacteria were monitored in vitro by stimulation of whole blood with medium, purified protein derivative from M. bovis (PPD-B) or live BCG Tokyo longitudinally. Blood samples from 6 BCG-protected, 6 BCG-not-protected and 6 not-vaccinated. Challenged cattle stimulated with mycobacterial antigens or not were used to prepare RNA for RNAseq analysis at weeks 0 (vaccination), 8 (challenge), 9, 10 and 11. The outcome of this project would help not only in the selection of vaccine candidates but would also inform on the formulation of novel vaccines/vaccination strategies.
Project description:Although BCG has been used for almost 100 years to immunize against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, TB remains a global public health threat. Numerous clinical trials are underway studying novel vaccine candidates and strategies to improve or replace BCG, but vaccine development still lacks a well-defined set of immune correlates to predict vaccine-induced protection against tuberculosis. This study aimed to address this gap by examining transcriptional responses to BCG vaccination in C57BL/6 inbred mice, coupled with protection studies using Diversity Outbred mice. We evaluated relative gene expression in blood obtained from vaccinated mice, because blood is easily accessible and data can be translated to human studies. We first determined that the average peak time after vaccination is 14 days for gene expression of a small subset of immune-related genes in inbred mice. We then performed global transcriptomic analyses using whole blood samples obtained two weeks after mice were vaccinated with BCG. Using comparative bioinformatic analyses and qRT-PCR validation, we developed a working correlate panel of 18 genes that were highly correlated with administration of BCG but not heat-killed BCG. We then tested this gene panel using BCG-vaccinated Diversity Outbred mice and revealed associations between the expression of a subset of genes and disease outcomes after aerosol challenge with M. tuberculosis. These data therefore demonstrate that blood-based transcriptional immune correlates measured within a few weeks after vaccination can be derived to predict protection against M. tuberculosis, even in outbred populations.
Project description:This experiment explored the transcriptional response of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) isolated from BCG-vaccinated individuals following 6 days of in vitro stimulation with 2x10^5 cfu of different Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) strains or 100 ng/ml Mycobacterium tuberculosis-derived purified protein derivative (PPD). The BCG strains used were BCG Russia (Russian BCG-I sub-strain), BCG Japan (Tokyo 172 sub-strain), BCG Denmark (Danish 1331 sub-strain) & BCG Pasteur.
Project description:The objective of this study was to compare recall responses to vaccine antigens at 3 months and 9 months of age in infants who were vaccinated at birth or at 1 month. PBMC were obtained at 9 months of age from infants who were vaccinated at birth (n=25) or 1 month (n=25). The PBMC were cultured in the presence or absence of CRM197 antigen for 72 hours. At the termination of the cultures, total RNA was extracted from the PBMC. The RNA was pooled into groups of n=5 subjects per group, following by labeling and hybridization to Affymetrix microarrays.
Project description:Background: Tuberculosis (TB) remains a global health problem, with vaccination likely to be a necessary part of a successful control strategy. Results of the first Phase 2b efficacy trial of a candidate vaccine, MVA85A, evaluated in BCG-vaccinated infants were published last year. Although no improvement in efficacy above BCG alone was seen, cryopreserved samples from this trial provide an opportunity to study the immune response to vaccination in this population. Methods: We investigated blood samples taken before vaccination (baseline) and one and 28 days post-vaccination with MVA85A or placebo (Candin). The IFN-γ ELISpot assay was performed at baseline and on day 28 to quantify the adaptive response to Ag85A peptides. Gene expression analysis was performed at all three timepoints to identify early gene signatures predictive of the magnitude of the subsequent adaptive T cell response using the significance analysis of microarrays (SAM) statistical package and gene set enrichment analysis. Results: One day post-MVA85A, there is an induction of inflammatory pathways compared to placebo samples. Modules associated with myeloid cells and inflammation pre- and one day post-MVA85A correlate with a higher IFN-γ ELISpot response post-vaccination. By contrast, previous work done in UK adults shows early inflammation in this population is not associated with a strong T cell response but that induction of regulatory pathways inversely correlates with the magnitude of the T cell response. This may be indicative of important mechanistic differences in how T cell responses develop in these two populations following vaccination with MVA85A. Conclusion: The results suggest the capacity of MVA85A to induce a strong innate response is key to the initiation of an adaptive immune response in South African infants but induction of regulatory pathways may be more important in UK adults. Understanding differences in immune response to vaccination between populations is likely to be an important aspect of developing successful vaccines and vaccination strategies. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT00953927 PBMC collected pre or 28 days post vaccinated, stimulated with either Ag85A peptides (20 samples) or media alone (60).
Project description:A greater understanding of the relationships between a vaccine, the immune response it induces, and protection from disease would greatly facilitate vaccine development. Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara expressing antigen 85A (MVA85A) is a novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccine designed to enhance responses induced by Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG). Antigen-specific interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production is greatly enhanced by MVA85A and peaks one week post-vaccination, however, the variability in response between healthy individuals is extensive. In this study we have sought to characterize the early changes in gene expression following vaccination with MVA85A and understand how these are related to long-term immunogenicity. 24 volunteers were vaccinated with 10^8 pfu MVA85A. 12 volunteers were vaccinated intramuscularly and 12 intradermally. Volunteers were healthy and did not have HIV, HCV, HBV or latent or active tuberculosis. Blood for this study was taken on the day of vaccination, immediately prior to the vaccine being given (day 0), and 2 and 7 days post-vaccination. Volunteers with a prior BCG vaccination were vaccinated with 1x10^8 pfu MVA85A either intradermally (id) or intramuscularly (im). Blood was taken immediately prior to vaccination (day 0) and 2 and 7 days post-vaccination. PBMCs were separated and frozen down. PBMCs were then thawed and RNA was extracted directly for microarray analysis. Some arrays contain control samples: from volunteers, incubated with either media alone or antigen 85, MVA85A or MVA wild type. These samples were used separately.
Project description:Despite wide scale vaccination with Mycobacterium bovis BCG, the prevalence of tuberculosis remains high, reflecting the global variable efficacy of this vaccine against adult pulmonary TB. Characterisation of different immune responses to M. tuberculosis and M. bovis BCG would increase understanding of pathology following M. tuberculosis infection or reactivation, and would facilitate the rational design of a new vaccine. Gene expression profiling was conducted on samples from diluted whole blood cultures from three healthy donors following incubation with live mycobacteria for six days. Approximately 8,000 gene entities were at least two-fold up- or down- regulated by the mycobacteria, and both mycobacteria induced similar expression changes in approximately 2,300 genes. Strikingly, many genes exhibited qualitatively different expression patterns, with over 1,000 genes up-regulated in response to M. bovis BCG but not changed by M. tuberculosis. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that the genes which failed to upregulate in M. tuberculosis-infected cultures included a large proportion of genes with lysosomal function. The inhibited up-regulation of expression of IFN-γ-inducible protein 30, acid phosphatase 2, cathepsin B and GM2 ganglioside activator was verified in samples from six biologically independent donors by qRT-PCR. The failure to up-regulate these genes in response to M. tuberculosis may constitute an immune evasion mechanism, preventing intracellular killing and antigen presentation. Blood from three healthy BCG-vaccinated donors was diluted with growth medium and incubated alone or with live M. tuberculosis (H37Rv), M. bovis BCG for 6 days. RNA samples were pooled before hybridisation.
Project description:A greater understanding of the relationships between a vaccine, the immune response it induces, and protection from disease would greatly facilitate vaccine development. Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara expressing antigen 85A (MVA85A) is a novel tuberculosis (TB) vaccine designed to enhance responses induced by Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG). Antigen-specific interferon-γ (IFN-γ) production is greatly enhanced by MVA85A and peaks one week post-vaccination, however, the variability in response between healthy individuals is extensive. In this study we have sought to characterize the early changes in gene expression following vaccination with MVA85A and understand how these are related to long-term immunogenicity. 24 volunteers were vaccinated with 10^8 pfu MVA85A. 12 volunteers were vaccinated intramuscularly and 12 intradermally. Volunteers were healthy and did not have HIV, HCV, HBV or latent or active tuberculosis. Blood for this study was taken on the day of vaccination, immediately prior to the vaccine being given (day 0), and 2 and 7 days post-vaccination.
Project description:The reason for the largely variable protective effect against TB of the vaccine Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is not understood. In this study, we investigated whether epigenetic mechanisms are involved in the response of immune cells to the BCG vaccine. We isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from BCG-vaccinated subjects and performed global DNA methylation analysis in combination with functional assays representative of innate immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Enhanced containment of replication was observed in monocyte-derived macrophages from a sub-group of BCG-vaccinated individuals (identified as ‘responders’). A stable and robust differential DNA methylation pattern in response to BCG could be observed in PBMCs isolated from the responders but not from the non-responders. Gene ontology analysis revealed that promoters with altered DNA methylation pattern were strongly enriched among genes belonging to immune pathways in responders, however no enrichments could be observed in the non-responders. Our findings suggest that BCG-induced epigenetic reprogramming of immune cell function can enhance anti-mycobacterial immunity. Understanding why BCG induces this responses in responders but not in nnon-responders could provide clues to improvement of TB vaccine efficacy.