Article
Virology
Zhi Yang, Kim-Marie A. Dam, Jonathan M. Gershoni, Susan Zolla-Pazner, Pamela J. Bjorkman
Summary: The RV144 HIV-1 clinical vaccination trial showed modest protection against viral infection. Antibody responses to the V1V2 region of HIV-1 Env gp120 were correlated inversely with the risk of infection, and data from three other clinical vaccine trials suggested a similar signal. In this study, V2i antibodies and CD4i antibody CG10 were characterized for their interactions with open Env trimers bound to CD4. The findings provide insights into the immune mechanisms during HIV-1 infection.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Mingming Wan, Xiao Yang, Jie Sun, Elena E. Giorgi, Xue Ding, Yan Zhou, Yong Zhang, Weiheng Su, Chunlai Jiang, Yaming Shan, Feng Gao
Summary: Research suggests that mimicking natural infection can induce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs). By generating consensus Env sequences and stable Env trimers from different time points before broad neutralization was detected, and using them for sequential immunization, researchers successfully induced broader and more potent neutralizing activities in guinea pigs compared to using BG505 Env trimer.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Virology
Sanath Kumar Janaka, Alexandra V. Palumbo, Aidin Tavakoli-Tameh, David T. Evans
Summary: The Nef proteins of HIV-1 and SIV enhance viral infectivity by preventing the incorporation of SERINC5 into virions. By systematically mapping Nef residues required for SERINC5 antagonism, it was found that separating this function allows comparison of replication in viruses that are or are not sensitive to SERINC5, revealing its impact on SIV replication in primary rhesus macaque CD4(+)T cells.
JOURNAL OF VIROLOGY
(2021)
Article
Cell Biology
Amelia Escolano, Harry B. Gristick, Rajeev Gautam, Andrew T. DeLaitsch, Morgan E. Abernathy, Zhi Yang, Haoqing Wang, Magnus A. G. Hoffmann, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Zijun Wang, Nicholas Koranda, Leesa M. Kakutani, Han Gao, Priyanthi N. P. Gnanapragasam, Henna Raina, Ana Gazumyan, Melissa Cipolla, Thiago Y. Oliveira, Victor Ramos, Darrell J. Irvine, Murillo Silva, Anthony P. West, Jennifer R. Keeffe, Christopher O. Barnes, Michael S. Seaman, Michel C. Nussenzweig, Malcolm A. Martin, Pamela J. Bjorkman
Summary: Sequential immunization using VLPs and increasingly native-like Env-VLPs can elicit heterologous neutralizing antibodies in nonhuman primates, but more potent neutralization is necessary for protection in this animal model against HIV-1 infection. Improving prime-boost regimens to increase bNAb potency and stimulate other immune protection mechanisms is essential for developing anti-HIV-1 vaccines.
SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Alessandra Gallinaro, Maria Franca Pirillo, Yoann Aldon, Serena Cecchetti, Zuleika Michelini, Antonella Tinari, Martina Borghi, Andrea Canitano, Paul F. McKay, Roberta Bona, Maria Fenicia Vescio, Felicia Grasso, Maria Blasi, Silvia Baroncelli, Gabriella Scarlatti, Celia LaBranche, David Montefiori, Mary E. Klotman, Rogier W. Sanders, Robin J. Shattock, Donatella Negri, Andrea Cara
Summary: This article discusses the development of an HIV-1 vaccine based on IDLV, demonstrating its ability to induce specific and persistent immune responses in mice and macaques, and showing that displaying stabilized trimeric Env can induce more sustained humoral responses.
Article
Immunology
Sanghita Sarkar, David A. Spencer, Philip Barnette, Shilpi Pandey, William F. Sutton, Madhubanti Basu, Reuben E. Burch, John D. Cleveland, Alexander F. Rosenberg, Javier Rangel-Moreno, Michael C. Keefer, Ann J. Hessell, Nancy L. Haigwood, James J. Kobie
Summary: The study found that HIV neutralizing antibodies were still generated even in the absence of CD4+ T cell help, and the effectiveness of HIV vaccine may still exist in the presence of diminished CD4+ T cell help.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Jeong Hyun Lee, Joyce K. Hu, Erik Georgeson, Catherine Nakao, Bettina Groschel, Thamotharampillai Dileepan, Marc K. Jenkins, Gregory Seumois, Pandurangan Vijayanand, William R. Schief, Shane Crotty
Summary: The quantity of CD4 T cell help has been found to influence recruitment and competition of broadly neutralizing antibody precursor B cells in response to Env trimer immunization. This finding is crucial for designing vaccines against diseases of high interest.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Oncology
Minglu Xiao, Luoyingzi Xie, Guoshuai Cao, Shun Lei, Pengcheng Wang, Zhengping Wei, Yuan Luo, Jingyi Fang, Xingxing Yang, Qizhao Huang, Lifan Xu, Junyi Guo, Shuqiong Wen, Zhiming Wang, Qing Wu, Jianfang Tang, Lisha Wang, Xiangyu Chen, Cheng Chen, Yanyan Zhang, Wei Yao, Jianqiang Ye, Ran He, Jun Huang, Lilin Ye
Summary: The study demonstrates that heterologous prime-boost vaccination can effectively inhibit tumor growth and enhance the expansion, effector function, and clonal breadth of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells. Additionally, this vaccination strategy also enhances the antitumor effects of PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy, while preventing the re-exhaustion of tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells.
JOURNAL FOR IMMUNOTHERAPY OF CANCER
(2022)
Article
Biology
Adam S. Dingens, Payal Pratap, Keara Malone, Sarah K. Hilton, Thomas Ketas, Christopher A. Cottrell, Julie Overbaugh, John P. Moore, P. J. Klasse, Andrew B. Ward, Jesse D. Bloom
Summary: The study utilized two methods to directly map the neutralizing and binding antibody specificities of polyclonal sera from rabbits immunized with HIV-1 antigens. Mutational antigenic profiling and electron microscopy polyclonal epitope mapping revealed differences in antibody specificities and provided important insights into polyclonal serum responses.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Peng Zhang, Elisabeth Narayanan, Qingbo Liu, Yaroslav Tsybovsky, Kristin Boswell, Shilei Ding, Zonghui Hu, Dean Follmann, Yin Lin, Huiyi Miao, Hana Schmeisser, Denise Rogers, Samantha Falcone, Sayda M. Elbashir, Vladimir Presnyak, Kapil Bahl, Madhu Prabhakaran, Xuejun Chen, Edward K. Sarfo, David R. Ambrozak, Rajeev Gautam, Malcom A. Martin, Joanna Swerczek, Richard Herbert, Deborah Weiss, Johnathan Misamore, Giuseppe Ciaramella, Sunny Himansu, Guillaume Stewart-Jones, Adrian McDermott, Richard A. Koup, John R. Mascola, Andres Finzi, Andrea Carfi, Anthony S. Fauci, Paolo Lusso
Summary: An mRNA vaccine platform showed promising results in generating broadly neutralizing antibodies in non-human primates and reducing the risk of infection, highlighting its potential for developing an effective HIV-1 vaccine.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Cheng-Te Lee, Hsin-Pai Chen, Hsi-Hsun Lin, Meng-Yu Ke, Ping-Feng Wu
Summary: The relationship between low-level viremia and CD4(+) T-cell count plays a significant role in patients with HIV/AIDS. Patients with a history of malignancy, high copy-year viremia, and lower nadir CD4(+) cell counts should be carefully monitored in clinical settings.
JOURNAL OF THE CHINESE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Hiroshi Ishii, Kazutaka Terahara, Takushi Nomura, Midori Okazaki, Hiroyuki Yamamoto, Tsugumine Shu, Hiromi Sakawaki, Tomoyuki Miura, David I. Watkins, Tetsuro Matano
Summary: This study demonstrates that inducing virus-specific CD8(+) T cells rather than CD4(+) T cells through specific immunogen design can enhance the protective efficacy of HIV vaccines.
Article
Immunology
Eduardo L. Silveira, Jung Joo Hong, Praveen K. Amancha, Kenneth A. Rogers, Aftab A. Ansari, Siddappa N. Byrareddy, Francois Villinger
Summary: This study found that viral loads in blood and lymph nodes may regulate the dynamics of SIV gp140-specific ASCs during and after ART in rhesus macaques. The response of SIV gp140-specific ASCs was directly correlated with viremia or SIV Env-specific IgG titres, and inversely correlated with the percentage of total memory B cells.
Article
Immunology
Harry B. Gristick, Harald Hartweger, Maximilian Loewe, Jelle van Schooten, Victor Ramos, Thiago Y. Oliveira, Yoshiaki Nishimura, Nicholas S. Koranda, Abigail Wall, Kai -Hui Yao, Daniel Poston, Anna Gazumyan, Marie Wiatr, Marcel Horning, Jennifer R. Keeffe, Magnus A. G. Hoffmann, Zhi Yang, Morgan E. Abernathy, Kim-Marie A. Dam, Han Gao, Priyanthi N. P. Gnanapragasam, Leesa M. Kakutani, Ana Jimena Pavlovitch-Bedzyk, Michael S. Seaman, Mark Howarth, Andrew T. Mcguire, Leonidas Stamatatos, Malcolm A. Martin, Anthony P. West Jr, Michel C. Nussenzweig, Pamela J. Bjorkman
Summary: Passive transfer of broadly neutralizing anti-HIV-1 antibodies is a strategy to protect against infection, but eliciting these antibodies through vaccination has been challenging. Researchers have successfully induced CD4 binding site (CD4bs) antibody responses using the antibody IOMA, which has potential as a vaccine strategy to generate broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1.
SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Laura Richert, Jean-Daniel Lelievre, Christine Lacabaratz, Lucile Hardel, Hakim Hocini, Aurelie Wiedemann, Frederic Lucht, Isabelle Poizot-Martin, Claire Bauduin, Alpha Diallo, Veronique Rieux, Elodie Rouch, Mathieu Surenaud, Cecile Lefebvre, Emile Foucat, Pascaline Tisserand, Lydia Guillaumat, Melany Durand, Boris Hejblum, Odile Launay, Rodolphe Thiebaut, Yves Levy
Summary: This study examined the effects of different prime-boost strategies on HIV vaccine development. The results showed that MVA-based vaccines induced stronger T cell responses and significant changes in gene expression in blood samples.
JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Ebba Rosendal, Ionut Sebastian Mihai, Miriam Becker, Debojyoti Das, Lars Frangsmyr, B. David Persson, Gregory D. Rankin, Remigius Groning, Johan Trygg, Mattias Forsell, Johan Ankarklev, Anders Blomberg, Johan Henriksson, Anna K. Overby, Annasara Lenman
Summary: Identification of host factors affecting individual susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 can help understand disease severity and identify potential targets for antiviral drug development. In this study, the researchers found that cellular protease inhibitors, serpins, restrict SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting the serine protease TMPRSS2. The findings suggest that genetic variations and deficiencies of cellular serpins may increase the risk for severe COVID-19.
Article
Immunology
Peter Jahnmatz, Diana Nyabundi, Christopher Sundling, Linnea Widman, Jedidah Mwacharo, Jennifer Musyoki, Edward Otieno, Niklas Ahlborg, Philip Bejon, Francis M. Ndungu, Anna Farnert
Summary: Researchers found that children with a breadth of three or more antigen-specific memory B-cell (MBC) or antibody responses had a reduced risk for malaria in the subsequent Plasmodium falciparum transmission season.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Chengzi Kaku, Alan J. Bergeron, Clas Ahlm, Johan Normark, Mrunal Sakharkar, Mattias N. E. Forsell, Laura M. Walker
Summary: Analyzing vaccinated individuals infected with Omicron/BA.1, this study reveals that vaccination activates memory B cells, leading to specific antibody responses against breakthrough infections. Moreover, the hierarchy of B cell immunodominance was found to shift towards the variable receptor binding domain, indicating the role of preexisting immunity in shaping the immune response against heterologous SARS-CoV-2 variants.
SCIENCE IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Letter
Infectious Diseases
Kim Blom, Ulrika Marking, Sebastian Havervall, Nina Greilert Norin, Max Gordon, Marina Garcia, Teghesti Tecleab, Wanda Christ, Mattias Forsell, Mia Phillipson, Peter Nilsson, Sara Mangsbo, Sophia Hober, Mikael Aberg, Jonas Klingstrom, Charlotte Thalin
LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASES
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Edson Tawanda Marambire, Denise Banze, Alfred Mfinanga, Junior Mutsvangwa, Theodora D. Mbunda, Nyanda Elias Ntinginya, Khosa Celso, Gunilla Kallenius, Claire J. Calderwood, Christof Geldmacher, Kathrin Held, Tejaswi Appalarowthu, Friedrich Riess, Ursula Panzner, Norbert Heinrich, Katharina Kranzer
Summary: The ERASE-TB study aims to evaluate novel diagnostics for early TB diagnosis and accurate prediction of disease progression among household contacts in Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. The study will recruit and follow up with 2100 individuals and use various screening methods such as blood samples and digital chest radiographs.
Review
Immunology
Alan-Dine Courey-Ghaouzi, Linn Kleberg, Christopher Sundling
Summary: Long-term protective immunity requires cell-mediated and humoral immune responses. In malaria, it may take years of pathogen exposure to develop such immunity, which coincides with the expansion of atypical memory B cells. However, the exact role of these cells remains elusive.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jason L. Cantera, Lorraine M. Lillis, Roger B. Peck, Emmanuel Moreau, James A. Schouten, Paul Davis, Paul K. Drain, Alfred Andama, Abraham Pinter, Masanori Kawasaki, Gunilla Kallenius, Christopher Sundling, Karen M. Dobos, Danara Flores, Delphi Chatterjee, Eileen Murphy, Olivia R. Halas, David S. Boyle
Summary: This study evaluated the performance of LAM-specific antibodies in the diagnosis of tuberculosis. The research found that the epitopes of LAM in urine are different from those in in vitro cultured LAM, leading to different antibody performance. Although several new antibody pairs showed high sensitivity to LAM, no new candidate pairs with improved performance in testing urine LAM were identified.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Irma Ahmad, Alicia Edin, Christoffer Granvik, Lowa Kumm Persson, Staffan Tevell, Emeli Mansson, Anders Magnuson, Ingela Marklund, Ida-Lisa Persson, Anna Kauppi, Clas Ahlm, Mattias N. E. Forsell, Josefin Sundh, Anna Lange, Sara Cajander, Johan Normark
Summary: This study investigated the prevalence of persistent symptoms and reduced health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in COVID-19 survivors at 6 months after infection. The results showed that 79% of hospitalized and 59% of non-hospitalized patients experienced persistent symptoms. Hospitalization was the most important risk factor for developing persistent symptoms, reduced HRQoL, and post-acute COVID syndrome (PACS+).
FRONTIERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jennifer Cable, Barney S. Graham, Richard A. Koup, Robert A. Seder, Katalin Kariko, Norbert Pardi, Dan H. Barouch, Bhawna Sharma, Susanne Rauch, Raffael Nachbagauer, Mattias N. E. Forsell, Michael Schotsaert, Ali H. Ellebedy, Karin Lore, Darrell J. Irvine, Emily Pilkington, Siri Tahtinen, Elizabeth A. Thompson, Yanis Feraoun, Neil P. King, Kevin Saunders, Galit Alter, Syed M. Moin, Kwinten Sliepen, Gunilla B. Karlsson Hedestam, Hedda Wardemann, Bali Pulendran, Nicole A. Doria-Rose, Wan-Ting He, Jennifer A. Juno, Sila Ataca, Adam K. Wheatley, Jason S. McLellan, Laura M. Walker, Julia Lederhofer, Lisa C. Lindesmith, Holger Wille, Peter J. Hotez, Linda-Gail Bekker
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of vaccines in public health and advancements in vaccine technology are vital for preventing infectious diseases. While many diseases still lack effective vaccines, recent developments in fields like immunology and structural biology may lead to breakthroughs in vaccination and enhance preparedness for future pandemics.
ANNALS OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Martin Corcoran, Mark Chernyshev, Marco Mandolesi, Sanjana Narang, Mateusz Kaduk, Kewei Ye, Christopher Sundling, Anna Farnert, Taras Kreslavsky, Carolina Bernhardsson, Maximilian Larena, Mattias Jakobsson, Gunilla B. Karlsson Hedestam
Summary: Detailed analysis of TCR genes in 45 donors from four human populations revealed 175 additional TCR variable and junctional alleles, with coding changes and different frequencies among populations. The study also identified Neanderthal-derived TCR regions and a highly divergent TRGV4 variant that is frequent in modern Eurasian population groups. These findings highlight the remarkable variation in TCR genes and suggest the inclusion of allelic variation in studies of TCR function.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Tove Bjorsell, Josefin Sundh, Anna Lange, Clas Ahlm, Mattias N. E. Forsell, Staffan Tevell, Anders Blomberg, Alicia Edin, Johan Normark, Sara Cajander
Summary: A study found that individuals with mild COVID-19 infection may still have reduced respiratory function 3-6 months after infection, which may relate to impaired exercise performance and breathlessness. Severe cases and hospitalization were identified as the major risk factors for respiratory impairment.
JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Meng Yu, Afandi Charles, Alberto Cagigi, Wanda Christ, Bjoern osterberg, Sara Falck-Jones, Lida Azizmohammadi, Eric ahlberg, Ryan Falck-Jones, Julia Svensson, Mu Nie, Anna Warnqvist, Fredrika Hellgren, Klara Lenart, Rodrigo Arcoverde Cerveira, Sebastian Ols, Gustaf Lindgren, Ang Lin, Holden Maecker, Max Bell, Niclas Johansson, Jan Albert, Christopher Sundling, Paulo Czarnewski, Jonas Klingstroem, Anna Faernert, Karin Lore, Anna Smed-Soerensen
Summary: Effective humoral immune responses require well-coordinated interactions between B and T follicular helper (Tfh) cells. This study found that during COVID-19 infection, the number of SARS-CoV-2-specific circulating Tfh (cTfh) cells expands with disease severity. The frequency of SARS-CoV-2-specific cTfh cells correlates with plasmablast frequencies and the levels of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. However, the development of virus-specific cTfh cells is delayed in patients with severe disease, leading to delayed induction of high-avidity neutralizing antibodies.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mark Chernyshev, Mrunal Sakharkar, Ruth I. Connor, Haley L. Dugan, Daniel J. Sheward, C. G. Rappazzo, Aron Stalmarck, Mattias N. E. Forsell, Peter F. Wright, Martin Corcoran, Ben Murrell, Laura M. Walker, Gunilla Karlsson B. Hedestam
Summary: The researchers isolated and characterized 459 spike-specific monoclonal antibodies from two individuals infected with the index variant of SARS-CoV-2 and later boosted with mRNA-1273. The antibodies showed neutralizing activity against index, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2. They also found that vaccination efficiently recalled highly polyclonal repertoires of affinity-matured memory B cells, leading to strong antibody responses in convalescent individuals.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Review
Immunology
Zaynab Mousavian, Gunilla Kaellenius, Christopher Sundling
Summary: Tuberculosis (TB) is a deadly infectious disease. The discovery of protein biomarkers using proteomics has advanced from single protein studies to high-throughput profiling and multi-omics approaches. Recent research has focused on different technologies and samples for identifying TB disease signatures and understanding TB disease biology.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
David Fernando Plaza, Julia Zerebinski, Ioanna Broumou, Maximilian Julius Lautenbach, Billy Ngasala, Christopher Sundling, Anna Farnert
Summary: In this study, a sequencing and data analysis platform based on long-read circular consensus sequencing (CCS) was proposed for genomic surveillance of antigenic diversity in Plasmodium falciparum. The platform uses multiple PCR primers for barcoding and identifying multiclonal infections, and it was validated and applied to malaria isolates from Tanzania. Furthermore, an analysis pipeline was constructed to streamline the processing and interpretation of the data.
CELL REPORTS METHODS
(2023)