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Journal of Virology, December 2003, p. 13248-13256, Vol. 77, No. 24
0022-538X/03/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JVI.77.24.13248-13256.2003
Copyright © 2003, American
Society for
Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
AIDS Research Center,1 Division of Experimental Animal Research,3 Department of Pathology, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8640,4 Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012,Japan2
Received 15 July 2003/ Accepted 27 August 2003
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spot-forming cells (SFC) specific for SIV Gag. Antigen-specific
lymphocyte proliferative responses were also induced and were
temporally associated with the peak of IFN-
SFC activity in
each macaque. In contrast, macaques immunized with a vector control
(rDIsLacZ) showed no significant induction of antigen-specific immune
responses. After challenge with a highly pathogenic simian-human
immunodeficiency virus (SHIV), CD4+ T lymphocytes
were maintained in the peripheral blood and lymphoid tissues of the
immunized macaques. The viral set point in plasma was also reduced in
these animals, which may be related to the enhancement of
virus-specific intracellular IFN-
+
CD8+ cell numbers and increased antibody titers
after SHIV challenge. These results demonstrate that recombinant DIs
has potential for use as an HIV/AIDS
vaccine. |
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To induce protective immunity, recombinant vaccinia virus strains (27), including modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) (40) and a substrain of Copenhagen (NYVAC) (42), are currently being evaluated as recombinant vectors for HIV vaccines. Since these strains retain the ability to replicate under certain conditions and therefore may be potentially virulent, we explored the use of an alternate vaccinia virus strain, DIs, for use as a vaccine vector. This strain was developed more than 40 years ago (17, 41) and has been shown to be replication deficient in mammalian cells (15, 24).
At present, many candidate vaccines against HIV-1 utilize multicomponent viral proteins for the induction of strong HIV-specific immune responses. SIV vaccines expressing Gag, Pol, Env, and regulatory proteins have been shown to induce efficient cellular immune responses and protect against pathogenic virus challenge in nonhuman primate models. These vaccine modalities consist of prime/boost regimens, including DNA/recombinant MVA with or without interleukin-2 (2, 5) and DNA/recombinant adenovirus (38). The potential of SIV candidate vaccines expressing single viral proteins has recently been reported with Manu-A*01 macaques receiving four inoculations with SIV Gag DNA (8) and with adenovirus type 5 vectors expressing the SIV Gag protein (38). These vaccines elicited immune responses able to control SIV or simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) infection in macaques.
In the present study, we constructed a recombinant vaccinia virus DIs expressing SIV Gag protein (rDIsSIVGag) and found that both DIs and recombinant DIs (rDIs) were replication deficient in mammalian cells. By comparison, MVA had significant levels of replication in these cells. Moreover, we found that the expression of Gag alone by rDIsSIVGag was sufficient to induce significant protection from pathogenic virus challenge in a SHIV/macaque model. Virus-specific immunity was elicited by two intravenous inoculations of the vaccine. Although rDIsSIVGag is replication defective in mammalian cells, it expresses SIV p27 antigen, suggesting a very safe and effective vector for HIV vaccine development.
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Cells. Cells were maintained in humidified air with 5% CO2 at 37°C. Human HeLa (ATCC CCL-2), HepG2, 293T, rabbit kidney RK13 (ATCC CCL-37), African green monkey CV-1 (ATCC CCL-70), Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), and baby hamster kidney BHK-21 (ATCC CCL-10) cells were grown in Dulbecco modified Eagle medium supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum. Chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cells were grown in minimal essential medium supplemented with 5% fetal calf serum.
Production and preparation of rDIs expressing full-length SIV Gag. Detailed methods for plasmid construction were described previously (15). Briefly, CEF cells were grown in 8-cm dishes and infected with DIs at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1.0. Cells were transfected with 20 µg of pUC/DIsLacZ by using Lipofectamine (Gibco-BRL/Life Technologies, Gaithersburg, Md.). rDIs expressing ß-galactosidase (rDIsLacZ) was selected by four consecutive rounds of plaque purification in CEF cells stained with X-Gal (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-ß-D-galactopyranoside; Takara). rDI virus expressing SIVmac239 Gag was obtained by using rDIsLacZ as the parental virus with the transfer vector pUC/DIsGag and then cloned as described above. Virus was grown in the chorioallantoic membrane of 10-day-old eggs or by culture with CEF cells. Virus preparations were purified by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and adjusted to 107 PFU/ml. Methods for virus detection, culturing the recombinant clones, and Western blotting of cell lysate were performed as previously described (15, 23, 24, 26, 41). The anti-SIV Gag monoclonal antibody (MAb) IB6 was kindly supplied by T. Sata, Department of Pathology, NIID, and by K. Ikuta, Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan (21). Primers used for PCR amplification were synthesized according to published sequences (15) and were designed to avoid destruction of any open reading frames. To insert the amplified fragments into pUC/DIsNot, an extra NotI site was added on the 5' termini of the primers. Amplified fragments were cut with NotI and inserted into the same site of pUC/DIsNot. These transfer vectors were used for the construction of rDIs by using rDIsLacZ as the parental virus. The recombinant viruses were propagated in CEF cells. Vaccinia virus strain WR, recombinant WRSIVGag, and MVA were kindly supplied by the Centralized Facility for AIDS Reagents, National Institute for Biological Standards and Controls, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. For analysis of virus replication, confluent monolayers of mammalian cells in 6-cm dishes were infected with the recombinant viruses at an MOI of 0.05. After 1 h at 37°C, the cells were washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and incubated in fresh medium at 37°C. The cells were harvested at 0 and 48 h after absorption, freeze-thawed, and sonicated. Virus replication was determined by dividing the virus yield at 48 h by that at 0 h (15).
Virus-specific
IFN-
ELISPOT assay.
Enzyme-linked immunospot
(ELISPOT)assays were performed by the
method and with the instruction of Mothe and Watkins, Wisconsin
University Primate Center
(28). In brief, 96-well
flat-bottom plates (U-CyTech-BV, Utrecht, The Netherlands) were coated
with anti-gamma interferon (IFN-
) MAb MD-1 (U-CyTech-BV)
overnight at 4°C. The plates were then washed with PBS
containing 0.05% Tween 20 (PBST) and blocked with PBS containing
2% bovine serum albumin (PBSA) for 1 h at
37°C. PBSA was discarded from the plates. Freshly isolated PBMC
were added with either concanavalin A (ConA) or a 0.2 µM
concentration of pooled Gag peptides (AIDS Research and Reference
Reagent Program) and were then incubated for 16 h at
37°C in 5% CO2 in anti-IFN-
-coated
plates, followed by a lysing step with ice-cold deionized water. After
the plate was washed, rabbit anti-IFN-
polyclonal biotinylated
detector antibody (1 µg/well; U-CyTech-BV) was added, and the
plates were further incubated for 1 h at 37°C. The
plates were then washed with PBST, after which 50 µl of
gold-labeled anti-biotin immunoglobulin G (GABA) solution (U-CyTech-BV)
was added, followed by incubation for 1 h at 37°C.
After a wash with PBST, activator mix (30 µl/well; U-CyTech-BV)
was added, and the plates were allowed to develop for 15
min.
Wells were imaged and spot-forming cells (SFC) were counted by using the KS ELISPOT compact system (Carl Zeiss, Jena,Germany). An SFC was defined as a large black spot with a fuzzy border (28). To determine significance levels, a baseline for each peptide was established by using the averages and standard deviations (SD) of the number of SFC for each peptide. A threshold significance value corresponding to this average plus two SD was then determined. A response was considered positive if the number of SFC exceeded the threshold significance level of the sample with no peptide.
Detection of
intracellular IFN-
by flow cytometry.
Freshly isolated PBMC (5 x
105 to 1 x 106 cells) were suspended in
R-10 medium and incubated with antigen for 16 h at
37°C with 5% CO2. For the final 6 to
8 h, brefeldin A (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.) was
added at 10 µg/ml. Antibody to CD28 (1 µg/ml; BD
Pharmingen, San Diego, Calif.) was also added during the incubation as
a costimulator molecule. After stimulation, the cells were washed and
stained with fluoroscein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-CD3 (FN18;
Biosource, Camarillo, Calif.) and peridinin chlorophyll
protein-conjugated anti-CD8 antibodies (Leu-2a; Becton Dickinson). The
cells were then sequentially incubated for fluorescence-activated cell
sorting (FACS) lysing solution (Becton Dickinson Biosciences, San Jose,
Calif.) for 10 min and FACS permeabilizing solution (Becton Dickinson)
for another 10 min. The cells were washed, stained with
phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-human IFN-
antibody (4S.B3; BD
Pharmingen), and fixed with 2% paraformaldehyde. Samples were
analyzed with a FACSCalibur apparatus (Becton Dickinson) using
CellQuest software (Becton
Dickinson).
Lymphocyte proliferative responses. SIV-specific proliferative responses were measured in freshly isolated PBMC. In brief, 2 x 105 PBMC were resuspended in 200 µl of growth medium and plated in flat-bottom 96-well plates with either ConA or purified SIVmac251 p27 protein (Advanced BioScience Laboratories, Rockville, Md.) (14). After 3 days of culture, [3H]thymidine was added to the wells, and the cells were harvested 16 h later to determine uptake.
Antibodies to SIV p27. Antibodies to SIV Gag p27 were detected as described previously (37). Briefly, recombinant SIV p27 protein (ImmunoDiagnostics, Inc., Woburn, Mass.) was coated on a microplate at a concentration of 2 µg/ml. The mean antibody titer was expressed as the reciprocal of the serum dilution that exceeded the cutoff value by two SD.
Absolute CD4+- and CD8+-T-lymphocyte counts. An absolute cell count was determined from samples of peripheral blood as previously described (46). Briefly, 50 µl of whole blood was placed in a polypropylene tube and incubated with fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated anti-CD3, phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-CD4 (Leu-3a; Becton Dickinson), and peridinin chlorophyll protein-conjugated anti-CD8 at 4°C. Residual red blood cells were removed with FACS lysing solution (Becton Dickinson), and the cells were analyzed on a FACSCalibur (Becton Dickinson) by using CellQuest software (Becton Dickinson).
Plasma viral RNA copy number. Plasma viral RNA copy numbers were measured by a real-time quantification assay based on the Applied Biosystems Prism 7700 sequence detection system (PE Biosystems, Foster City, Calif.) (34). Viral RNA was isolated from plasma by using a QIAamp Viral RNA Mini kit (Qiagen, Valencia, Calif.). The RNA was subjected to reverse transcription-PCR (with recombinant Tth DNA polymerase, SIV Gag consensus primers (SIVmac239-1224F and SIVmac239-1326R), and the SIV Gag consensus Taqman probe, FAM-SIV-1272T. SIV Gag DNA-PCR was carried out as previously described (37).
Statistical analysis. Data are expressed as the mean ± the SD, and data analysis was carried out by using the StatView program (SAS Institute, Cary, N.C.). A P value of <0.05 was considered significant.
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FIG. 1. Vector
construction and expression of rDIsSIVGag. (a) Construction of
rDIsSIVGag. Full-length DNA of SIVmac239 Gag was inserted into the
deleted region of vaccinia strain DIs. (b) Detection of SIV Gag protein
by Western blot with anti-p27 Gag MAb
IB6.
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View this table: [in a new window] |
TABLE 1. Replication
of rDIsSIVGag and other vaccinia virus recombinants and production of
SIV Gag p27 proteina
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TABLE 2. Immunization
and challenge schedulea
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-ELISPOT assays.
IFN-
-specific SFC were detected after the initial immunization
with rDIsSIVGag (101 ± 14 SFC/106 PBMC at 2 weeks
p.i.) and increased significantly by 2 weeks after the booster
immunization (603 ± 23 SFC/106 PBMC at 26 weeks
p.i.) and by 1 week after SHIV challenge (650 ± 42
SFC/106 PBMC at 31 weeks p.i.) (Fig.
2). In contrast, the number of SFC in controls, including naive macaques,
were significantly lower (fewer than 20 SFC before challenge and fewer
than 100 SFC after challenge). Thus, intravenous inoculation of
rDIsSIVGag induced significant T-cell responses specific for SIV p27
Gag in the immunized macaques.
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FIG. 2. SIV
Gag-specific IFN- SFC in PBMC from rDIsSIVGag- and
rDIsLacZ-inoculated and naive macaques. Freshly isolated PBMC were
assessed for their ability to produce IFN- in response to
overlapping peptides covering the full-length SIV Gag protein. The
experimental schedule of each grouped animal is presented in Table
2.
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FIG. 3. Proliferative
responses to SIV p27 Gag in the macaques inoculated with either
rDIsSIVGag or rDIsLacZ. Responses were measured 2 weeks after the
second inoculation of recombinant vaccinia virus antigen. Naive
macaques did not show any proliferative response to SIV p27
(data not shown). Bars represent the mean values of all
animals.
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-staining and
anti-Gag antibody responses in rDIsSIVGag-vaccinated
macaques.
To evaluate the
induction of immune responses before and after SHIV challenge, PBMC
from immunized macaques were stained for surface CD8 and intracellular
IFN-
expression, followed by flow cytometric analyses.
Macaques immunized with rDIsSIVGag generated 0.61% ±
0.14% CD8+ IFN-
+
double-positive cells at week 26 p.i. or at 2 weeks after the second
immunization of rDIs, recombinant, whereas the vector control animals
had less than 0.02% double-positive cells (Fig.
4a). At week 31 p.i. or 1 week post-SHIV-challenge, the percentage
of CD8+ IFN-
+
double-positive cells had increased to 1.25%
± 0.09% in the rDIsSIVGag-immunized macaques (P
< 0.05), whereas vector controls showed fewer than 0.02%
double-positive cells (Fig.
4b). As shown in Fig.
2 and
4, enhancement of numbers
in both IFN-
-specific intracellular staining
(ICS)-positive cells and ELISPOTs by
SHIV challenge were evident in rDIsSIVGag-immunized animals.
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FIG. 4. Flow
cytometric analysis of IFN- -producing CD8+
T cells specific for SIV Gag. PBMC from macaques were cultured in vitro
with overlapping peptides and stained for intracellular IFN- .
The percentage of IFN- -producing CD8+ T
cells in each macaque PBMC was determined by flow cytometry, and data
obtained before (at 26 week p.i. [a]) and after(at 31 week p.i. [b]) the SHIV challenge were
compared.
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FIG. 5. Enhancement
of anti-SIV Gag antibody titers in rDIsSIVGag-inoculated macaques by
SHIV challenge. Titers of binding antibody in plasma to SIV
Gag were measured by SIV Gag-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent
assay. The results represent the mean of three independent experiments.
Error bars represent the mean ± three
SD.
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FIG. 6. Comparison
of CD4+ T cells and viral load in plasma among
rDIsSIVGag-inoculated macaques and vector controls. (a and b)
CD4+-T-cell counts in peripheral blood of
rDIsSIVGag-inoculated animals (a) and vector controls (b). (c and d)
Viral set-point levels in plasma in vaccinated macaques (c)
and vector controls
(d).
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FIG. 7. CD4+
T lymphocytes remaining in spleen and mesenteric lymph nodes of
macaques inoculated with rDIsSIVGag. Morphological analysis of spleen
and mesenteric lymph node from vaccinated macaques. Tissue sections of
spleen (a and b) and lymph nodes (c and d) were obtained at autopsy
from macaques inoculated with rDIsSIVGag (a and c)
or rDIsLacZ (b and d), followed by SHIV challenge. Sections were
obtained from samples taken 12 weeks postchallenge and were stained
with hematoxylin and eosin. Bar, 100 µm. (e) Quantitative flow
cytometric analysis of CD4+ T lymphocytes in the
spleen, inguinal lymph nodes, and mesenteric lymph nodes. The data
represent mean values from the spleen and three different tissues of
each inguinal and mesenteric lymph
node.
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In the present study, we produced rDIsSIVGag expressing SIV Gag and found that both DIs and rDIs were replication deficient in mammalian cells. We examined the replicative abilities of these viruses in both CEF and mammalian cells in comparison to MVA. Our results demonstrate that MVA replicates well in CEF and BHK-21 cells and in other mammalian cells, such as RK13 and CHO cells. These results are similar to those of a previous report (6). In contrast, DIs and rDIs replicated only in CEF but not in the other mammalian cells described in Table 1. Interestingly, rDIsSIVGag produced significant amounts of SIV Gag protein in all of the mammalian cells tested, although the production levels were decreased from ca. 9 to 0.8% in mammalian cells compared to CEF. The discrepancy between virus replication and protein generation in rDIsSIVGag-infected cells may depend on the deletion of genes, including a 15.4-kbp fragment from regions C to K of the vaccinia virus genome (15). This fragment includes some known functional genes, such as host range genes and the late-phase gene involved in viral protein production. Although the deleted region in DIs is larger than that of MVA, the precise mechanism that results in the discrepancy between virus replication and the generation of viral protein is still not fully understood.
The goal of the present study was to
determine whether a vaccine consisting of rDIs expressing full-length
SIV Gag (rDIsSIVGag) could induce protection in
macaques against a highly pathogenic SHIV challenge. Intravenous
inoculation of rDIsSIVGag in cynomologus macaques resulted in
significant control of plasma viremia and maintenance of
CD4+ T cells during acute primary infection.
Immunization with rDIsSIVGag also minimized the
loss of tissue CD4+ T cells in various lymphoid
organs, including spleen and lymph nodes. This was associated with high
levels of antigen-specific proliferative responses and an increase in
the number of IFN-
SFC in the vaccinated animals. Furthermore,
virus-specific, IFN-
-specific ICS and antibody responses were
significantly enhanced by pathogenic SHIV challenge in the
macaques.
The present study directly addressed the ability of an
rDIs-based vaccine to afford protection from pathogenic virus
challenge. We found that the relative content of tissue
CD4+ T cells was reduced to nearly half the normal
values in spleen and lymph nodes in the rDIsSIVGag-vaccinated macaques
after SHIV challenge. However, since absolute numbers of total lymphoid
cells increased from 4- to 10-fold in the tissues of the vaccinated
macaques, the absolute number of CD4+ T cells was
estimated to increase 2- to 5-fold in the lymphoid tissues. Similar
increases were not observed in macaques in the control groups. This may
be associated with the maintenance of circulating
CD4+ T cells in the immunized macaques after SHIV
challenge. Indeed, the number of virus-specific IFN-
-specific
ICS and anti-Gag antibody titers were significantly enhanced by SHIV
challenge in the vaccinated group, suggesting that immune function was
maintained. Thus, although the reduction in plasma viremia was only
partial, virus-specific immune enhancement after SHIV challenge and
maintenance of CD4+ T cells were significant in
macaques intravenously vaccinated with
rDIsSIVGag.
Although it is not possible to fully compare protective efficacy among different vaccine models, our results appear to be similar to those obtained with recombinant MVA expressing multiple SIV proteins encoded by env, gag, and pol (3, 4, 30, 35, 36). Therefore, rDIsSIVGag, which expresses a single SIV protein, is perhaps similarly effective at inducing protection of macaques from pathogenic SHIV infection. MVA and DIs are derived from different vaccinia virus strains, but both are highly attenuated, and the immunogenicity seems to be similar between the two.
One important factor contributing to our results is the use of an intravenous route for vaccine administration. DIs and its vector-based recombinants have an advantage when administered intravenously, because neither can replicate in any mammalian cell lines tested thus far. It is the "nonreplicative" character of this vaccine that may be especially beneficial at inducing immunity to foreign antigens when relatively large amounts of the vaccine are administered intravenously. By comparison, the intravenous administration of a low-replicative vaccine strain, BCG, induced antigen-nonspecific hyperactivation of lymphoid cells (16, 48). Thus, intravenous inoculation of rDIs at a dose of 106 PFU might result in effective immune induction without inducing a hyperinflammatory reaction.
Although the present study did not directly address the effect of different administration routes for immune induction, it is evident that intravenous inoculation is not practical for use in humans. In a preliminary study by our group to determine the efficacy of different routes of vaccination with long-term follow-up, inoculation of 106 or 107 PFU of rDIsSIVGag by an intradermal route induced similar levels of antigen-specific immunity and protection against SHIV challenge in cynomolgus macaques (Y. Izumi et al., unpublished data), suggesting the possibility of administration to humans.
It is probable that the control of plasma viral load
and CD4+-T-cell counts in PBMC and other general
lymphoid tissues after SHIV challenge was mediated by virus-specific
cellular immune responses. The number of Gag-specific IFN-
SFC
in PBMC peaked around 2 weeks after the booster inoculation in all of
the vaccinated macaques. At the same time, proliferative responses to
SIV p27 reached relatively high levels in the same animals. Although
some controversy exists between the association of proliferative
responses with protection against pathogenic SHIV infection
(13,
39), our results are
partially consistent with those of Gauduin et al., which indicate that
SIV-specific T-lymphocyte responses induced by immunization with a live
attenuated SIV vaccine play a role in protective immunity
(11). Notably, both
virus-specific IFN-
-specific ICS-positive
CD8+ T cells and anti-Gag antibody responses were
strikingly enhanced by challenge with pathogenic SHIV.Although the vaccine target was only SIV Gag in this strategy, anti-Gag
antibody titers were significantly higher than those induced in
macaques immunized with MVA or DNA/MVA expressing Gag-Pol-Env
(2,
3). This could account for
the higher inducible ability of virus-specific proliferative responses
or helper cell responses in rDIsSIVGag-immunized animals, which might
be associated with the enhancement of antibody production not only
against SIV Gag but also against SHIV Env protein. It may therefore be
reasonable to speculate that anti-SHIV Env antibodies or even
neutralizing antibody might be effectively induced in the vaccinated
macaques after challenge. It is possible that protection achieved by
immunization with rDIsSIVGag was due not only to cellular immune
responses but also to the induction of humoral immunity in the
vaccinated macaques. In summary, the present study revealed that
vaccination of cynomologus macaques with a completely
replication-deficient vaccinia virus DIsSIVGag recombinant resulted in
significant control of viral load and CD4+-T-cell
maintenance after challenge with pathogenic SHIV.
The "Panel on AIDS" of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program, the Human Science Foundation of Japan, and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare supported this work. This study was also supported by the AIDS Vaccine Project in conjunction with the Japan Science and Technology Corporation.
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