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Journal of Virology, April 2005, p. 4527-4532, Vol. 79, No. 7
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.7.4527-4532.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Received 10 May 2004/ Accepted 13 October 2004
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Sequences from the RSV (Long strain) G protein corresponding to amino acids 128 to 229 as well as the mutant 128-229 sequences described below were amplified from viral RNA by reverse transcription-PCR, and the resultant PCR products were cloned into the EcoRI and XhoI sites of a pET-32-LIC bacterial expression plasmid (Novagen, Madison, Wis.) modified and provided by P. Liu (Department of Biochemistry, Dalhousie University). For use as a control for immunoblotting, a portion of the dengue virus type 2 E protein sequence encompassing amino acids 304 to 404 was similarly inserted into the same modified pET-32-LIC plasmid. Site-directed mutagenesis of the RSV G128-229 protein sequence was performed according to the Stratagene QuikChange site-directed mutagenesis protocol. PCR was performed on modified template pET-32-LIC-G128-229 DNA (G128-229 sequence cloned into EcoRI and XhoI sites). The primer pairs designed for mutagenesis are shown in Table 1.
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TABLE 1. Primers used to generate mutant Trx-G proteins used in this studya
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For vaccine and challenge experiments, groups of seven to nine BALB/c mice (6 to 8 weeks) were immunized twice subcutaneously, at 14-day intervals, with either PBS-alum, Trx-G128-229, or mutant Trx-G128-229 proteins in PBS-alum (10 µg of protein [38% of which is G128-229 sequence] in a volume of 50 µl). Alum was used as an adjuvant due to its known predisposition towards a Th2 response (30), including eosinophilia, in order to obtain a more sensitive readout of vaccine-associated eosinophilia as well as protection against RSV challenge. Alum has augmenting effects on RSV-associated immunopathology, both dependent on (12, 24) and independent of (11, 12, 20) the G protein. Fourteen days after the second dose, mice were challenged intranasally with RSV (2 x 106 PFU in 50 µl). Mice were sacrificed by using sodium pentobarbital 4 days later and assayed for titers of virus in lung and leukocyte infiltration in bronchoalveolar fluids as previously described (16, 23). Data were analyzed using the GraphPad (San Diego, Calif.) Instat software package, using analysis of variance by the Kruskal-Wallis test. Single comparisons between groups were done by using the Mann-Whitney test.
Effects of G-protein mutations on the induction of G-protein-specific antibodies following immunization with alum-adjuvanted Trx-G128-229. Immunoblot analysis (Fig. 1A) demonstrated the presence of serum antibodies specific for RSV G protein in mice immunized with wild-type or mutant Trx-G128-229 proteins. Strongest G-specific antibody (immunoglobulin G) responses were observed with the wild-type protein, followed by N191A, I189A, P190A, C186A, and R188A mutant proteins. Low but detectable levels of antibodies were found in mice immunized with either K192A or K193A mutant proteins. The lowest (in fact undetectable) levels of RSV G-protein antibodies were observed in sera from mice immunized with the I185A or K187A mutant protein. A control immunoblot showing serum antibody responses against the Trx portion of the various Trx-G-protein immunogens demonstrated comparable immunization efficiencies in all groups of immunized mice (Fig. 1B).
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FIG. 1. Effects of G-protein mutations on the induction of serum antibodies which recognize authentic RSV G protein. Sera were collected from groups of seven to nine mice 14 days after the second of two subcutaneous administrations of the indicated immunogen in alum. For immunoblotting, extracts from RSV-infected HEp-2 cells (A) or Trx-E fusion protein containing amino acids 304 to 404 of the dengue virus type 2 E protein (B) were resolved on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (10% acrylamide), and proteins were electroblotted to polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. After overnight blocking at room temperature with 4% skim milk powder and 0.5% casein (Hammerstein grade) in TBST (0.8% NaCl, 0.1% Tween-20, 20 mM Tris [pH 7.6]), membranes were incubated for 1 h at room temperature with pooled mouse sera from the experimental groups (diluted 1:100 in TBST) and washed with TBST, followed by 1 h of incubation at room temperature with horseradish peroxidase-conjugated goat antimouse antibody (1:5,000 dilution; Amersham, Oakville, Canada), with subsequent detection using a mixture of diaminobenzidine (1 mg/ml), 0.03% NiCl2, and 0.1% H2O2. Data are from one of two experiments which showed close agreement with each other. wt, wild type.
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TABLE 2. Neutralization titers of sera from mice immunized with alum-adjuvanted Trx-G variant proteins
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FIG. 2. Effects of G-protein mutations on protection against RSV challenge. Groups of seven to nine mice were immunized twice subcutaneously at 14-day intervals with PBS-alum or alum-adjuvanted wild-type (wt) or mutant Trx-G128-229 protein, followed by RSV challenge. Titers of RSV in lung homogenates were determined (by plaque assay on HEp-2 cells) 4 days after RSV challenge. Results are shown as means ± standard deviation. Significant differences (P < 0.05) from results with the wild-type protein are marked with asterisks, while significant differences from results with PBS are marked with daggers. Data are from one of two experiments which showed close agreement with each other.
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FIG. 3. Effects of G-protein mutations on lung eosinophilia. Groups of seven to nine mice were immunized twice subcutaneously at 14-day intervals with PBS-alum or alum-adjuvanted wild-type (wt) or mutant Trx-G128-229 protein, followed by RSV challenge. Bronchoalveolar lavage eosinophils (as a percentage of total cells) were measured 4 days after RSV challenge. Results are shown as means ± standard deviations. Significant differences (P < 0.05) from results with the wild-type protein are marked with asterisks, while significant differences from results with PBS are marked with daggers. For reference, absolute numbers of eosinophils recovered in the bronchoalveolar lavage per mouse were as follows: for PBS, 11 ± 6; for the I185A mutant, 1,092 ± 497; for the C186A mutant, 6,158 ± 3,377; for the K187A mutant, 4,072 ± 894; for the R188A mutant, 2,880 ± 1,191; for the I189A mutant, 20,361 ± 5,065; for the P190A mutant, 7,747 ± 5,165; for the N191A mutant, 5,959 ± 1,092; for the K192A mutant, 13,110 ± 3,277; for the K193A mutant, 14,600 ± 2,185; for the wild type, 10,031 ± 2,284. Data are from one of two experiments which showed close agreement with each other.
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Effects of G-protein mutations on lung cytokine mRNA responses. Analysis of lung RNA by RNase protection assay (RPA) illustrated striking differences among the mice immunized with wild-type or mutant Trx-G proteins and subsequently challenged with RSV. As shown in Fig. 4, the cytokines most prone to upregulation were interleukin 4 (IL-4), IL-10, IL-13, and to a lesser extent IL-5. Mice immunized with wild-type Trx-G prior to RSV challenge showed the greatest response in all four of these cytokine mRNAs. Nevertheless, the K193A, P190A, and I189A mutants were found to provoke dramatic IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 responses, albeit to a lesser extent than did wild-type Trx-G. Weaker IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13 responses were observed with the N192A, N191A, R188A, K187A, and C186A mutants. Least effective was the I185A mutant.
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FIG. 4. RPA of lung RNA, illustrating relative levels of cytokine mRNA in lungs of mice assayed 4 days after RSV challenge, having been previously immunized twice subcutaneously at 14-day intervals with PBS-alum or an alum-adjuvanted, wild-type (wt) or mutant Trx-G128-229 protein. RNA was isolated from individual mouse lungs by using the RNeasy minikit (QIAGEN, Mississauga, Canada) and then pooled per group of seven to nine mice. RNA was quantitated and subjected to RPA by using a transcription kit (BD-Pharmingen, Mississauga, Canada) to synthesize probe from a cytokine (MCK-1) template (BD-Pharmingen) and radiolabeled by using [ -32P]UTP, followed by hybridization and RNase digestion, using an RPAIII kit (Ambion, Austin, Tex.). Reaction mixtures were resolved on a 5% polyacrylamide 8 M urea gel according to the manufacturer's instructions, followed by drying and autoradiography at 70°C, using an intensifying screen. Controls include yeast RNA, (similarly subjected to the entire RPA procedure), as well as 32P-labeled cytokine probe (not subjected to RNase digestion). Panels A and B show different regions of the polyacrylamide gel, which was autoradiographed for 3 days (A) or 1 h (B). Panel C shows relative levels of selected cytokines, IL-4, IL-5. IL-10, IL-13 and IFN- (normalized with respect to L-32 and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase [GAPDH]) obtained by densitometric analysis of the autoradiograms. For each cytokine, relative levels are normalized to 100 for the wild type Trx-G128-229 protein.
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Th2 cytokine mRNA levels in the lung were dramatically elevated following immunization with the wild type or one of several Trx-G mutants, followed by RSV challenge. The strongest response was seen with IL-13, which has been recently implicated in asthma (10) as well as in RSV vaccine-induced disease (18). In our study, Th2-type cytokines, IL-13 along with IL-10, IL-4, and IL-5, showed distinct responses dependent on the particular Trx-G protein variant used for immunization. High levels of IL-13 and IL-10 correlated well with high levels of eosinophilia observed in RSV-challenged mice which had been immunized with the wild type or with the I189A, P190A, K192A, or K193A mutant. In contrast, the K187A and R188A mutants were poor inducers of IL-13, IL-10, and eosinophilia despite being good inducers of IL-4. Differential production of IL-4 and IL-13 has been previously reported between mice immunized with recombinant vaccinia virus expressing the RSV G protein and those immunized with formalin-inactivated RSV (19).
In contrast to Th2 cytokines, the prototype Th1 cytokine, gamma interferon (IFN-
), was elevated for all experimental mouse groups. This likely reflects the expression of IFN-
from NK cells as well as Th1 cells (36), the rapid induction of IFN-
upon infection with RSV (17), and the prevalent nature of IFN-
expression even in immune processes in which a Th2 response appears to predominate (32, 33, 38).
It should be emphasized that the RSV G protein represents only one of many complex immunological determinants of RSV which have potential relevance to vaccine design. For example, recent work has shown that Th2-associated eosinophilia can also be primed in mice immunized with alum-adjuvanted formalin-inactivated RSV lacking the G protein (20, 28). Nevertheless, the G protein contains the only RSV determinant so far linked to defined Th-cell responses (34, 37) and thus offers a unique opportunity to study Th1/Th2 regulation by a single viral epitope at the amino acid level.
The search for a safe and effective RSV vaccine remains elusive due to an unknown number of beneficial as well as adverse immunological determinants located on both the G protein (13, 26, 31, 34, 35, 37) and other viral constituents (20). Additional complicating factors include evidence that vaccine-relevant epitopes identified in animal models, such as the mouse, may vary from those in humans (4). Nevertheless, there is considerable evidence that vaccine-enhanced RSV immunopathology in both mice (3, 8) and humans (reviewed in references 9 and 25) is the consequence of an imbalanced Th2/Th1 response which may therefore be amenable to modulation by selective mutagenic approaches of relevant epitopes, as illustrated by the present study.
In the design of safer and more effective RSV vaccines, the benefits of amino acid mutagenesis, such as those described here, may be further enhanced with improved vaccine delivery systems. Encapsulation of Trx-G proteins within liposomes, for example, increases protection against RSV while suppressing eosinophilia (15, 23). Clearly, there are potential opportunities for new developments in molecular engineering as well as immunization delivery in the realization of a successful RSV vaccine.
We thank D. Heughan for help with data analysis.
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expression in natural killer cells precedes lung CD8 T cell recruitment during respiratory syncytial virus infection. J. Gen. Virol. 79:2593-2601.[Abstract]
production by local T cells in respiratory syncytial virus-induced eosinophilic lung disease. J. Gen. Virol. 79:1751-1758.[Abstract]
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