title: A multivalent and cross-protective vaccine strategy against arenaviruses associated with human disease.
abstract: Arenaviruses are the causative pathogens of severe hemorrhagic fever and aseptic meningitis in humans, for which no licensed vaccines are currently available. Pathogen heterogeneity within the Arenaviridae family poses a significant challenge for vaccine development. The main hypothesis we tested in the present study was whether it is possible to design a universal vaccine strategy capable of inducing simultaneous HLA-restricted CD8+ T cell responses against 7 pathogenic arenaviruses (including the lymphocytic choriomeningitis, Lassa, Guanarito, Junin, Machupo, Sabia, and Whitewater Arroyo viruses), either through the identification of widely conserved epitopes, or by the identification of a collection of epitopes derived from multiple arenavirus species. By inoculating HLA transgenic mice with a panel of recombinant vaccinia viruses (rVACVs) expressing the different arenavirus proteins, we identified 10 HLA-A02 and 10 HLA-A03-restricted epitopes that are naturally processed in human antigen-presenting cells. For some of these epitopes we were able to demonstrate cross-reactive CD8+ T cell responses, further increasing the coverage afforded by the epitope set against each different arenavirus species. Importantly, we showed that immunization of HLA transgenic mice with an epitope cocktail generated simultaneous CD8+ T cell responses against all 7 arenaviruses, and protected mice against challenge with rVACVs expressing either Old or New World arenavirus glycoproteins. In conclusion, the set of identified epitopes allows broad, non-ethnically biased coverage of all 7 viral species targeted by our studies.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vaccine Discovery, La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: Maya F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kotturi
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Botten
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sidney
authors.forename: Huynh-Hoa
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giancola
authors.forename: Matt
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maybeno
authors.forename: Josie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Babin
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oseroff
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pasquetto
authors.forename: Jason A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Greenbaum
authors.forename: Bjoern
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: Joey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.forename: Danh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Do
authors.forename: Lo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vang
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grey
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Buchmeier
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sette
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001116:Arenaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D001117:Arenaviridae Infections / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D000939:Epitopes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006482:Hemorrhagic Fevers, Viral / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D015234:HLA-A Antigens; D014765:Viral Vaccines