Comparing adjuvanted H28 and modified vaccinia virus ankara expressingH28 in a mouse and a non-human primate tuberculosis model

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 19;8(8):e72185. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072185. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Here we report for the first time on the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a vaccine strategy involving the adjuvanted fusion protein "H28" (consisting of Ag85B-TB10.4-Rv2660c) and Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara expressing H28. We show that a heterologous prime-boost regimen involving priming with H28 in a Th1 adjuvant followed by boosting with H28 expressed by MVA (H28/MVA28) induced the highest percentage of IFN-γ expressing T cells, the highest production of IFN-γ per single cell and the highest induction of CD8 T cells compared to either of the vaccines given alone. In contrast, in mice vaccinated with adjuvanted recombinant H28 alone (H28/H28) we observed the highest production of IL-2 per single cell and the highest frequency of antigen specific TNF-α/IL-2 expressing CD4 T cells pre and post infection. Interestingly, TNF-α/IL-2 expressing central memory-like CD4 T cells showed a significant positive correlation with protection at week 6 post infection, whereas the opposite was observed for post infection CD4 T cells producing only IFN-γ. Moreover, as a BCG booster vaccine in a clinically relevant non-human primate TB model, the H28/H28 vaccine strategy induced a slightly more prominent reduction of clinical disease and pathology for up to one year post infection compared to H28/MVA28. Taken together, our data showed that the adjuvanted subunit and MVA strategies led to different T cell subset combinations pre and post infection and that TNF-α/IL-2 double producing but not IFN-γ single producing CD4 T cell subsets correlated with protection in the mouse TB model. Moreover, our data demonstrated that the H28 vaccine antigen was able to induce strong protection in both a mouse and a non-human primate TB model.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic / administration & dosage
  • Animals
  • BCG Vaccine / genetics
  • BCG Vaccine / immunology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / microbiology
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / microbiology
  • Chimera
  • Female
  • Gene Expression
  • Humans
  • Immunization, Secondary
  • Interferon-gamma / biosynthesis
  • Interleukin-2 / biosynthesis
  • Macaca fascicularis
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred C57BL
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis / immunology
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / administration & dosage
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / immunology*
  • Tuberculosis / immunology
  • Tuberculosis / microbiology
  • Tuberculosis / prevention & control*
  • Tuberculosis Vaccines / administration & dosage
  • Tuberculosis Vaccines / genetics
  • Tuberculosis Vaccines / immunology*
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / biosynthesis
  • Vaccinia virus / genetics
  • Vaccinia virus / immunology*

Substances

  • Adjuvants, Immunologic
  • BCG Vaccine
  • Interleukin-2
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins
  • Tuberculosis Vaccines
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
  • Interferon-gamma

Grants and funding

This work was part of the Ph.D. thesis of Rolf Billeskov and grant contract no 2101-06-0010 supported by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Faculty of Health Sciences at University of Copenhagen, and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation GC12 # 37885. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.