Co-administration of plasmid-encoded granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor increases human immunodeficiency virus-1 DNA vaccine-induced polyfunctional CD4(+) T-cell responses

Author(s)

Santana, Vinicius Canato ^{[1, 2]} ; Almeida, Rafael Ribeiro ^{[1, 2]} ; Ribeiro, Susan Pereira ^{[1, 2]} ; de Souza Ferreira, Lius Carlos ^[3] ; Kalil, Jorge ^{[4, 2]} ; Rosa, Daniela Santoro ^{[2, 5]} ; Cunha-Neto, Edecio ^{[4, 1, 2]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Div Imunol Clin & Alergia, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Inst Nacl Ciencia & Tecnol, Inst Invest Imunol, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencias Biomed, Dept Microbiol, BR-05508 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Inst Coracao, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[5] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Div Imunol, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; v. 110, n. 8, p. 1010-1016, DEC 2015.
• Web of Science Citations: 6

Abstract

T-cell based vaccines against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) generate specific responses that may limit both transmission and disease progression by controlling viral load. Broad, polyfunctional, and cytotoxic CD4(+) T-cell responses have been associated with control of simian immunodeficiency virus/HIV-1 replication, supporting the inclusion of CD4(+) T-cell epitopes in vaccine formulations. Plasmid-encoded granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (pGM-CSF) co-administration has been shown to induce potent CD4(+) T-cell responses and to promote accelerated priming and increased migration of antigen-specific CD4(+) T-cells. However, no study has shown whether co-immunisation with pGM-CSF enhances the number of vaccine-induced polyfunctional CD4(+) T-cells. Our group has previously developed a DNA vaccine encoding conserved, multiple human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DR binding HIV-1 subtype B peptides, which elicited broad, polyfunctional and long-lived CD4(+) T-cell responses. Here, we show that pGM-CSF co-immunisation improved both magnitude and quality of vaccine-induced T-cell responses, particularly by increasing proliferating CD4(+) T-cells that produce simultaneously interferon-gamma, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-2. Thus, we believe that the use of pGM-CSF may be helpful for vaccine strategies focused on the activation of anti-HIV CD4(+) T-cell immunity. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/57881-0 - Institute for Investigation in Immunology
• Grantee: Jorge Elias Kalil Filho
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 06/50096-0 - Characterization of Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1) in a cohort of recently infected persons from the State of São Paulo by full genome sequencing
• Grantee: Sabri Saeed Mohammed Ahmed Al-Sanabani
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• FAPESP's process: 04/15856-9 - Prospective analysis of the virological and immunological characteristics in individuals with recent HIV-1 infection in the cities of São Paulo and Santos
• Grantee: Ricardo Sobhie Diaz
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants