Biology subjects

Nemes, E.

Publications and source records attributed to Nemes, E..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Subunit vaccination enhances protection conferred by prior Mycobacterium tuberculosis exposure

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent. Although BCG protects against disseminated tuberculosis in infants, it has failed to curb transmission among adults. Animal models are used to prioritize vaccines entering clinical trials, but current models use Mtb-naive mice, limiting their relevance to humans in endemic settings, the primary targets of vaccine trials. Here we used a mouse model of Mtb exposure, CoMtb, where a cervical lymph node Mtb infection protects against aerosol challenge, consistent with historical observations in humans that prior Mtb exposure reduces disease risk. When we compared the impact of CoMtb on vaccine efficacy, BCG failed to provide added protection over CoMtb, while protein subunit vaccination further reduced lung burdens. This protection was associated with decreased KLRG1+ vascular CD4+ T cells and enhanced polyfunctional lung CD4+ T cells before and after aerosol challenge. Our findings were corroborated in an analysis of vaccinated humans stratified by QuantiFERON-TB status, which revealed a similar enrichment of polyfunctional CD4+ T cells in Mtb-exposed individuals. These data support the use of CoMtb to test vaccine efficacy in Mtb-exposed individuals and highlight the potential of subunit vaccines in endemic regions.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2025

BCG Vaccination at Birth Shapes the TCR Usage and Functional Profile of MR1T Cells at 9 Weeks of Age

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious disease killer worldwide and children suffer disproportionately. The ongoing burden of disease, despite widespread vaccination with BCG, highlights the need for novel vaccines. MR1-restricted T (MR1T) cells recognize small molecules, including microbial-derived molecules, presented by the monomorphic MHC class 1- related molecule (MR1). They have both "innate" effector capacity, allowing them to quickly respond to pathogens including Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), while also having adaptive features (effector memory cell surface phenotype and selective TCR usage). Feasibility of an MR1T cell-based vaccination remains unexplored and critical to this is whether or not MR1T cells possess the capacity for immunological memory. To begin to address this question, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were collected at 9-weeks of age from healthy term- infants in South Africa, who had either received BCG vaccination at birth (n=10) or who had BCG vaccination delayed (n=10). MR1/5-OP-RU tetramer positive cells were sorted using flow cytometry and single-cell RNA and TCR-seq was performed. Ex-vivo MR1T cells from vaccinated infants demonstrated increased expression of type I interferon response genes consistent with a cytokine mediated response to BCG vaccination. Using the TCR clustering algorithm TCRdist3, similar TCRs were grouped together, revealing a cluster significantly enriched in BCG-vaccinated infants. This cluster exhibited elevated expression of pro- inflammatory and cytotoxic genes, consistent with a recall response to prior vaccination and evidence of possible recognition of Mtb. This work provides the first step in addressing if MR1T cells demonstrate immunological memory, however, further work is needed to understand if these clonal expansions persist and possess the capacity for antigenic recall.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

Effects of BCG vaccination on donor unrestricted T cells in humans

Antigen classes other than proteins can be presented to T cells by near-monomorphic antigen-presenting molecules such as CD1, MR1, and butyrophilin 3A1. We sought to define the roles of donor unrestricted T (DURT) cells, including MR1-reactive MAIT cells, CD1b-reactive glucose monomycolate (GMM)-specific T cells, CD1d-reactive NKT cells, and {gamma}{delta} T cells, in vaccination against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We characterized DURT cells following primary bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination in infants or BCG-revaccination in adults. BCG (re)vaccination did not modulate peripheral blood frequencies, T cell activation or memory profiles of MAIT cells, CD1b-restricted GMM-specific and germline-encoded mycolyl-reactive (GEM) cells or CD1d- restricted NKT cells. By contrast, BCG vaccination was associated with increased frequencies of {gamma}{delta} T cells as well as a novel subset of IFN-{gamma}-expressing CD4+ T cells with a CD26+CD161+TRAV1-2- phenotype in infants. More studies are required to understand the full potential of DURT cells in new TB vaccine strategies.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

Tuberculosis alters immune-metabolic pathways resulting in perturbed IL-1 responses

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health problem with host-directed therapeutics offering potential as novel treatment strategies. However, their successful development still requires a comprehensive understanding of how Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection impacts immune responses. To address this challenge, we applied standardised immunomonitoring tools to compare TB antigen, BCG and IL-1{beta} induced immune responses between individuals with latent M.tb infection (LTBI) and active TB disease, at diagnosis and after cure. This revealed distinct responses between TB and LTBI groups at transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic levels. At baseline, we identified pregnane steroids and the PPAR{gamma} pathway as new immune-metabolic drivers of elevated plasma IL-1ra in TB. We also observed dysregulated induced IL-1 responses after BCG stimulation in TB patients. Elevated IL-1 antagonist responses were explained by upstream differences in TNF responses, while for IL-1 agonists it was due to downstream differences in granzyme mediated cleavage. Finally, the immune response to IL-1{beta} driven signalling was also dramatically perturbed in TB disease but was completely restored after successful antibiotic treatment. This systems immunology approach improves our knowledge of how immune responses are altered during TB disease, and may support design of improved diagnostic, prophylactic and therapeutic tools.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2019

Postnatal expansion, maturation and functionality of MR1 T cells in humans

MR1-restricted T (MR1T) cells are defined by their recognition of metabolite antigens presented by the monomorphic MHC class 1-related molecule, MR1, the most highly conserved MHC class I related molecule in mammalian species. Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are the predominant subset of MR1T cells expressing an invariant TCR -chain, TRAV1-2. These cells comprise a T cell subset that recognizes and mediates host immune responses to a broad array of microbial pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Here, we sought to characterize development of circulating human MR1T cells as defined by MR1-5-OP-RU tetramer labelling and of the TRAV1-2+ MAIT cells defined by expression of TRAV1-2 and high expression of CD26 and CD161 (TRAV1-2+CD161++CD26++ cells). We analysed postnatal expansion, maturation and functionality of peripheral blood MR1-5-OP-RU tetramer+ MR1T cells in cohorts from three different geographic settings with different tuberculosis (TB) vaccination practices, levels of exposure to and infection with M. tuberculosis. Early after birth, frequencies of MR1-5-OP-RU tetramer+ MR1T cells increased rapidly by several fold. This coincided with the transition from a predominantly CD4+ and TRAV1-2- population in neonates, to a predominantly TRAV1-2+CD161++CD26++ CD8+ population. We also observed that tetramer+ MR1T cells that expressed TNF upon mycobacterial stimulation were very low in neonates, but increased [~]10-fold in the first year of life. These functional MR1T cells in all age groups were MR1-5-OP-RU tetramer+TRAV1-2+ and highly expressed CD161 and CD26, markers that appeared to signal phenotypic and functional maturation of this cell subset. This age-associated maturation was also marked by the loss of naive T cell markers on tetramer+ TRAV1-2+ MR1T cells more rapidly than tetramer+TRAV1-2- MR1T cells and non-MR1T cells. These data suggest that neonates have infrequent populations of MR1T cells with diverse phenotypic attributes; and that exposure to the environment rapidly and preferentially expands the MR1-5-OP-RU tetramer+TRAV1-2+ population of MR1T cells, which becomes the predominant population of functional MR1T cells early during childhood.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2019

Immune profiling in M. tuberculosis infection enables stratification of patients with active disease

Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection and is a major public health problem with an estimated 1.7 billion persons infected worldwide. Clinical challenges in TB include the lack of a blood-based test for active disease, and the absence of prognostic biomarkers for early treatment response. Current blood based tests, such as QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT), are based on an IFN{gamma} readout following Mtb antigen stimulation. However, they do not distinguish active TB disease from asymptomatic Mtb infection. We hypothesized that the use of TruCulture, an improved immunomonitoring method for whole blood collection and immune stimulation, could improve the discrimination of active disease from latent Mtb infection. To test our hypothesis, we stimulated whole blood from active TB patients (before and after successful treatment), comparing them to asymptomatic latently infected individuals. Mtb-specific antigens (ESAT-6, CFP-10, TB7.7) and live bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) were used for TruCulture stimulation conditions, with direct comparison to QFT. Protein analyses were performed on the culture supernatants using ELISA and Luminex multi-analyte profiling. TruCulture showed an ability to discriminate active TB cases from latent controls (p < 0.0001, AUC = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.69-0.93) as compared to QFT (p = 0.47 AUC = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.40-0.72), based on an IFN{gamma} readout after Mtb antigen stimulation. The stratification of the two groups could be further improved by using the Mtb Ag/BCG IFN{gamma} ratio response (p < 0.0001, AUC = 0.918, 95% CI: 0.84-0.98). We also identified additional cytokines that distinguished latent infection from TB disease; and show that the primary differences between the TruCulture and QFT systems were a result of higher levels of non-specific innate immune activation in QFT tubes, due to the lack of a buffering solution in the latter. We conclude that TruCulture offers a next-generation solution for whole blood stimulation and immunomonitoring with the possibility to discriminate active and latently infected persons.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2018

A comparison of antigen-specific T cell responses induced by six novel tuberculosis vaccine candidates

Eradication of tuberculosis (TB), the worlds leading cause of death due to infectious disease, requires a highly efficacious TB vaccine. Many TB vaccine candidates are in preclinical and clinical development but only a few can be advanced to large-scale efficacy trials due to limited global resources. We aimed to perform a statistically rigorous comparison of the antigen-specific T cell responses induced by six novel TB vaccine candidates and the only licensed TB vaccine, Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG). We propose that the antigen-specific immune response induced by such vaccines provides an objective, data-driven basis for prioritisation of vaccine candidates for efficacy testing. We analyzed frequencies of antigen-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells expressing IFN{gamma}, IL-2, TNF and/or IL-17 from adolescents or adults, with or without Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection, who received MVA85A, AERAS-402, H1:IC31, H56:IC31, M72/AS01E, ID93+GLA-SE or BCG. Two key response characteristics were analyzed, namely response magnitude and cytokine co-expression profile of the memory T cell response that persisted above the pre-vaccination response to the final study visit in each trial. All vaccines preferentially induced antigen-specific CD4 T cell responses expressing Th1 cytokines; levels of IL-17-expressing cells were low or not detected. In M.tb-uninfected and -infected individuals, M72/AS01E induced higher memory Th1 cytokine-expressing CD4 T cell responses than other novel vaccine candidates. Cytokine co-expression profiles of memory CD4 T cells induced by different novel vaccine candidates were alike. Our study suggests that the T cell response feature which most differentiated between the TB vaccine candidates was response magnitude, whilst functional profiles suggested a lack of response diversity. Since M72/AS01E induced the highest memory CD4 T cell response it demonstrated the best vaccine take. In the absence of immunological correlates of protection the likelihood of finding a protective vaccine by empirical testing of candidates may be increased by the addition of candidates that induce distinct immune characteristics.\n\nAuthor summaryTuberculosis (TB) causes more deaths than any other single infectious disease, and a new, improved vaccine is needed to control the epidemic. Many new TB vaccine candidates are in clinical development, but only one or two can be advanced to expensive efficacy trials. In this study, we compared magnitude and functional attributes of memory T cell responses induced in recently conducted clinical trials by six TB vaccine candidates, as well as BCG. The results suggest that these vaccines induced CD4 and CD8 T cell responses with similar functional attributes, but that one vaccine, M72/AS01E, induced the largest responses. This finding may indicate a lack of diversity in T cell responses induced by different TB vaccine candidates. A repertoire of vaccine candidates that induces more diverse immune response characteristics may increase the chances of finding a protective vaccine against TB.

immunology↗