High frequency of HIV precursor-target-specific B cells in sub-Saharan populations

Flavio Matassoli; Alberto Cagigi; Chen-Hsiang Shen; Amy R. Henry; Timothy S. Johnston; Chaim A. Schramm; Christopher A. Cottrell; Oleksandr Kalyuzhniy; Abby Spangler; Leigh Eller; Merlin Robb; Michael Eller; Prossy Naluyima; Peter D. Kwong; Daniel C. Douek; William R. Schief; Sarah F. Andrews; Adrian B. McDermott

Cell Reports (Dec 2023)

High frequency of HIV precursor-target-specific B cells in sub-Saharan populations

Flavio Matassoli,
Alberto Cagigi,
Chen-Hsiang Shen,
Amy R. Henry,
Timothy S. Johnston,
Chaim A. Schramm,
Christopher A. Cottrell,
Oleksandr Kalyuzhniy,
Abby Spangler,
Leigh Eller,
Merlin Robb,
Michael Eller,
Prossy Naluyima,
Peter D. Kwong,
Daniel C. Douek,
William R. Schief,
Sarah F. Andrews,
Adrian B. McDermott

Affiliations

Flavio Matassoli: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Corresponding author
Alberto Cagigi: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Chen-Hsiang Shen: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Amy R. Henry: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Timothy S. Johnston: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Chaim A. Schramm: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Christopher A. Cottrell: Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Oleksandr Kalyuzhniy: Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Abby Spangler: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
Leigh Eller: U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
Merlin Robb: U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
Michael Eller: U.S. Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Prossy Naluyima: Makerere University Walter Reed Project, Kampala, Uganda
Peter D. Kwong: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Daniel C. Douek: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
William R. Schief: Department of Immunology and Microbial Science, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
Sarah F. Andrews: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; Corresponding author
Adrian B. McDermott: Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 42, no. 12
p. 113450

Abstract

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Summary: HIV gp120 engineered outer domain germline-targeting version 8 (eOD-GT8) was designed specifically to engage naive B cell precursors of VRC01-class antibodies. However, the frequency and affinity of naive B cell precursors able to recognize eOD-GT8 have been evaluated only in U.S. populations. HIV infection is disproportionally concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, so we seek to characterize naive B cells able to recognize eOD-GT8 in sub-Saharan cohorts. We demonstrate that people from sub-Saharan Africa have a higher or equivalent frequency of naive B cells able to engage eOD-GT8 compared with people from the U.S. Genetically, the higher frequency of eOD-GT8-positive cells is accompanied by a higher level of naive B cells with gene signatures characteristic of the VRC01 class, as well as other CD4bs-directed antibodies. Our study demonstrates that vaccination with eOD-GT8 in sub-Saharan Africa could be successful at expanding and establishing a pool of CD4bs-directed memory B cells from naive precursors.

Published in Cell Reports

ISSN: 2211-1247 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General)
Website: http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home

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