Enhancing the protection of influenza virus vaccines with BECC TLR4 adjuvant in aged mice.

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a leading cause of respiratory disease worldwide often resulting in severe morbidity and mortality. We have previously shown that the Bacterial Enzymatic Combinatorial Chemistry (BECC) adjuvants, BECC438 and BECC470, formulated with an influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein vaccine, offer greater protection from influenza virus challenge in mouse respiratory models using adult mice than standard HA:adjuvant combinations. In this study, we determined that immunization with HA + BECC adjuvants also significantly broadened the epitopes targeted on HA as compared with other adjuvants, resulting in increased titers of antibodies directed against the highly conserved HA stalk domain.

Position-Specific Secondary Acylation Determines Detection of Lipid A by Murine TLR4 and Caspase-11.

Immune sensing of the Gram-negative bacterial membrane glycolipid lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is both a critical component of host defense against bacterial infection and a contributor to the hyperinflammatory response, potentially leading to sepsis and death. Innate immune activation by LPS is due to the lipid A moiety, an acylated di-glucosamine molecule that can activate inflammatory responses via the extracellular sensor Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation 2 (MD2) or the cytosolic sensor caspase-11 (Casp11). The number and length of acyl chains present on bacterial lipid A structures vary across bacterial species and strains, which affects the magnitude of TLR4 and Casp11 activation.

Lipid A Variants Activate Human TLR4 and the Noncanonical Inflammasome Differently and Require the Core Oligosaccharide for Inflammasome Activation.

Detection of Gram-negative bacterial lipid A by the extracellular sensor, myeloid differentiation 2 (MD2)/Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), or the intracellular inflammasome sensors, CASP4 and CASP5, induces robust inflammatory responses. The chemical structure of lipid A, specifically its phosphorylation and acylation state, varies across and within bacterial species, potentially allowing pathogens to evade or suppress host immunity. Currently, it is not clear how distinct alterations in the phosphorylation or acylation state of lipid A affect both human TLR4 and CASP4/5 activation.

Novel TLR4 adjuvant elicits protection against homologous and heterologous Influenza A infection.

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a leading cause of respiratory disease worldwide often resulting in hospitalization or death. In this study, TLR4 immunostimulatory molecules, Bacterial Enzymatic Combinatorial Chemistry (BECC) 438 and BECC470 were found to be superior IAV vaccine adjuvants when compared to the classic adjuvant alhydrogel (alum) and Phosphorylated Hexa-Acyl Disaccharide (PHAD), a synthetic TLR4 agonist. BECC molecules allow for antigen sparing of a recombinant HA (rHA) protein, elicit a more balanced IgG1/IgG2a response, and were protective in a prime only dosing schedule.

Early evolutionary loss of the lipid A modifying enzyme PagP resulting in innate immune evasion in .

Immune evasion through membrane remodeling is a hallmark of pathogenesis. remodels its membrane during its life cycle as it alternates between mammalian hosts (37 °C) and ambient (21 °C to 26 °C) temperatures of the arthropod transmission vector or external environment. This shift in growth temperature induces changes in number and length of acyl groups on the lipid A portion of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for the enteric pathogens () and (), as well as the causative agent of plague, ().

Dissociation of TRIF bias and adjuvanticity.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs), a family of "pattern recognition receptors," bind microbial and host-derived molecules, leading to intracellular signaling and proinflammatory gene expression. TLR4 is unique in that ligand-mediated activation requires the co-receptor myeloid differentiation 2 (MD2) to initiate two signaling cascades: the MyD88-dependent pathway is initiated at the cell membrane, and elicits rapid MAP kinase and NF-κB activation, while the TIR-domain containing adaptor inducing interferon-β (TRIF)-dependent pathway is initiated from TLR4-containing endosomes and results in IRF3 activation. Previous studies associated inflammation with the MyD88 pathway and adjuvanticity with the TRIF pathway.

Toll-like Receptor 4-Independent Effects of Lipopolysaccharide Identified Using Longitudinal Serum Proteomics.

Sepsis remains one of the most lethal and costly conditions treated in U.S. hospitals, with approximately 50% of cases caused by Gram-negative bacterial infections.

A lipid A-based TLR4 mimetic effectively adjuvants a Yersinia pestis rF-V1 subunit vaccine in a murine challenge model.

Vaccination can significantly reduce worldwide morbidity and mortality to infectious diseases, thereby reducing the health burden as a result of microbial infections. Effective vaccines contain three components: a delivery system, an antigenic component of the pathogen, and an adjuvant. With the growing use of purely recombinant or synthetic antigens, there is a need to develop novel adjuvants that enhance the protective efficacy of a vaccine against infection.

Correction to: Top Down Tandem Mass Spectrometric Analysis of a Chemically Modified Rough-Type Lipopolysaccharide Vaccine Candidate.

In the preceding article "Top Down Tandem Mass Spectrometric Analysis of a Chemically Modified Rough-Type Lipopolysaccharide Vaccine Candidate" by Oyler et al., an error in the J5 E. coli LPS chemical structure (Figs.

Top Down Tandem Mass Spectrometric Analysis of a Chemically Modified Rough-Type Lipopolysaccharide Vaccine Candidate.

Recent advances in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biology have led to its use in drug discovery pipelines, including vaccine and vaccine adjuvant discovery. Desirable characteristics for LPS vaccine candidates include both the ability to produce a specific antibody titer in patients and a minimal host inflammatory response directed by the innate immune system. However, in-depth chemical characterization of most LPS extracts has not been performed; hence, biological activities of these extracts are unpredictable.

Rationally Designed TLR4 Ligands for Vaccine Adjuvant Discovery.

Adjuvant properties of bacterial cell wall components like MPLA (monophosphoryl lipid A) are well described and have gained FDA approval for use in vaccines such as Cervarix. MPLA is the product of chemically modified lipooligosaccharide (LOS), altered to diminish toxic proinflammatory effects while retaining adequate immunogenicity. Despite the virtually unlimited number of potential sources among bacterial strains, the number of useable compounds within this promising class of adjuvants are few.

TLR4 acts as a death receptor for ultraviolet radiation (UVR) through IRAK-independent and FADD-dependent pathway in macrophages.

UVR-induced apoptosis in cutaneous antigen presenting cells (APC) causes systemic immune suppression and is dependent on TLR4/MyD88 signalling, but the apoptotic signalling pathways have not been defined. Macrophages pretreated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were unresponsive to subsequent LPS treatment, however, but were susceptible to UVR-induced apoptosis. Macrophage survival and apoptotic events after UVR were also unaffected by treatment with TLR4 antagonists, a blocking IgG or a TLR4 analog antagonist, suggesting that UVR cell death is independent of a soluble ligand.

Ultraviolet radiation signaling through TLR4/MyD88 constrains DNA repair and plays a role in cutaneous immunosuppression.

UV radiation (UVR) induces DNA damage, leading to the accumulation of mutations in epidermal keratinocytes and immunosuppression, which contribute to the development of nonmelanoma skin cancer. We reported previously that the TLR4-MyD88 signaling axis is necessary for UV-induced apoptosis. In the dinitrofluorobenzene contact hypersensitivity model, UV-irradiated MyD88-deficient (MyD88(-/-)) C57BL/6 mice had intact ear swelling, exaggerated inflammation, and higher levels of dinitrofluorobenzene-specific IgG2a compared with wild-type (WT) mice.

Human in vitro skin organ culture as a model system for evaluating DNA repair.

Background: UV-exposures result in accumulation of genetic lesions that facilitate the development of skin cancer. Numerous pharmacologic agents are currently under development to both inhibit formation of DNA lesions and enhance repair. Drugs must be evaluated in vitro, currently performed in cell culture systems, before being tested on humans.

Manganese oxidation state as a cause of irritant patch test reactions.

Background: Manganese chloride (MnCl2) 2.5% is included in the extended metals patch test series to evaluate patients for contact hypersensitivity to this metal salt.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to prospectively determine the rate of allergic and irritant patch test reactions to MnCl2 (Mn(II)), Mn2O3 (Mn(III)), and KMnO4 (Mn(VII)) in a cohort of patients undergoing patch testing.

IL-9 regulates allergen-specific Th1 responses in allergic contact dermatitis.

The cytokine IL-9, derived primarily from T-helper 9 (Th9) lymphocytes, promotes expansion of the Th2 subset and is implicated in the mechanisms of allergic asthma. We hypothesize that IL-9 also has a role in human allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). To investigate this hypothesis, skin biopsy specimens of positive patch-test sites from non-atopic patients were assayed using quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry.

MyD88 mediates the decision to die by apoptosis or necroptosis after UV irradiation.

UV irradiation-induced cellular damage is classically associated with apoptosis and is known to result in systemic immunosuppression. How the decision to undergo apoptosis is made following UV is not fully understood. We hypothesize that a central mediator of TLR signaling, MyD88, determines cell fate after UV exposure.

Novel marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) model of human Herpesvirus 6A and 6B infections: immunologic, virologic and radiologic characterization.

Human Herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) is a ubiquitous virus with an estimated seroprevalence of 95% in the adult population. HHV-6 is associated with several neurologic disorders, including multiple sclerosis, an inflammatory demyelinating disease affecting the CNS. Animal models of HHV-6 infection would help clarify its role in human disease but have been slow to develop because rodents lack CD46, the receptor for cellular entry.

CD1d-dependent, iNKT-cell cytotoxicity against keratinocytes in allergic contact dermatitis.

Conventional CD8+ T-lymphocytes are thought to be major effector cells in allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). However, previous work has demonstrated a significant population of invariant natural killer T-cells (iNKT-cells) in the elicitation phase of ACD. In this study, we investigate whether iNKT-cells have the capacity to serve as effector lymphocytes in ACD.

Translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO) expression in multiple sclerosis patients.

Translocator protein (18 kDa) (TSPO) is a marker of inflammation in the brain. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans with ligands for this receptor show increased expression of TSPO in many neuropathologic conditions. However, expression of TSPO in the periphery and its possible correlation to central nervous system (CNS) inflammation has been largely unstudied.