Characterization of T-Cell Responses in Macaques Immunized with a Single Dose of HIV DNA Vaccine

The optimization of immune responses (IR) induced by HIV DNA vaccines in humans is one of the great challenges in the development of an effective vaccine against AIDS. Ideally, this vaccine should be delivered in a single dose to immunize humans. We recently demonstrated that the immunization of mice with a single dose of a DNA vaccine derived from pathogenic SHIV_KU2 (Δ4SHIV_KU2) induced long-lasting, potent, and polyfunctional HIV-specific CD8⁺ T-cell responses (G. Arrode, R. Hegde, A. Mani, Y. Jin, Y. Chebloune, and O. Narayan, J. Immunol. 178:2318-2327, 2007). In the present work, we expanded the characterization of the IR induced by this DNA immunization protocol to rhesus macaques. Animals immunized with a single high dose of Δ4SHIV_KU2 DNA vaccine were monitored longitudinally for vaccine-induced IR using multiparametric flow cytometry-based assays. Interestingly, all five immunized macaques developed broad and polyfunctional HIV-specific T-cell IR that persisted for months, with an unusual reemergence in the blood following an initial decline but in the absence of antibody responses. The majority of vaccine-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells lacked gamma interferon production but showed high antigen-specific proliferation capacities. Proliferative CD8⁺ T cells expressed the lytic molecule granzyme B. No integrated viral vector could be detected in mononuclear cells from immunized animals, and this high dose of DNA did not induce any detectable autoimmune responses against DNA. Taken together, our comprehensive analysis demonstrated for the first time the capacity of a single high dose of HIV DNA vaccine alone to induce long-lasting and polyfunctional T-cell responses in the nonhuman primate model, bringing new insights for the design of future HIV vaccines.The development of a vaccine that substantially decreases the viral load set points and reduces the transmission of HIV-1 appears to be the long-term solution to control the persistently growing epidemic of this virus in the world (10). In the past, vaccines against challenging infectious diseases, including smallpox, polio, measles, and yellow fever, have been the most effective strategies for fighting these human pandemics. However, and unlike these traditional vaccines that mostly rely on the production of neutralizing antibodies (Abs) for protection from pathogenic infections, the control of HIV infection strongly depends on the development of high-frequency, broadly targeted, polyfunctional T-cell responses specific to the virus (11, 28, 45). Live-attenuated simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)/HIV vaccines so far have been the best inducers of potent T-cell responses that correlate with protection against AIDS following challenge with pathogenic strains in nonhuman primate (NHP) models (24, 39, 47, 61), although the exact correlates of such protection remain to be fully delineated. However, the persistence, integration, and possible reversion to pathogenic forms of these replication-competent vaccines comprise a risk that will not be acceptable for their use in humans.Instead, the use of DNA-based vaccines as a strategy to induce protective responses to control infectious diseases, including HIV-1/AIDS, is very attractive, based on its safety, the absence of infection even in immunocompromised recipients, and its capacity to induce both humoral and T-cell immune responses. For many years, numerous plasmid DNAs encoding HIV proteins have been developed and tested in animal models, and some of them have been tested in humans (14, 18, 42, 49). However, unlike that in rodents, the immune responses induced in humans and NHPs by these DNA vaccines were dramatically weak despite successive immunizations with multiple doses of DNA (30). To circumvent this limitation, new strategies currently are used to improve the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines, including the incorporation of signal-to-target dendritic cells (43), the codon optimization of HIV antigens (Ag) (14), the coexpression of adjuvant (15), and new tools that optimize the delivery of DNA in target cells in the muscle (34).We have developed a noninfectious DNA vaccine derived from the highly pathogenic SHIV_KU2 expressing seven proteins of HIV under the control of the SIV 5′ long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter (35). This design mimics the natural expression of the viral proteins and leads to the formation of numerous viral-like particles that are extruded out of expressing cells (4). Repeated low-dose immunizations with this vaccine without heterologous boost protected macaques from progression to AIDS following challenge with pathogenic SHIV. However, enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay responses to HIV antigens before challenge were sporadic and weak (35, 54). In contrast, T-cell responses specific to HIV antigens induced by our construct in immunized mice were substantially higher (21). Using the mouse model, we developed a more sensitive immunity-monitoring assay that measures proliferative capacity, cytotoxic potential, and other immune functions (gamma interferon [IFN-γ] and interleukin-2 [IL-2] secretion) and provides more robust indications regarding the immunogenicity induced by the vaccine. We reported that the intramuscular immunization of mice with a single dose of this HIV DNA vaccine induced long-lasting and polyfunctional CD8⁺ T-cell responses directed against all HIV antigens expressed by the construct. Interestingly, in the absence of any additional immunization, we observed a primary peak of immune responses (IR) within 2 to 4 weeks postinfection (p.i.), followed by a contraction phase and then the late reemergence of responses after 14 to 20 weeks p.i. and lasting until the end of the experiment (more than 63 weeks p.i.). This is a typical pattern of vaccine-specific T-cell responses induced by nonpersistent vectors that progressively elicit secondary lymphoid tissue-based memory T cells as the expressed antigen becomes rare (9, 38, 58). Importantly, the major proportion of these HIV-specific CD8⁺ T cells was not producing IFN-γ but proliferated vigorously following antigen stimulation and produced the lytic molecule granzyme B (5). The contribution of this type of antigen-specific T cell to viral control remains to be fully elucidated.The surprising lack of efficacy of the human STEP trial conducted by Merck using the Ad-5 vectors expressing HIV antigens that elicit sustained effector T-cell responses has been disappointing for strategies designed to induce T-cell responses to prevent HIV-1 infections (29, 48, 53, 59). However, we learned from this failure that the characteristics of the T-cell responses induced by candidate vaccines could be critical for immediate as well as long-term protection (20). To address this issue, we developed a multiparametric flow-cytometric assay in the NHP model that was similar to that used in the mouse model. Using this assay, we performed a longitudinal characterization of HIV-specific T-cell IR induced in rhesus macaques immunized with a single high dose of Δ4SHIV_KU2 DNA vaccine given intramuscularly (i.m.). We also assessed the antibody responses against HIV antigens. We also addressed potential safety concerns, since this is the first report using one high dose of DNA in NHP, and we tested the animals for the integration of the vaccine genome into that of the circulating mononuclear cells and assessed whether anti-DNA antibodies were produced in all immunized monkeys.