Central and Effector Memory Human CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells during Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and after In Vitro Stimulation with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis Epitopes

Beatriz Coutinho de Oliveira; Ailton Alvaro da Silva; Marton Kaique de Andrade Cavalcante; Maria Edileuza Felinto de Brito; Maria Carolina Accioly Brelaz de Castro; Vanessa Lucília Silveira de Medeiros; Rafael de Freitas E Silva; Valéria Rêgo Alves Pereira

doi:10.3390/vaccines11010158

Central and Effector Memory Human CD4+ and CD8+ T Cells during Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and after In Vitro Stimulation with Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis Epitopes

Vaccines (Basel). 2023 Jan 11;11(1):158. doi: 10.3390/vaccines11010158.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
² Therapeutic Innovation Graduate Program (PPGIT), Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 50670-901, Brazil.
³ Immunology Department, Aggeu Magalhães Institute, Recife 50740-465, Brazil.
⁴ Academic Center of Vitória, Federal University of Pernambuco, Vitória de Santo Antão 55608-680, Brazil.
⁵ Dermatology Clinics, Tropical Medicine Department, Clinics Hospital, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 50670-901, Brazil.
⁶ Medical Faculty of Recife, Medical Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife 50670-901, Brazil.
⁷ Department of Natural Sciences, University of Pernambuco, Garanhuns Campus, Garanhuns 55294-902, Brazil.

Abstract

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) is a Neglected Tropical Disease characterized by skin ulcers caused by Leishmania spp. protozoans and there is no safe and effective vaccine to reduce its negative consequences. In a previous work by our group, we identified T cell epitopes of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis which stimulated patients' T cells in vitro. In the present work, the peptides were tested as two pools for their ability to rescue memory T cells during natural infection by Leishmania. We analyzed the frequency of central memory (TCM, CD45RA-CD62L+) and effector memory (TEM, CD45RA + CD62L-) cells during active CL and post-treatment. In parallel, we investigated cell proliferation levels and the cytokines produced after stimulation. Interestingly, we observed higher frequencies (%) in CD4+ TEM during CL, and CD8+ TEM and CD8+ TCM during CL and post-treatment. Cell proliferation was increased, and a significant difference in expression was observed on T-bet and RORγT. Besides that, IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-10 were detected in patient samples. Collectively, this dataset suggests that during CL there is an increase in the frequency of TCM and TEM, especially in the CD8 compartment. These results indicate a potentially immunogenic profile of the peptide pools, which can support the development of anti-Leishmania formulations.

Keywords: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis; Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis; memory T cells; peptides; vaccine.

Grants and funding

B.C.d.O. was the recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship from Fundação de Amparo à Ciência do Estado de Pernambuco (FACEPE, Brazil—IBPG-0710-2.11/15) and Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (PDSE—001) when this project was developed. This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (Project number 14/2014) and Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Funding from Tesouro).