Frequent and Durable Anti-HIV Envelope VIV2 IgG Responses Induced by HIV-1 DNA Priming and HIV-MVA Boosting in Healthy Tanzanian Volunteers

Agricola Joachim; Frank Msafiri; Sayali Onkar; Patricia Munseri; Said Aboud; Eligius F Lyamuya; Muhammad Bakari; Erik Billings; Merlin L Robb; Britta Wahren; Fred S Mhalu; Eric Sandström; Mangala Rao; Charlotta Nilsson; Gunnel Biberfeld

doi:10.3390/vaccines8040681

Frequent and Durable Anti-HIV Envelope VIV2 IgG Responses Induced by HIV-1 DNA Priming and HIV-MVA Boosting in Healthy Tanzanian Volunteers

Vaccines (Basel). 2020 Nov 13;8(4):681. doi: 10.3390/vaccines8040681.

Authors

Agricola Joachim¹, Frank Msafiri^{1

2}, Sayali Onkar^{3

4}, Patricia Munseri⁵, Said Aboud¹, Eligius F Lyamuya¹, Muhammad Bakari⁵, Erik Billings^{3

4}, Merlin L Robb^{4

6}, Britta Wahren⁷, Fred S Mhalu¹, Eric Sandström⁸, Mangala Rao⁴, Charlotta Nilsson^{2

9}, Gunnel Biberfeld¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65001 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
² Division of Clinical Microbiology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
³ The US Military HIV Research Program, The Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA.
⁴ United States Military HIV Research Program, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
⁵ Department of Internal Medicine, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, P.O. Box 65001 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
⁶ Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD 20817, USA.
⁷ Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁸ Venhälsan, Karolinska Institutet at Södersjukhuset, 11883 Stockholm, Sweden.
⁹ Department of Microbiology, Public Health Agency of Sweden, 17182 Solna, Sweden.
¹⁰ Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

We evaluated antibody responses to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope variable regions 1 and 2 (V1V2) in 29 vaccinees who had received three HIV-1 DNA immunizations and two HIV-modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) boosts in the phase I/II HIVIS03 vaccine trial. Twenty vaccinees received a third HIV-MVA boost after three years in the HIVIS06 trial. IgG and IgG antibody subclasses to gp70V1V2 proteins of HIV-1 A244, CN54, Consensus C, and Case A2 were analysed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cyclic V2 peptides of A244, Consensus C, and MN were used in a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay. Four weeks after the second HIV-MVA, anti-V1V2 IgG antibodies to A244 were detected in 97% of HIVIS03 vaccinees, in 75% three years later, and in 95% after the third HIV-MVA. Anti-CN54 V1V2 IgG was detectable in 48% four weeks after the second HIV-MVA. The SPR data supported the findings. The IgG response was predominantly IgG1. Four weeks after the second HIV-MVA, 85% of vaccinees had IgG1 antibodies to V1V2 A244, which persisted in 25% for three-years. IgG3 and IgG4 antibodies to V1V2 A244 were rare. In conclusion, the HIV-DNA/MVA vaccine regimen induced durable V1V2 IgG antibody responses in a high proportion of vaccinees.

Keywords: DNA; HIV; MVA; V1V2 antibodies; vaccine.

Abstract

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