Patent Application
20090304746
A. Definitions
B. Stimulation of CTL and HTL responses
C. Binding Affinity of Peptide Epitopes for HLA Molecules
D. Peptide Epitope Binding Motifs and Supermotifs
E. Enhancing Population Coverage of the Vaccine
F. Immune Response-Stimulating Peptide Epitope Analogs
G. Computer Screening of Protein Sequences from Disease-Related Antigens for Supermotif- or Motif-Containing Epitopes
H. Preparation of Peptide Epitopes
I. Assays to Detect T-Cell Responses
J. Use of Peptide Epitopes for Evaluating Immune Responses
K. Vaccine Compositions
L. Administration of Vaccines for Therapeutic or Prophylactic Purposes
M. Kits
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global human health problem with approximately 150,000 new reported cases each year in the U.S. alone. HCV is a single stranded RNA virus, and is the etiological agent identified in most cases of non-A, non-B post-transfusion and post-transplant hepatitis, and is a common cause of acute sporadic hepatitis (Choo et al., Science 244:359, 1989; Kuo et al., Science 244:362, 1989; and Alter et al., in: Current Perspective in Hepatology, p. 83, 1989). It is estimated that more than 50% of patients infected with HCV become chronically infected and, of those, 20% develop cirrhosis of the liver within 20 years (Davis et al., New Engl. J. Med. 321:1501, 1989; Alter et al., in: Current Perspective in Hepatology, p. 83, 1989; Alter et al., New Engl. J. Med. 327:1899, 1992; and Dienstag, J. L. Gastroenterology 85:430, 1983).
Moreover, the only therapy available for treatment of HCV infection is interferon-α. Most patients are unresponsive, however, and among the responders, there is a high recurrence rate within 6-12 months of cessation of treatment (Liang et al., J. Med. Virol. 40:69, 1993). Ribaviron, a guanosine analog with a broad spectrum activity against many RNA and DNA viruses, has been shown in clinical trials to be effective against chronic HCV infection when used in combination with interferon-α (see, e.g., Poynard et al., Lancet 352:1426-1432, 1998; Reichard et al., Lancet 351:83-87, 1998) However, the response rate is still well below 50%.
Virus-specific, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are known to play a major role in the prevention and clearance of virus infections in vivo (Oldstone et al., Nature 321:239, 1989; Jamieson et al., J. Virol. 61:3930, 1987; Yap et al, Nature 273:238, 1978; Lukacher et al., J. Exp. Med. 160:814, 1994; McMichael et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 309:13, 1983; Sethi et al., J. Gen. Virol. 64:443, 1983; Watari et al., J. Exp. Med. 165:459, 1987; Yasukawa et al., J. Immunol. 143:2051, 1989; Tigges et al., J. Virol. 66:1622, 1993; Reddenhase et al., J. Virol. 55:263, 1985; Quinnan et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 307:6, 1982). HLA class I molecules are expressed on the surface of almost all nucleated cells. Following intracellular processing of antigens, epitopes from the antigens are presented as a complex with the HLA class I molecules on the surface of such cells. CTL recognize the peptide-HLA class I complex, which then results in the destruction of the cell bearing the HLA-peptide complex directly by the CTL and/or via the activation of non-destructive mechanisms e.g., the production of interferon, that inhibit viral replication.
In view of the heterogeneous immune response observed with HCV infection, induction of a multi-specific cellular immune response directed simultaneously against multiple HCV epitopes appears to be important for the development of an efficacious vaccine against HCV. There is a need, however, to establish vaccine embodiments that elicit immune responses that correspond to responses seen in patients that clear HCV infection.
The information provided in this section is intended to disclose the presently understood state of the art as of the filing date of the present application. Information is included in this section which was generated subsequent to the priority date of this application. Accordingly, information in this section is not intended, in any way, to delineate the priority date for the invention.
This invention applies our knowledge of the mechanisms by which antigen is recognized by T cells, for example, to develop epitope-based vaccines directed towards HCV. More specifically, this application communicates our discovery of specific epitope pharmaceutical compositions and methods of use in the prevention and treatment of HCV infection.
Upon development of appropriate technology, the use of epitope-based vaccines has several advantages over current vaccines, particularly when compared to the use of whole antigens in vaccine compositions. There is evidence that the immune response to whole antigens is directed largely toward variable regions of the antigen, allowing for immune escape due to mutations. The epitopes for inclusion in an epitope-based vaccine are selected from conserved regions of viral or tumor-associated antigens, which thereby reduces the likelihood of escape mutants. Furthermore, immunosuppressive epitopes that may be present in whole antigens can be avoided with the use of epitope-based vaccines.
An additional advantage of an epitope-based vaccine approach is the ability to combine selected epitopes (CTL and HTL), and further, to modify the composition of the epitopes, achieving, for example, enhanced immunogenicity. Accordingly, the immune response can be modulated, as appropriate, for the target disease. Similar engineering of the response is not possible with traditional approaches.
Another major benefit of epitope-based immune-stimulating vaccines is their safety. The possible pathological side effects caused by infectious agents or whole protein antigens, which might have their own intrinsic biological activity, is eliminated.
An epitope-based vaccine also provides the ability to direct and focus an immune response to multiple selected antigens from the same pathogen. Thus, patient-by-patient variability in the immune response to a particular pathogen may be alleviated by inclusion of epitopes from multiple antigens from that pathogen in a vaccine composition. A “pathogen” may be an infectious agent or a tumor associated molecule.
One of the most formidable obstacles to the development of broadly efficacious epitope-based immunotherapeutics, however, has been the extreme polymorphism of HLA molecules. To date, effective non-genetically biased coverage of a population has been a task of considerable complexity; such coverage has required that epitopes be used that are specific for HLA molecules corresponding to each individual HLA allele, therefore, impractically large numbers of epitopes would have to be used in order to cover ethnically diverse populations. Thus, there has existed a need for peptide epitopes that are bound by multiple HLA antigen molecules for use in epitope-based vaccines. The greater the number of HLA antigen molecules bound, the greater the breadth of population coverage by the vaccine.
Furthermore, as described herein in greater detail, a need has existed to modulate peptide binding properties, for example, so that peptides that are able to bind to multiple HLA antigens do so with an affinity that will stimulate an immune response. Identification of epitopes restricted by more than one HLA allele at an affinity that correlates with immunogenicity is important to provide thorough population coverage, and to allow the elicitation of responses of sufficient vigor to prevent or clear an infection in a diverse segment of the population. Such a response can also target a broad array of epitopes. The technology disclosed herein provides for such favored immune responses.
In a preferred embodiment, epitopes for inclusion in vaccine compositions of the invention are selected by a process whereby protein sequences of known antigens are evaluated for the presence of motif or supermotif-bearing epitopes. Peptides corresponding to a motif- or supermotif-bearing epitope are then synthesized and tested for the ability to bind to the HLA molecule that recognizes the selected motif. Those peptides that bind at an intermediate or high affinity i.e., an IC50 (or a KD value) of 500 nM or less for HLA class I molecules or 1000 nM or less for HLA class II molecules, are further evaluated for their ability to induce a CTL or HTL response. Immunogenic peptide epitopes are selected for inclusion in vaccine compositions.
Supermotif-bearing peptides may additionally be tested for the ability to bind to multiple alleles within the HLA supertype family. Moreover, peptide epitopes may be analogued to modify binding affinity and/or the ability to bind to multiple alleles within an HLA supertype.
The invention also includes an embodiment comprising a method for monitoring or evaluating an immune response to HCV in a patient having a known HLA-type, the method comprising incubating a T lymphocyte sample from the patient with a peptide composition comprising an HCV epitope consisting essentially of an amino acid sequence described in Tables VII to Table XX or Table XXII which binds the product of at least one HLA allele present in said patient, and detecting for the presence of a T lymphocyte that binds to the peptide. A CTL peptide epitope may, for example, comprise a tetrameric complex.
An alternative modality for defining the peptide epitopes in accordance with the invention is to recite the physical properties, such as length; primary structure; or charge, which are correlated with binding to a particular allele-specific HLA molecule or group of allele-specific HLA molecules. A further modality for defining peptide epitopes is to recite the physical properties of an HLA binding pocket, or properties shared by several allele-specific HLA binding pockets (e.g. pocket configuration and charge distribution) and reciting that the peptide epitope fits and binds to said pocket or pockets.
As will be apparent from the discussion below, other methods and embodiments are also contemplated. Further, novel synthetic peptides produced by any of the methods described herein are also part of the invention.
The peptide epitopes and corresponding nucleic acid compositions of the present invention are useful for stimulating an immune response to HCV by stimulating the production of CTL or HTL responses. The peptide epitopes, which are derived directly or indirectly from native HCV amino acid sequences, are able to bind to HLA molecules and stimulate an immune response to HCV. The complete polyprotein sequence from HCV and its variants can be obtained from Genbank. Peptide epitopes and analogs thereof can also be readily determined from sequence information that may subsequently be discovered for heretofore unknown variants of HCV, as will be clear from the disclosure provided below.
The peptide epitopes of the invention have been identified in a number of ways, as will be discussed below. Also discussed in greater detail is that analog peptides have been derived and the binding activity for HLA molecules modulated by modifying specific amino acid residues to create peptide analogs exhibiting altered immunogenicity. Further, the present invention provides compositions and combinations of compositions that enable epitope-based vaccines that are capable of interacting with HLA molecules encoded by various genetic alleles to provide broader population coverage than prior vaccines.
The invention can be better understood with reference to the following definitions, which are listed alphabetically:
A “computer” or “computer system” generally includes: a processor; at least one information storage/retrieval apparatus such as, for example, a hard drive, a disk drive or a tape drive; at least one input apparatus such as, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, or a microphone; and display structure. Additionally, the computer may include a communication channel in communication with a network. Such a computer may include more or less than what is listed above.
“Cross-reactive binding” indicates that a peptide is bound by more than one HLA molecule; a synonym is degenerate binding.
A “cryptic epitope” elicits a response by immunization with an isolated peptide, but the response is not cross-reactive in vitro when intact whole protein which comprises the epitope is used as an antigen.
A “dominant epitope” is an epitope that induces an immune response upon immunization with a whole native antigen (see, e.g., Sercarz, et al., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 11:729-766, 1993). Such a response is cross-reactive in vitro with an isolated peptide epitope.
With regard to a particular amino acid sequence, an “epitope” is a set of amino acid residues which is involved in recognition by a particular immunoglobulin, or in the context of T cells, those residues necessary for recognition by T cell receptor proteins and/or Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) receptors. In an immune system setting, in vivo or in vitro, an epitope is the collective features of a molecule, such as primary, secondary and tertiary peptide structure, and charge, that together form a site recognized by an immunoglobulin, T cell receptor or HLA molecule. Throughout this disclosure epitope and peptide are often used interchangeably. It is to be appreciated, however, that isolated or purified protein or peptide molecules larger than and comprising an epitope of the invention are still within the bounds of the invention.
“Human Leukocyte Antigen” or “HLA” is a human class I or class II Major Histocompatibility Complex. (MHC) protein (see, e.g., Stites, et al., I
An “HLA supertype or family”, as used herein, describes sets of HLA molecules grouped on the basis of shared peptide-binding specificities. HLA class I molecules that share somewhat similar binding affinity for peptides bearing certain amino acid motifs are grouped into HLA supertypes. The terms HLA superfamily, HLA supertype family, HLA family, and HLA xx-like supertype molecules (where xx denotes a particular HLA type), are synonyms.
Throughout this disclosure, results are expressed in terms of “IC50 's.” IC50 is the concentration of peptide in a binding assay at which 50% inhibition of binding of a reference peptide is observed. Given the conditions in which the assays are run (i.e., limiting HLA proteins and labeled peptide concentrations), these values approximate KD values. It should be noted that IC50 values can change, often dramatically, if the assay conditions are varied, and depending on the particular reagents used (e.g., HLA preparation, etc.). For example, excessive concentrations of HLA molecules will increase the apparent measured IC50 of a given ligand.
Assays for determining binding are described in detail, e.g., in PCT publications WO 94/20127 and WO 94/03205. Alternatively, binding is expressed relative to a reference peptide. As a particular assay becomes more, or less, sensitive, the IC50's of the peptides tested may change somewhat. However, the binding relative to the reference peptide will not significantly change. For example, in an assay run under conditions such that the IC50 of the reference peptide increases 10-fold, the IC50 values of the test peptides will also shift approximately 10-fold. Therefore, to avoid ambiguities, the assessment of whether a peptide is a good, intermediate, weak, or negative binder is generally based on its IC50, relative to the IC50 of a standard peptide.
Binding may also be determined using other assay systems including those using: live cells (e.g., Ceppellini et al., Nature 339:392, 1989; Christnick et al, Nature 352:67, 1991; Busch et al., Int. Immunol. 2:443, 19990; Hill et al., J. Immunol. 147:189, 1991; del Guercio et al., J. Immunol. 154:685, 1995), cell free systems using detergent lysates (e.g., Cerundolo et al., J. Immunol. 21:2069, 1991), immobilized purified MHC (e.g., Hill et al., J. Immunol. 152, 2890, 1994; Marshall et al., J. Immunol. 152:4946, 1994), ELISA systems (e.g., Reay et al., EMBO J. 11:2829, 1992), surface plasmon resonance (e.g., Khilko et al., J. Biol. Chem. 268:15425, 1993); high flux soluble phase assays (Hammer et al., J. Exp. Med. 180:2353, 1994), and measurement of class I MHC stabilization or assembly (e.g., Ljunggren et al., Nature 346:476, 1990; Schumacher et al., Cell 62:563, 1990; Townsend et al., Cell 62:285, 1990; Parker et al., J. Immunol. 149:1896, 1992).
As used herein, “high affinity” with respect to HLA class I molecules is defined as binding with an IC50, or KD value, of 50 nM or less; “intermediate affinity” is binding with an IC50 or KD value of between about 50 and about 500 nM. “High affinity” with respect to binding to HLA class II molecules is defined as binding with an IC50 or KD value of 100 nM or less; “intermediate affinity” is binding with an IC50 or KD value of between about 100 and about 1000 nM.
The terms “identical” or percent “identity,” in the context of two or more peptide sequences, refer to two or more sequences or subsequences that are the same or have a specified percentage of amino acid residues that are the same, when compared and aligned for maximum correspondence over a comparison window, as measured using a sequence comparison algorithm or by manual alignment and visual inspection.
An “immunogenic peptide” or “peptide epitope” is a peptide that comprises an allele-specific motif or supermotif such that the peptide will bind an HLA molecule and induce a CTL and/or HTL response. Thus, immunogenic peptides of the invention are capable of binding to an appropriate HLA molecule and thereafter inducing a cytotoxic T cell response, or a helper T cell response, to the antigen from which the immunogenic peptide is derived.
The phrases “isolated” or “biologically pure” refer to material which is substantially or essentially free from components which normally accompany the material as it is found in its native state. Thus, isolated peptides in accordance with the invention preferably do not contain materials normally associated with the peptides in their in situ environment.
“Major Histocompatibility Complex” or “MHC” is a cluster of genes that plays a role in control of the cellular interactions responsible for physiologic immune responses. In humans, the MHC complex is also known as the HLA complex. For a detailed description of the MHC and HLA complexes, see, Paul, F
The term “motif” refers to the pattern of residues in a peptide of defined length, usually a peptide of from about 8 to about 13 amino acids for a class I HLA motif and from about 6 to about 25 amino acids for a class II HLA motif, which is recognized by a particular HLA molecule. Peptide motifs are typically different for each protein encoded by each human HLA allele and differ in the pattern of the primary and secondary anchor residues.
A “negative binding residue” is an amino acid which, if present at certain positions (typically not primary anchor positions) in a peptide epitope, results in decreased binding affinity of the peptide for the peptide's corresponding HLA molecule.
The term “peptide” is used interchangeably with “oligopeptide” in the present specification to designate a series of residues, typically L-amino acids, connected one to the other, typically by peptide bonds between the α-amino and carboxyl groups of adjacent amino acids. The preferred CTL-inducing peptides of the invention are 13 residues or less in length and usually consist of between about 8 and about 11 residues, preferably 9 or 10 residues. The preferred HTL-inducing oligopeptides are less than about 50 residues in length and usually consist of between about 6 and about 30 residues, more usually between about 12 and 25, and often between about 15 and 20 residues.
“Pharmaceutically acceptable” refers to a non-toxic, inert, and physiologically compatible composition.
A “primary anchor residue” is an amino acid at a specific position along a peptide sequence which is understood to provide a contact point between the immunogenic peptide and the HLA molecule. One to three, usually two, primary anchor residues within a peptide of defined length generally defines a “motif” for an immunogenic peptide. These residues are understood to fit in close contact with peptide binding grooves of an HLA molecule, with their side chains buried in specific pockets of the binding grooves themselves. In one embodiment, the primary anchor residues are located at position 2 (from the amino terminal position) and at the carboxyl terminal position of a 9-residue peptide epitope in accordance with the invention. The primary anchor positions for each motif and supermotif are set forth in Table 1. For example, analog peptides can be created by altering the presence or absence of particular residues in these primary anchor positions. Such analogs are used to modulate the binding affinity of a peptide comprising a particular motif or supermotif.
“Promiscuous recognition” is where a distinct peptide is recognized by the same T cell clone in the context of various HLA molecules. Promiscuous recognition or binding is synonymous with cross-reactive binding.
A “protective immune response” or “therapeutic immune response” refers to a CTL and/or an HTL response to an antigen derived from an infectious agent or a tumor antigen, which prevents or at least partially arrests disease symptoms or progression. The immune response may also include an antibody response which has been facilitated by the stimulation of helper T cells.
The term “residue” refers to an amino acid or amino acid mimetic incorporated into an oligopeptide by an amide bond or amide bond mimetic.
A “secondary anchor residue” is an amino acid at a position other than a primary anchor position in a peptide which may influence peptide binding. A secondary anchor residue occurs at a significantly higher frequency amongst bound peptides than would be expected by random distribution of amino acids at one position. The secondary anchor residues are said to occur at “secondary anchor positions.” A secondary anchor residue can be identified as a residue which is present at a higher frequency among high or intermediate affinity binding peptides, or a residue otherwise associated with high or intermediate affinity binding. For example, analog peptides can be created by altering the presence or absence of particular residues in these secondary anchor positions. Such analogs are used to finely modulate the binding affinity of a peptide comprising a particular motif or supermotif.
A “subdominant epitope” is an epitope which evokes little or no response upon immunization with whole antigens which comprise the epitope, but for which a response can be obtained by immunization with an isolated peptide, and this response (unlike the case of cryptic epitopes) is detected when whole protein is used to recall the response in vitro or in vivo.
A “supermotif” is a peptide binding specificity shared by HLA molecules encoded by two or more HLA alleles. Preferably, a supermotif-bearing peptide is recognized with high or intermediate affinity (as defined herein) by two or more HLA antigens.
“Synthetic peptide” refers to a peptide that is not naturally occurring, but is man-made using such methods as chemical synthesis or recombinant DNA technology.
The nomenclature used to describe peptide compounds follows the conventional practice wherein the amino group is presented to the left (the N-terminus) and the carboxyl group to the right (the C-terminus) of each amino acid residue. When amino acid residue positions are referred to in a peptide epitope they are numbered in an amino to carboxyl direction with position one being the position closest to the amino terminal end of the epitope, or the peptide or protein of which it may be a part. In the formulae representing selected specific embodiments of the present invention, the amino- and carboxyl-terminal groups, although not specifically shown, are in the form they would assume at physiologic pH values, unless otherwise specified. In the amino acid structure formulae, each residue is generally represented by standard three letter or single letter designations. The L-form of an amino acid residue is represented by a capital single letter or a capital first letter of a three-letter symbol, and the D-form for those amino acids having D-forms is represented by a lower case single letter or a lower case three letter symbol. Glycine has no asymmetric carbon atom and is simply referred to as “Gly” or G. Symbols for the amino acids are shown below.
The mechanism by which T cells recognize antigens has been delineated during the past ten years. Based on our understanding of the immune system we have developed efficacious peptide epitope vaccine compositions that can induce a therapeutic or prophylactic immune response to HCV in a broad population. For an understanding of the value and efficacy of the claimed compositions, a brief review of immunology-related technology is provided.
A complex of an HLA molecule and a peptidic antigen acts as the ligand recognized by HLA-restricted T cells (Buus, S. et al., Cell 47:1071, 1986; Babbitt, B. P. et al., Nature 317:359, 1985; Townsend, A. and Bodmer, H., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 7:601, 1989; Germain, R. N., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 11:403, 1993). Through the study of single amino acid substituted antigen analogs and the sequencing of endogenously bound, naturally processed peptides, critical residues that correspond to motifs required for specific binding to HLA antigen molecules have been identified and are described herein and are set forth in Tables I, II, and III (see also, e.g., Southwood, et al., J. Immunol. 160:3363, 1998; Rammensee, et al., Immunogenetics 41:178, 1995; Rammensee et al., SYFPEITHI, access via web at: http://134.2.96.221/scripts.hlaserver.dll/home.htm; Sette, A. and Sidney, J. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 10:478, 1998; Engelhard, V. H., Curr. Opin. Immunol. 6:13, 1994; Sette, A. and Grey, H. M., Curr. Opin. Immunol. 4:79, 1992; Sinigaglia, F. and Hamrner, J. Curr. Biol. 6:52, 1994; Ruppert et al., Cell 74:929-937, 1993; Kondo et al., J. Immunol. 155:4307-4312, 1995; Sidney et al., J. Immunol. 157:3480-3490, 1996; Sidney et al., Human Immunol. 45:79-93, 1996; Sette, A. and Sidney, J. Immunogenetics, in press, 1999).
Furthermore, x-ray crystallographic analysis of HLA-peptide complexes has revealed pockets within the peptide binding cleft of HLA molecules which accommodate, in an allele-specific mode, residues borne by peptide ligands; these residues in turn determine the HLA binding capacity of the peptides in which they are present. (See, e.g., Madden, D. R. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 13:587, 1995; Smith, et al., Immunity 4:203, 1996; Fremont et al., Immunity 8:305, 1998; Stem et al., Structure 2:245, 1994; Jones, E. Y. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 9:75, 1997; Brown, J. H. et al., Nature 364:33, 1993; Guo, H. C. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:8053, 1993; Guo, H. C. et al., Nature 360:364, 1992; Silver, M. L. et al., Nature 360:367, 1992; Matsumura, M. et al., Science 257:927, 1992; Madden et al., Cell 70:1035, 1992; Fremont, D. H. et al., Science 257:919, 1992; Saper, M. A., Bjorkman, P. J. and Wiley, D. C., J. Mol. Biol. 219:277, 1991.)
Accordingly, the definition of class I and class II allele-specific HLA binding motifs, or class I or class II supermotifs allows identification of regions within a protein that have the potential of binding particular HLA antigen(s).
The present inventors have found that the correlation of binding affinity with immunogenicity, which is disclosed herein, is an important factor to be considered when evaluating candidate peptides. Thus, by a combination of motif searches and HLA-peptide binding assays, candidates for epitope-based vaccines have been identified. After determining their binding affinity, additional confirmatory work can be performed to select, amongst these vaccine candidates, epitopes with preferred characteristics in terms of population coverage, antigenicity, and immunogenicity.
Various strategies can be utilized to evaluate immunogenicity, including:
1) Evaluation of primary T cell cultures from normal individuals (see, e.g., Wentworth, P. A. et al., Mol. Jmmunol. 32:603, 1995; Celis, E. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:2105, 1994; Tsai, V. et al., J. Immunol. 158:1796, 1997; Kawashima, I. et al., Human Immunol. 59:1, 1998); This procedure involves the stimulation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from normal subjects with a test peptide in the presence of antigen presenting cells in vitro over a period of several weeks. T cells specific for the peptide become activated during this time and are detected using, e.g., a 51Cr-release assay involving peptide sensitized target cells.
2) Immunization of HLA transgenic mice (see, e.g., Wentworth, P. A. et al., J. Immunol. 26:97, 1996; Wentworth, P. A. et al., Int. Immunol. 8:651, 1996; Alexander, J. et al., J. Immunol. 159:4753, 1997); In this method, peptides in incomplete Freund's adjuvant are administered subcutaneously to HLA transgenic mice. Several weeks following immunization, splenocytes are removed and cultured in vitro in the presence of test peptide for approximately one week. Peptide-specific T cells are detected using, e.g., a 51Cr-release assay involving peptide sensitized target cells and target cells expressing endogenously generated antigen.
3) Demonstration of recall T cell responses from immune individuals who have effectively been vaccinated, recovered from infection, and/or from chronically infected patients (see, e.g., Rehermann, B. et al., J. Exp. Med. 181:1047, 1995; Doolan, D. L. et al., Immunity 7:97, 1997; Bertoni, R. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 100:503, 1997; Threlkeld, S. C. et al., J. Immunol. 159:1648, 1997; Diepolder, H. M. et al., J. Virol. 71:6011, 1997). In applying this strategy, recall responses are detected by culturing PBL from subjects that have been naturally exposed to the antigen, for instance through infection, and thus have generated an immune response “naturally”, or from patients who were vaccinated against the infection. PBL from subjects are cultured in vitro for 1-2 weeks in the presence of test peptide plus antigen presenting cells. (APC) to allow activation of “memory” T cells, as compared to “naive” T cells. At the end of the culture period, T cell activity is detected using assays for T cell activity including 51Cr release involving peptide-sensitized targets, T cell proliferation, or lymphokine release.
The following describes the peptide epitopes and corresponding nucleic acids of the invention.
As indicated herein, the large degree of HLA polymorphism is an important factor to be taken into account with the epitope-based approach to vaccine development. To address this factor, epitope selection encompassing identification of peptides capable of binding at high or intermediate affinity to multiple HLA molecules is preferably utilized, most preferably these epitopes bind at high or intermediate affinity to two or more allele specific HLA molecules.
CTL-inducing peptides of interest for vaccine compositions preferably include those that have an IC50 or binding affinity value for class I HLA molecules of 500 nM or better (i.e., the value is ≧500 nM). HTL-inducing peptides preferably include those that have an IC50 or binding affinity value for class II HLA molecules of 1000 nM or better, (i.e., the value is ≧1,000 nM). For example, peptide binding is assessed by testing the capacity of a candidate peptide to bind to a purified HLA molecule in vitro. Peptides exhibiting high or intermediate affinity are then considered for further analysis. Selected peptides are tested on other members of the supertype family. In preferred embodiments, peptides that exhibit cross-reactive binding are then used in vaccines or in cellular screening analyses.
As disclosed herein, higher HLA binding affinity is correlated with greater immunogenicity. Greater immunogenicity can be manifested in several different ways. Immunogenicity corresponds to whether an immune response is elicited at all, and to the vigor of any particular response, as well as to the extent of a population in which a response is elicited. For example, a peptide might elicit an immune response in a diverse array of the population, yet in no instance produce a vigorous response. In accordance with these principles, close to 90% of high binding peptides have been found to be immunogenic, as contrasted with about 50% of the peptides which bind with intermediate affinity. Moreover, higher binding affinity peptides leads to more vigorous immunogenic responses. As a result, less peptide is required to elicit a similar biological effect if a high affinity binding peptide is used. Thus, in preferred embodiments of the invention, high affinity binding epitopes are particularly useful.
The relationship between binding affinity for HLA class I molecules and immunogenicity of discrete peptide epitopes on bound antigens has been determined for the first time in the art by the present inventors. The correlation between binding affinity and immunogenicity was analyzed in two different experimental approaches (see, e.g., Sette, et al., J. Immunol. 153:5586-5592, 1994). In the first approach, the immunogenicity of potential epitopes ranging in HLA binding affinity over a 10,000-fold range was analyzed in HLA-A*0201 transgenic mice. In the second approach, the antigenicity of approximately 100 different hepatitis B virus (HBV)-derived potential epitopes, all carrying A*0201 binding motifs, was assessed by using PBL from acute hepatitis patients. Pursuant to these approaches, it was determined that an affinity threshold value of approximately 500 nM (preferably 50 nM or less) determines the capacity of a peptide epitope to elicit a CTL response. These data are true for class I binding affinity measurements for naturally processed peptides and for synthesized T cell epitopes. These data also indicate the important role of determinant selection in the shaping of T cell responses (see, e.g., Schaeffer et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:4649-4653, 1989).
An affinity threshold associated with immunogenicity in the context of HLA class II DR molecules has also been delineated (see, e.g., Southwood et al. J. Immunology 160:3363-3373, 1998, and U.S. Ser. No. 60/087,192 filed May 29, 1998). In order to define a biologically significant threshold of DR binding affinity, a database of the binding affinities of 32 DR-restricted epitopes for their restricting element (i.e., the HLA molecule that binds the motif) was compiled. In approximately half of the cases (15 of 32 epitopes), DR restriction was associated with high binding affinities, i.e. binding affinity values of 100 nM or less. In the other half of the cases (16 of 32), DR restriction was associated with intermediate affinity (binding affinity values in the 100-1000 nM range). In only one of 32 cases was DR restriction associated with an IC50 of 1000 nM or greater. Thus, 1000 nM can be defined as an affinity threshold associated with immunogenicity in the context of DR molecules.
The binding affinity of peptides for HLA molecules can be determined as described in Example 1, below.
In the past few years evidence has accumulated to demonstrate that a large fraction of HLA class I and class II molecules can be classified into a relatively few supertypes, each characterized by largely overlapping peptide binding repertoires, and consensus structures of the main peptide binding pockets.
For HLA molecule pocket analyses, the residues comprising the B and F pockets of HLA class I molecules as described in crystallographic studies were analyzed (see, e.g., Guo, H. C. et al., Nature 360:364, 1992; Saper, M. A., Bjorkman, P. J. and Wiley, D. C., J. Mol. Biol. 219:277, 1991; Madden, D. R., Garboczi, D. N. and Wiley, D. C., Cell 75:693, 1993; Parham, P., Adams, E. J., and Arnett, K. L., Immunol. Rev. 143:141, 1995). In these analyses, residues 9, 45, 63, 66, 67, 70, and 99 were considered to make up the B pocket; and the B pocket was deemed to determine the specificity for the amino acid residue in the second position of peptide ligands. Similarly, residues 77, 80, 81, and 116 were considered to determine the specificity of the F pocket; the F pocket was deemed to determine the specificity for the C-terminal residue of a peptide ligand bound by the HLA class I molecule.
Through the study of single amino acid substituted antigen analogs and the sequencing of endogenously bound, naturally processed peptides, critical residues required for allele-specific binding to HLA molecules have been identified. The presence of these residues correlates with binding affinity for HLA molecules. The identification of motifs and/or supermotifs that correlate with high and intermediate affinity binding is an important issue with respect to the identification of immunogenic peptide epitopes for the inclusion in a vaccine. Kast et al. (J. Immunol. 152:3904-3912, 1994) have shown that motif-bearing peptides account for 90% of the epitopes that bind to allele-specific HLA class I molecules. In this study all possible peptides of 9 amino acids in length and overlapping by eight amino acids (240 peptides), which cover the entire sequence of the E6 and E7 proteins of human papillomavirus type 16, were evaluated for binding to five allele-specific HLA molecules that are expressed at high frequency among different ethnic groups. This unbiased set of peptides allowed an evaluation of the predictive value of HLA class I motifs. From the set of 240 peptides, 22 peptides were identified that bound to an allele-specific HLA molecule with high or intermediate affinity. Of these 22 peptides, 20 (i.e. 91%) were motif-bearing. Thus, this study demonstrates the value of motifs for the identification of peptide epitopes for inclusion in a vaccine: application of motif-based identification techniques eliminates screening of 90% of the potential epitopes in a target antigen protein sequence.
Such peptide epitopes are identified in the Tables described below.
Peptides of the present invention may also comprise epitopes that bind to MHC class II DR molecules. A greater degree of heterogeneity in both size and binding frame position of the motif, relative to the N and C termini of the peptide, exists for class II peptide ligands. This increased heterogeneity of HLA class II peptide ligands is due to the structure of the binding groove of the HLA class II molecule which, unlike its class I counterpart, is open at both ends. Crystallographic analysis of HLA class II DRB*0101-peptide complexes showed that the major energy of binding is contributed by peptide residues complexed with complementary pockets on the DRB*0101 molecules. An important anchor residue engages the deepest hydrophobic pocket (see, e.g., Madden, D. R. Ann. Rev. Immunol. 13:587, 1995) and is referred to as position 1 (P1). P1 may represent the N-terminal residue of a class II binding peptide epitope, but more typically is flanked towards the N-terminus by one or more residues. Other studies have also pointed to an important role for the peptide residue in the 6th position towards the C-terminus, relative to P1, for binding to various DR molecules.
Thus, peptides of the present invention are identified by any one of several HLA-specific amino acid motifs (see, e.g., Tables I-III). If the presence of the motif corresponds to the ability to bind several allele-specific HLA antigens, it is referred to as a supermotif. The HLA molecules that bind to peptides that possess a particular amino acid supermotif are collectively referred to as an HLA “supertype.”
The peptide motifs and supermotifs described below, and summnarized in Tables I-III, provide guidance for the identification and use of peptide epitopes in accordance with the invention.
Examples of peptide epitopes bearing a respective supermotif or motif are included in Tables as designated in the description of each motif or supermotif below. The Tables include a binding affinity ratio listing for some of the peptide epitopes. The ratio may be converted to IC50 by using the following formula: IC50 of the standard peptide/ratio=IC50 of the test peptide (i.e., the peptide epitope). The IC50 values of standard peptides used to determine binding affinities for Class I peptides are shown in Table IV. The IC50 values of standard peptides used to determine binding affinities for Class II peptides are shown in Table V. The peptides used as standards for the binding assays described herein are examples of standards; alternative standard peptides can also be used when performing such an analysis.
To obtain the peptide epitope sequences listed in each Table, protein sequence data from fourteen HCV isolates were evaluated for the presence of the designated supermotif or motif. The fourteen strains include HPCCGAA, HPCPLYPRE, HCV-H-CMR, HCV-J1, HPCGENANTI, HPCGENOM, HPCHUMR, HPCJCG, HPCJTA, HCV-J483, HCV-JK1, HCV-N, HPCPOLP, and HCV-J8. Peptide epitopes were additionally evaluated on the basis of their conservancy among these fourteen strains. A criterion for conservancy requires that the entire sequence of an HLA class I binding peptide be totally conserved in 79% of the sequences available for a specific protein. Similarly, a criterion for conservancy requires that the entire 9-mer core region of an HLA class II binding peptide be totally conserved in 79% of the sequences available for a specific protein. The percent conservancy of the selected peptide epitopes is indicated on the Tables. The frequency, i.e. the number of strains of the fourteen strains in which the totally conserved peptide sequence was identified, is also shown. The “position” column in the Tables designates the amino acid position of the HCV polyprotein that corresponds to the first amino acid residue of the epitope. The “number of amino acids” indicates the number of residues in the epitope sequence.
The primary anchor residues of the HLA class I peptide-epitope supermotifs and motifs delineated below are summarized in Table I. The HLA class I motifs set out in Table I(a) are those most particularly relevant to the invention claimed here. Primary and secondary anchor positions are summarized in Table II. Allele-specific HLA molecules that comprise HLA class I supertype families are listed in Table VI.
The HLA-A 1 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of a small (T or S) or hydrophobic (L, I, V, or M) primary anchor residue in position 2, and an aromatic (Y, F, or W) primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. The corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind to the A1 supermotif (i.e., the HLA-A1 supertype) is comprised of at least A*0101, A*2601, A*2602, A*2501, and A*3201 (see, e.g., DiBrino, M. et al., J. Immunol. 151:5930, 1993; DiBrino, M. et al., J. Immunol. 152:620, 1994; Kondo, A. et al., Immunogenetics 45:249, 1997). Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the A1 superfamily are shown in Table VI. Peptides binding to each of the individual HLA proteins can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the A1 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table VII.
Primary anchor specificities for allele-specific HLA-A2.1 molecules (Falk et al., Nature 351:290-296, 1991; Hunt et al., Science 255:1261-1263, 1992; Parker et al., J. Immunol. 149:3580-3587, 1992) and cross-reactive binding within the HLA A2 family (Fruci et al., Human Immunol. 38:187-192, 1993; Tanigaki et al., Human Immunol. 39:155-162, 1994) have been described. The present inventors have defined additional primary anchor residues that determine cross-reactive binding to multiple allele-specific HLA A2 molecules (Ruppert et al., Cell 74:929-937, 1993; Del Guercio et al., J. Immunol. 154:685-693, 1995; Kast et al., J. Immunol. 152:3904-3912, 1994). The HLA-A2 supermotif comprises peptide ligands with L, I, V, M, A, T, or Q as a primary anchor residue at position 2 and L, I, V, M, A, or T as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope.
The corresponding family of HLA molecules (i.e., the HLA-A2 supertype that binds these peptides) is comprised of at least: A*0201, A*0202, A*0203, A*0204, A*0205, A*0206, A*0207, A*0209, A*0214, A*6802, and A*6901. Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the A2 superfamily are shown in Table VI. As explained in detail below, binding to each of the individual allele-specific HLA molecules can be modulated by substitutions at the primary anchor and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise an A2 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table VIII. The motifs comprising the primary anchor residues V, A, T, or Q at position 2 and L, I, V, A, or T at the C-terminal position are those most particularly relevant to the invention claimed herein.
The HLA-A3 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of A, L, I, V, M, S, or, T as a primary anchor at position 2, and a positively charged residue, R or K, at the C-terminal position of the epitope (e.g., in position 9 of 9-mers). Exemplary members of the corresponding family of HLA molecules (the HLA-A3 supertype) that bind the A3 supermotif include at least A*0301, A*1101, A*3101, A*3301, and A*6801. Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the A3 superfamily are shown in Table VI. As explained in detail below, peptide binding to each of the individual allele-specific HLA proteins can be modulated by substitutions of amino acids at the primary and/or secondary anchor positions of the peptide, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the A3 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table IX.
The HLA-A24 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of an aromatic (F, W, or Y) or hydrophobic aliphatic (L, I, V, M, or T) residue as a primary anchor in position 2, and Y, F, W, L, I, or M as primary anchor at the C-terminal position of the epitope. The corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind to the A24 supermotif (i.e., the A24 supertype) includes at least A*2402, A*3001, and A*2301. Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the A24 superfamily are shown in Table VI. Peptide binding to each of the allele-specific HLA molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the A24 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table X.
The HLA-B7 supermotif is characterized by peptides bearing proline in position 2 as a primary anchor, and a hydrophobic or aliphatic amino acid (L, I, V, M, A, F, W, or Y) as the primary anchor at the C-terminal position of the epitope. The corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind the B7 supermotif (i.e., the HLA-B7 supertype) is comprised of at least twenty six HLA-B proteins including: B*0702, B*0703, B*0704, B*0705, B*1508, B*3501, B*3502, B*3503, B*3504, B*3505, B*3506, B*3507, B*3508, B*5101, B*5102, B*5103, B*5104, B*5105, B*5301, B*5401, B*5501, B*5502, B*5601, B*5602, B*6701, and B*7801 (see, e.g., Sidney, et al., J. Immunol. 154:247, 1995; Barber, et al., Curr. Biol. 5:179, 1995; Hill, et al., Nature 360:434, 1992; Rammensee, et al., Immunogenetics 41:178, 1995). Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the B7 superfamily are shown in Table VI. As explained in detail below, peptide binding to each of the individual allele-specific HLA proteins can be modulated by substitutions at the primary and/or secondary anchor positions of the peptide, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the B7 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table XI.
The HLA-B27 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of a positively charged (R, H, or K) residue as a primary anchor at position 2, and a hydrophobic (F, Y, L, W, M, I, A, or V) residue as a primary anchor at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Exemplary members of the corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind to the B27 supermotif (i.e., the B27 supertype) include at least B*1401, B*1402, B*1509, B*2702, B*2703, B*2704, B*2705, B*2706, B*3801, B*3901, B*3902, and B*7301. Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the B27 superfamily are shown in Table VI. Peptide binding to each of the allele-specific HLA molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the B27 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table XII.
The HLA-B44 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of negatively charged (D or E) residues as a primary anchor in position 2, and hydrophobic residues (F, W, Y, L, I, M, V, or A) as a primary anchor at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Exemplary members of the corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind to the B44 supermotif (i.e., the B44 supertype) include at least: B*1801, B*1802, B*3701, B*4001, B*4002, B*4006, B*4402, B*4403, and B*4006. Peptide binding to each of the allele-specific HLA molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions; preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
The HLA-B58 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of a small aliphatic residue (A, S, or T) as a primary anchor residue at position 2, and an aromatic or hydrophobic residue (F, W, Y, L, I, V, M, or A) as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Exemplary members of the corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind to the B58 supermotif (i.e., the B58 supertype) include at least: B*1516, B*1517, B*5701, B*5702, and B*5801. Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the B58 superfamily are shown in Table VI.
Peptide binding to each of the allele-specific HLA molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the B58 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table XIII.
The HLA-B62 supermotif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of the polar aliphatic residue Q or a hydrophobic aliphatic residue (L, V, M, I, or P) as a primary anchor in position 2, and a hydrophobic residue (F, W, Y, M, I, V, L, or A) as a primary anchor at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Exemplary members of the corresponding family of HLA molecules that bind to the B62 supermotif (i.e., the B62 supertype) include at least: B*1501, B*1502, B*1513, and B5201. Other allele-specific HLA molecules predicted to be members of the B62 superfamily are shown in Table VI. Peptide binding to each of the allele-specific HLA molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the B62 supermotif are set forth on the attached Table XIV.
The HLA-A1 motif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of T, S, or M as a primary anchor residue at position 2 and the presence of Y as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. An alternative allele-specific A1 motif is characterized by a primary anchor residue at position 3 rather than position 2. This motif is characterized by the presence of D, E, A, or S as a primary anchor residue in position 3, and a Y as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Peptide binding to HLA A1 can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the motif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise either A1 motif are set forth on the attached Table XV. Those epitopes comprising T, S, or M at position 2 and Y at the C-terminal position are also included in the listing of HLA-A1 supermotif-bearing peptide epitopes listed in Table VII.
An HLA-A2*0201 motif was first determined to be characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of L or M as a primary anchor residue in position 2, and L or V as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of a 9-residue peptide (Falk et al., Nature 351:290-296, 1991). The A*0201 motif was also determined to further comprise an I at position 2 and I or A at the C-terminal position of a nine amino acid peptide (Hunt et al., Science 255:1261-1263, Mar. 6, 1992; Parker et al., J. Immunol. 149:3580-3587, 1992). Subsequently, the A*0201 allele-specific motif has been defined by the present inventors to additionally comprise V, A, T, or Q as a primary anchor residue at position 2, and M as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Additionally, the A*0201 allele-specific motif has been found to comprise a T at the C-terminal position (Kast et al., J. Immunol. 152:3904-3912, 1994). Thus, the HLA-A*0201 motif comprises peptide ligands with L, I, V, M, A, T, or Q as primary anchor residues at position 2 and L, I, V, M, A, or T as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. The preferred and tolerated residues that characterize the primary anchor positions of the HLA-A*0201 motif are identical to the residues describing the A2 supermotif. (For reviews of relevant data, see, e.g., Del Guercio et al., J. Immunol. 154:685-693, 1995; Ruppert et al., Cell 74:929-937, 1993; Sidney et al., Immunol. Today 17:261-266, 1996; Sette and Sidney, Curr. Opin. in Immunol. 10:478-482, 1998). Secondary anchor residues that characterize the A*0201 motif have additionally been defined as disclosed herein. These are disclosed in Table II. Peptide binding to HLA-A*0201 molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the motif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise an A*0201 motif are set forth on the attached Table VIII. The A*0201 motifs comprising the primary anchor residues V, A, T, or Q at position 2 and L, I, V, A, or T at the C-terminal position are those most particularly relevant to the invention claimed herein.
The HLA-A3 motif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of L, M, V, I, S, A, T, F, C, G, or D as a primary anchor residue at position 2, and the presence of K, Y, R, H, F, or A as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Peptide binding to HLA-A3 can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the motif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the A3 motif are set forth on the attached Table XVI. Those peptide epitopes that also comprise the A3 supermotif are also listed in Table IX.
The HLA-A 11 motif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of V, T, M, L, I, S, A, G, N, C, D, or F as a primary anchor residue in position 2, and K, R, Y, or H as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Peptide binding to HLA-A11 can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the motif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the A11 motif are set forth on the attached Table XVII; peptide epitopes comprising the A3 allele-specific motif are also present in this Table because of the extensive overlap between the A3 and A11 motif primary anchor specificities. Further, those peptide epitopes that comprise the A3 supermotif are also listed in Table IX.
The HLA-A24 motif is characterized by the presence in peptide ligands of Y, F, W, or M as a primary anchor residue in position 2, and F, L, I, or W as a primary anchor residue at the C-terminal position of the epitope. Peptide binding to HLA-A24 molecules can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions; preferably choosing respective residues specified for the motif.
Representative peptide epitopes that comprise the A24 motif are set forth on the attached Table XVIII. These epitopes are also listed in Table X, which sets forth HLA-A24-supermotif-bearing peptide epitopes.
The primary and secondary anchor residues of the HLA class II peptide epitope supermotifs and motifs delineated below are summarized in Table III.
Motifs have also been identified for peptides that bind to three common HLA class II allele-specific HLA molecules: HLA DRB1*0401, DRB1*0101, and DRB1*0701. Collectively, the common residues from these motifs delineate the HLA DR-1-4-7 supermotif. Peptides that bind to these DR molecules carry a supermotif characterized by a large aromatic or hydrophobic residue (Y, F, W, L, I, V, or M) as a primary anchor residue in position 1, and a small, non-charged residue (S, T, C, A, P, V, I, L, or M) as a primary anchor residue in position 6 of a 9-mer core region. Allele-specific secondary effects and secondary anchors for each of these HLA types have also been identified. These are set forth in Table III. Peptide binding to HLA-DRB1*0401, DRB1*0101, and/or DRB1*0701 can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the supermotif.
Conserved peptide epitopes i.e., conserved in ≧79% (≧11/14) of the HCV strains used for the present analysis, may be described as corresponding to epitopes containing a nine residue core comprising the DR-1-4-7 supermotif, and in which the 9 residue core is conserved in ≧79% (wherein position 1 of the motif is at position 1 of the nine residue core). Conserved 9-mer core regions are set forth in Table XIXa. Respective exemplary peptide epitopes of 15 amino acid residues in length, each of which comprise a conserved nine residue core, are also shown in section “a” of the Table. Cross-reactive binding data for exemplary 15-residue supermotif-bearing peptides are shown in Table XIXb.
Two alternative motifs (i.e., submotifs) characterize peptide epitopes that bind to HLA-DR3 molecules. In the first motif (submotif DR3A) a large, hydrophobic residue (L, I, V, M, F, or Y) is present in anchor position 1 of a 9-mer core, and D is present as an anchor at position 4, towards the carboxyl terminus of the epitope. As in other class II motifs, core position 1 may or may not occupy the peptide N-terminal position.
The alternative DR3 submotif provides for lack of the large, hydrophobic residue at anchor position 1, and/or lack of the negatively charged or amide-like anchor residue at position 4, by the presence of a positive charge at position 6 towards the carboxyl terminus of the epitope. Thus, for the alternative allele-specific DR3 motif (submotif DR3B): L, I, V, M, F, Y, A, or Y is present at anchor position 1; D, N, Q, E, S, or T is present at anchor position 4; and K, R, or H is present at anchor position 6. Peptide binding to HLA-DR3 can be modulated by substitutions at primary and/or secondary anchor positions, preferably choosing respective residues specified for the motif.
Conserved 9-mer core regions (i.e., those sequences that are conserved in at least 79% of the 14 HCV strains used for the analysis) corresponding to a nine residue sequence comprising the DR3A submotif (wherein position I of the motif is at position I of the nine residue core) are set forth in Table XXa. Respective exemplary peptide epitopes of 15 amino acid residues in length, each of which comprise a conserved nine residue core, are also shown in Table XXa. Table XXb shows binding data of exemplary DR3 submotif A-bearing peptides.
Conserved 9-mer core regions (i.e., those that are at least 79% conserved in the 14 HCV strains used for the analysis) comprising the DR3B submotif and respective exemplary 15-mer peptides comprising the DR3 submotif-B epitope are set forth in Table XXc. Table XXd shows binding data of exemplary DR3 submotif B-bearing peptides.
Each of the HLA class I or class II peptide epitopes set out in the Tables herein are deemed singly to be an inventive aspect of this application. Further, it is also an inventive aspect of this application that each peptide epitope may be used in combination with any other peptide epitope.
Vaccines that have broad population coverage are preferred because they are more commercially viable and generally applicable to the most people. Broad population coverage can be obtained using the peptides of the invention (and nucleic acid compositions that encode such peptides) through selecting peptide epitopes that bind to HLA alleles which, when considered in total, are present in most of the population. Table XXI lists the overall frequencies of the HLA class I supertypes in various ethnicities (Table XXIa) and the combined population coverage achieved by the A2-, A3-, and B7-supertypes (Table XXIb). The A2-, A3-, and B7 supertypes are each present on the average of over 40% in each of these five major ethnic groups. Coverage in excess of 80% is achieved with a combination of these supermotifs. These results suggest that effective and non-ethnically biased population coverage is achieved upon use of a limited number of cross-reactive peptides. Although the population coverage reached with these three main peptide specificities is high, coverage can be expanded to reach 95% population coverage and above, and more easily achieve truly multispecific responses upon use of additional supermotif or allele-specific motif bearing peptides.
The B44-, A1-, and A24-supertypes are present, on average, in a range from 25% to 40% in these major ethnic populations (Table XXIa). While less prevalent overall, the B27-, B58-, and B62 supertypes are each present with a frequency >25% in at least one major ethnic group (Table XXIa). Table XXIb summarizes the estimated prevalence of combinations of HLA supertypes that have been identified in five major ethnic groups. The incremental coverage obtained by the inclusion of A1, -A24-, and B44-supertypes to the A2, A3, and B7 coverage, or all of the supertypes described herein, is shown.
The data presented herein, together with the previous definition of the A2-, A3-, and B7-supertypes, indicates that all antigens, with the possible exception of A29, B8, and B46, can be classified into a total of nine HLA supertypes. By including epitopes from the six most frequent supertypes, an average population coverage of 99% is obtained for five major ethnic groups.
In general, CTL and HTL responses are not directed against all possible epitopes. Rather, they are restricted to a few “immunodominant” determinants (Zinkemagel, et al., Adv. Immunol. 27:5159, 1979; Bennink, et al., J. Exp. Med. 168:19351939, 1988; Rawle, et al., J. Immunol. 146:3977-3984, 1991). It has been recognized that immunodominance (Benacerraf, et al., Science 175:273-279, 1972) could be explained by either the ability of a given epitope to selectively bind a particular HLA protein (determinant selection theory) (Vitiello, et al., J. Immunol. 131:1635, 1983); Rosenthal, et al., Nature 267:156-158, 1977), or to be selectively recognized by the existing TCR (T cell receptor) specificities (repertoire theory) (Klein, J., I
The concept of dominance and subdominance is relevant to immunotherapy of both infectious diseases and cancer. For example, in the course of chronic viral disease, recruitment of subdominant epitopes can be important for successful clearance of the infection, especially if dominant CTL or HTL specificities have been inactivated by functional tolerance, suppression, mutation of viruses and other mechanisms (Franco, et al., Curr. Opin. Immunol. 7:524-531, 1995). In the case of cancer and tumor antigens, CTLs recognizing at least some of the highest binding affinity peptides might be functionally inactivated. Lower binding affinity peptides are preferentially recognized at these times, and may therefore be preferred in therapeutic or prophylactic anti-cancer vaccines.
In particular, it has been noted that a significant number of epitopes derived from known non-viral tumor associated antigens (TAA) bind HLA class I with intermediate affinity (IC50 in the 50-500 nM range). For example, it has been found that 8 of 15 known TAA peptides recognized by tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) or CTL bound in the 50-500 nM range. (These data are in contrast with estimates that 90% of known viral antigens were bound by HLA class I molecules with IC50 of 50 nM or less, while only approximately 10% bound in the 50-500 mM range (Sette, et al., J. Immunol., 153:558-5592, 1994). In the cancer setting this phenomenon is probably due to elimination or functional inhibition of the CTL recognizing several of the highest binding peptides, presumably because of T cell tolerization events.
Without intending to be bound by theory, it is believed that because T cells to dominant epitopes may have been clonally deleted, selecting subdominant epitopes may allow existing T cells to be recruited, which will then lead to a therapeutic or prophylactic response. However, the binding of HLA molecules to subdominant epitopes is often less vigorous than to dominant ones. Accordingly, there is a need to be able to modulate the binding affinity of particular immunogenic epitopes for one or more HLA molecules, and thereby to modulate the immune response elicited by the peptide, for example to prepare analog peptides which elicit a more vigorous response. This ability would greatly enhance the usefulness of peptide-based vaccines and therapeutic agents.
Although peptides with suitable cross-reactivity among all alleles of a superfamily are identified by the screening procedures described above, cross-reactivity is not always as complete as possible, and in certain cases procedures to increase cross-reactivity of peptides can be useful; moreover, such procedures can also be used to modify other properties of the peptides such as binding affinity or peptide stability. Having established the general rules that govern cross-reactivity of peptides for HLA alleles within a given motif or supermotif, modification (i.e., analoging) of the structure of peptides of particular interest in order to achieve broader (or otherwise modified) HLA binding capacity can be performed. More specifically, peptides which exhibit the broadest cross-reactivity patterns, can be produced in accordance with the teachings herein. The present concepts related to analog generation are set forth in greater detail in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 09/226,775 filed Jan. 6, 1999.
In brief, the strategy employed utilizes the motifs or supermotifs which correlate with binding to certain HLA molecules. The motifs or supermotifs are defined by having primary anchors, and in many cases secondary anchors. Analog peptides can be created by substituting amino acid residues at primary anchor, secondary anchor, or at primary and secondary anchor positions. Generally, analogs are made for peptides that already bear a motif or supermotif. Preferred secondary anchor residues of supermotifs and motifs that have been defined for HLA class I and class II binding peptides are shown in Tables II and III, respectively.
For a number of the motifs or supermotifs in accordance with the invention, residues are defined which are deleterious to binding to allele-specific HLA molecules or members of HLA supertypes that bind the respective motif or supermotif (Tables II and III). Accordingly, removal of such residues that are detrimental to binding can be performed in accordance with the present invention. For example, in the case of the A3 supertype, when all peptides that have such deleterious residues are removed from the population of analyzed peptides, the incidence of cross-reactivity increases from 22% to 37% (see, e.g., Sidney, J. et al., Hu. Immunol. 45:79, 1996). Thus, one strategy to improve the cross-reactivity of peptides within a given supermotif is simply to delete one or more of the deleterious residues present within a peptide and substitute a small “neutral” residue such as Ala (that may not influence T cell recognition of the peptide). An enhanced likelihood of cross-reactivity is expected if, together with elimination of detrimental residues within a peptide, “preferred” residues associated with high affinity binding to an allele-specific HLA molecule or to multiple HLA molecules within a superfamily are inserted.
To ensure that an analog peptide, when used as a vaccine, actually elicits a CTL response to the native epitope in vivo (or, in the case of class II epitopes, elicits helper T cells that cross-react with the wild type peptides), the analog peptide may be used to immunize T cells in vitro from individuals of the appropriate HLA allele. Thereafter, the immunized cells' capacity to induce lysis of wild type peptide sensitized target cells is evaluated. It will be desirable to use as antigen presenting cells, cells that have been either infected, or transfected with the appropriate genes, or, in the case of class II epitopes only, cells that have been pulsed with whole protein antigens, to establish whether endogenously produced antigen is also recognized by the relevant T cells.
Another embodiment of the invention is to create analogs of weak binding peptides, to thereby ensure adequate numbers of cross-reactive cellular binders. Class I binding peptides exhibiting binding affinities of 500-5000 nM, and carrying an acceptable but suboptimal primary anchor residue at one or both positions can be “fixed” by substituting preferred anchor residues in accordance with the respective supertype. The analog peptides can then be tested for crossbinding activity.
Another embodiment for generating effective peptide analogs involves the substitution of residues that have an adverse impact on peptide stability or solubility in, e.g., a liquid environment. This substitution may occur at any position of the peptide epitope. For example, a cysteine (C) can be substituted out in favor of α-amino butyric acid. Due to its chemical nature, cysteine has the propensity to form disulfide bridges and sufficiently alter the peptide structurally so as to reduce binding capacity. Substituting α-amino butyric acid for C not only alleviates this problem, but actually improves binding and crossbinding capability in certain instances (see, e.g., the review by Sette et al., In: Persistent Viral Infections, Eds. R. Ahmed and I. Chen, John Wiley & Sons, England, 1999). Substitution of cysteine with α-amino butyric acid may occur at any residue of a peptide epitope, i.e. at either anchor or non-anchor positions.
Representative analog peptides are set forth in Table XXII. The Table indicates the length and sequence of the analog peptide as well as the motif or supermotif, if appropriate. The information in the “Fixed Nomenclature” column indicates the residues substituted at the indicated position numbers for the respective analog.
In order to identify supermotif- or motif-bearing epitopes in a target antigen, a native protein sequence, e.g., a tumor-associated antigen, or sequences from an infectious organism, or a donor tissue for transplantation, is screened using a means for computing, such as an intellectual calculation or a computer, to determine the presence of a supermotif or motif within the sequence. The information obtained from the analysis of native peptide can be used directly to evaluate the status of the native peptide or may be utilized subsequently to generate the peptide epitope.
Computer programs that allow the rapid screening of protein sequences for the occurrence of the subject supermotifs or motifs are encompassed by the present invention; as are programs that permit the generation of analog peptides. These programs are implemented to analyze any identified amino acid sequence or operate on an unknown sequence and simultaneously determine the sequence and identify motif-bearing epitopes thereof; analogs can be simultaneously determined as well. Generally, the identified sequences will be from a pathogenic organism or a tumor-associated peptide. For example, the target molecules considered herein include, without limitation, the core, S, E1, NS11/E2, NS2, NS3, NS4, and NS5 regions of HCV.
In cases where the sequence of multiple variants of the same target protein are available, peptides may also be selected on the basis of their conservancy. A presently preferred criterion for conservancy defines that the entire sequence of an HLA class I binding peptide or the entire 9-mer core of a class II binding peptide, be totally (i.e., 100%) conserved in at least 79% of the sequences evaluated for a specific protein. This definition of conservancy has been employed herein; although, as appreciated by those in the art, lower or higher degrees of conservancy can be employed as appropriate for a given antigenic target.
It is important that the selection criteria utilized for prediction of peptide binding are as accurate as possible, to correlate most efficiently with actual binding. Prediction of peptides that bind, for example, to HLA-A*0201, on the basis of the presence of the appropriate primary anchors, is positive at about a 30% rate (see, e.g., Ruppert, J. et al. Cell 74:929, 1993). However, by extensively analyzing peptide-HLA binding data disclosed herein, data in related patent applications, and data in the art, the present inventors have developed a number of allele-specific polynomial algorithms that dramatically increase the predictive value over identification on the basis of the presence of primary anchor residues alone. These algorithms take into account not only the presence or absence of primary anchors, but also consider the positive or deleterious presence of secondary anchor residues (to account for the impact of different amino acids at different positions). The algorithms are essentially based on the premise that the overall affinity (or ΔG) of peptide-HLA interactions can be approximated as a linear polynomial function of the type:
ΔG=a1i×a2i×a3i . . . ×ani
where aji is a coefficient that represents the effect of the presence of a given amino acid (j) at a given position (i) along the sequence of a peptide of n amino acids. An important assumption of this method is that the effects at each position are essentially independent of each other. This assumption is justified by studies that demonstrated that peptides are bound to HLA molecules and recognized by T cells in essentially an extended conformation. Derivation of specific algorithm coefficients has been described, for example, in Gulukota, K. et al., J. Mol. Biol. 267:1258, 1997.
Additional methods to identify preferred peptide sequences, which also make use of specific motifs, include the use of neural networks and molecular modeling programs (see, e.g., Milik et al., Nature Biotechnology 16:753, 1998; Altuvia et al., Hum. Immunol. 58:1, 1997; Altuvia et al, J. Mol. Biol. 249:244, 1995; Buus, S. Curr. Opin. Immunol. 11:209-213, 1999; Brusic, V. et al., Bioinformatics 14:121-130, 1998; Parker et al., J. Immunol. 152:163, 1993; Meister et al., Vaccine 13:581, 1995; Hammer et al., J. Exp. Med. 180:2353, 1994; Sturniolo et al., Nature Biotechnol. 17:555 1999).
For example, it has been shown that in sets of A*0201 motif-bearing peptides containing at least one preferred secondary anchor residue while avoiding the presence of any deleterious secondary anchor residues, 69% of the peptides will bind A*0201 with an IC50 less than 500 nM (Ruppert, J. et al. Cell 74:929, 1993). These algorithms are also flexible in that cut-off scores may be adjusted to select sets of peptides with greater or lower predicted binding properties, as desired.
In utilizing computer screening to identify peptide epitopes, a protein sequence or translated sequence may be analyzed using software developed to search for motifs, for example the “FINDPATTERNS’ program (Devereux, et al. Nucl. Acids Res. 12:387-395, 1984) or MotifSearch 1.4 software program (D. Brown, San Diego, Calif.) to identify potential peptide sequences containing appropriate HLA binding motifs. The identified peptides can be scored using customized polynomial algorithms to predict their capacity to bind specific HLA class I or class II alleles. As appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, a large array of computer programming software and hardware options are available in the relevant art which can be employed to implement the motifs of the invention in order to evaluate (e.g., without limitation, to identify epitopes, identify epitope concentration per peptide length, or to generate analogs) known or unknown peptide sequences.
In accordance with the procedures described above, HCV peptide epitopes and analogs thereof that are able to bind HLA supertype groups or allele-specific HLA molecules have been identified (Tables VII XX; Table XXII).
Peptides in accordance with the invention can be prepared synthetically, by recombinant DNA technology or chemical synthesis, or from natural sources such as native tumors or pathogenic organisms. Peptide epitopes may be synthesized individually or as polyepitopic peptides. Although the peptide will preferably be substantially free of other naturally occurring host cell proteins and fragments thereof, in some embodiments the peptides may be synthetically conjugated to native fragments or particles.
The peptides in accordance with the invention can be a variety of lengths, and either in their neutral (uncharged) forms or in forms which are salts. The peptides in accordance with the invention are either free of modifications such as glycosylation, side chain oxidation, or phosphorylation; or they contain these modifications, subject to the condition that modifications do not destroy the biological activity of the peptides as described herein.
Desirably, the peptide epitope will be as small as possible while still maintaining substantially all of the immunologic activity of the native protein. When possible, it may be desirable to optimize HLA class I binding peptide epitopes of the invention to a length of about 8 to about 13 amino acid residues, preferably 9 to 10. HLA class II binding peptide epitopes may be optimized to a length of about 6 to about 30 amino acids in length, preferably to between about 13 and about 20 residues. Preferably, the peptide epitopes are commensurate in size with endogenously processed pathogen-derived peptides or tumor cell peptides that are bound to the relevant HLA molecules.
The identification and preparation of peptides of other lengths can also be carried out using the techniques described herein. Moreover, it is preferred to identify native peptide regions that contain a high concentration of class I and/or class II epitopes. Such a sequence is generally selected on the basis that it contains the greatest number of epitopes per amino acid length. It is to be appreciated that epitopes can be present in a frame-shifted manner, e.g. a 10 amino acid long peptide could contain two 9 amino acid long epitopes and one 10 amino acid long epitope; upon intracellular processing, each epitope can be exposed and bound by an HLA molecule upon administration of such a peptide. This larger, preferably multi-epitopic, peptide can be generated synthetically, recombinantly, or via cleavage from the native source.
The peptides of the invention can be prepared in a wide variety of ways. For the preferred relatively short size, the peptides can be synthesized in solution or on a solid support in accordance with conventional techniques. Various automatic synthesizers are commercially available and can be used in accordance with known protocols. (See, for example, Stewart & Young, S
Alternatively, recombinant DNA technology can be employed wherein a nucleotide sequence which encodes an immunogenic peptide of interest is inserted into an expression vector, transformed or transfected into an appropriate host cell and cultivated under conditions suitable for expression. These procedures are generally known in the art, as described generally in Sambrook et al., M
The nucleotide coding sequence for peptide epitopes of the preferred lengths contemplated herein can be synthesized by chemical techniques, for example, the phosphotriester method of Matteucci, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 103:3185 (1981). Peptide analogs can be made simply by substituting the appropriate and desired nucleic acid base(s) for those that encode the native peptide sequence; exemplary nucleic acid substitutions are those that encode an amino acid defined by the motifs/supermotifs herein. The coding sequence can then be provided with appropriate linkers and ligated into expression vectors commonly available in the art, and the vectors used to transform suitable hosts to produce the desired fusion protein. A number of such vectors and suitable host systems are now available. For expression of the fusion proteins, the coding sequence will be provided with operably linked start and stop codons, promoter and terminator regions and usually a replication system to provide an expression vector for expression in the desired cellular host. For example, promoter sequences compatible with bacterial hosts are provided in plasmids containing convenient restriction sites for insertion of the desired coding sequence. The resulting expression vectors are transformed into suitable bacterial hosts. Of course, yeast, insect or mammalian cell hosts may also be used, employing suitable vectors and control sequences.
Once HLA binding peptides are identified, they can be tested for the ability to elicit a T-cell response. The preparation and evaluation of motif-bearing peptides are described in PCT publications WO 94/20127 and WO 94/03205. Briefly, peptides comprising epitopes from a particular antigen are synthesized and tested for their ability to bind to the appropriate HLA proteins. These assays may involve evaluating the binding of a peptide of the invention to purified HLA class I molecules in relation to the binding of a radioiodinated reference peptide. Alternatively, cells expressing empty class I molecules (i.e. lacking peptide therein) may be evaluated for peptide binding by immunofluorescent staining and flow microfluorimetry. Other assays that may be used to evaluate peptide binding include peptide-dependent class I assembly assays and/or the inhibition of CTL recognition by peptide competition. Those peptides that bind to the class I molecule, typically with an affinity of 500 nM or less, are further evaluated for their ability to serve as targets for CTLs derived from infected or immunized individuals, as well as for their capacity to induce primary in vitro or in vivo CTL responses that can give rise to CTL populations capable of reacting with selected target cells associated with a disease. Corresponding assays are used for evaluation of HLA class II binding peptides. HLA class II motif-bearing peptides that are shown to bind, typically at an affinity of 1000 nM or less, are further evaluated for the ability to stimulate HTL responses.
Conventional assays utilized to detect T cell responses include proliferation assays, lymphokine secretion assays, direct cytotoxicity assays, and limiting dilution assays. For example, antigen-presenting cells that have been incubated with a peptide can be assayed for the ability to induce CTL responses in responder cell populations. Antigen-presenting cells can be normal cells such as peripheral blood mononuclear cells or dendritic cells. Alternatively, mutant non-human mammalian cell lines that are deficient in their ability to load class I molecules with internally processed peptides and that have been transfected with the appropriate human class I gene, may be used to test for the capacity of the peptide to induce in vitro primary CTL responses.
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) may be used as the responder cell source of CTL precursors. The appropriate antigen-presenting cells are incubated with peptide, after which the peptide-loaded antigen-presenting cells are then incubated with the responder cell population under optimized culture conditions. Positive CTL activation can be determined by assaying the culture for the presence of CTLs that kill radio-labeled target cells, both specific peptide-pulsed targets as well as target cells expressing endogenously processed forms of the antigen from which the peptide sequence was derived.
More recently, a method has been devised which allows direct quantification of antigen-specific T cells by staining with Fluorescein-labelled HLA tetrameric complexes (Altman, J. D. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:10330, 1993; Altman, J. D. et al., Science 274:94, 1996). Other relatively recent technical developments include staining for intracellular lymphokines, and interferon release assays or ELISPOT assays. Tetramer staining, intracellular lymphokine staining and ELISPOT assays all appear to be at least 10-fold more sensitive than more conventional assays (Lalvani, A. et al., J. Exp. Med. 186:859, 1997; Dunbar, P. R. et al., Curr. Biol. 8:413, 1998; Murali-Krishna, K. et al., Immunity 8:177, 1998).
HTL activation may also be assessed using such techniques known to those in the art such as T cell proliferation and secretion of lymphokines, e.g. IL-2 (see, e.g. Alexander et al, Immunity 1:751-761, 1994).
Alternatively, immunization of HLA transgenic mice can be used to determine immunogenicity of peptide epitopes. Several transgenic mouse models including mice with human A2.1, A11 (which can additionally be used to analyze HLA-A3 epitopes), and B7 alleles have been characterized and others (e.g., transgenic mice for HLA-A1 and A24) are being developed. HLA-DR1 and HLA-DR3 mouse models have also been developed. Additional transgenic mouse models with other HLA alleles may be generated as necessary. Mice may be immunized with peptides emulsified in Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant and the resulting T cells tested for their capacity to recognize peptide-pulsed target cells and target cells transfected with appropriate genes. CTL responses may be analyzed using cytotoxicity assays described above. Similarly, HTL responses may be analyzed using such assays as T cell proliferation or secretion of lymphokines.
Exemplary immunogenic peptide epitopes are set out in Table XXIII.
HLA class I and class II binding peptides as described herein can be used, in one embodiment of the invention, as reagents to evaluate an immune response. The immune response to be evaluated may be induced by using as an immunogen any agent that may result in the production of antigen-specific CTLs or HTLs that recognize and bind to the peptide epitope(s) to be employed as the reagent. The peptide reagent need not be used as the immunogen. Assay systems that may be used for such an analysis include relatively recent technical developments such as tetramers, staining for intracellular lymphokines and interferon release assays, or ELISPOT assays.
For example, a peptide of the invention may be used in a tetramer staining assay to assess peripheral blood mononuclear cells for the presence of antigen-specific CTLs following exposure to a pathogen or immunogen. The HLA-tetrameric complex is used to directly visualize antigen-specific CTLs (see, e.g., Ogg et al., Science 279:2103-2106, 1998; and Altman et al., Science 174:94-96, 1996) and determine the frequency of the antigen-specific CTL population in a sample of peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A tetramer reagent using a peptide of the invention may be generated as follows: A peptide that binds to an HLA molecule is refolded in the presence of the corresponding HLA heavy chain and β2-microglobulin to generate a trimolecular complex. The complex is biotinylated at the carboxyl terminal end of the heavy chain at a site that was previously engineered into the protein. Tetramer formation is then induced by the addition of streptavidin. By means of fluorescently labeled streptavidin, the tetramer can be used to stain antigen-specific cells. The cells may then be identified, for example, by flow cytometry. Such an analysis may be used for diagnostic or prognostic purposes.
Peptides of the invention may also be used as reagents to evaluate immune recall responses. (see, e.g., Bertoni et al., J. Clin. Invest. 100:503-513, 1997 and Penna et al., J. Exp. Med. 174:1565-1570, 1991.) For example, patient PBMC samples from individuals with HCV infection may be analyzed for the presence of antigen-specific CTLs or HTLs using specific peptides. A blood sample containing mononuclear cells may be evaluated by cultivating the PBMCs and stimulating the cells with a peptide of the invention. After an appropriate cultivation period, the expanded cell population may be analyzed, for example, for cytotoxic activity (CTL) or for HTL activity.
The peptides may also be used as reagents to evaluate the efficacy of a vaccine. PBMCs obtained from a patient vaccinated with an immunogen may be analyzed using, for example, either of the methods described above. The patient is HLA typed, and peptide epitope reagents that recognize the allele-specific molecules present in that patient are selected for the analysis. The immunogenicity of the vaccine is indicated by the presence of HCV epitope-specific CTLs and/or HTLs in the PBMC sample.
The peptides of the invention may also be used to make antibodies, using techniques well known in the art (see, e.g. CURRENT PROTOCOLS IN IMMUNOLOGY, Wiley/Greene, NY; and Antibodies A Laboratory Manual Harlow, Harlow and Lane, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989), which may be useful as reagents to diagnose HCV infection. Such antibodies include those that recognize a peptide in the context of an HLA molecule, i.e., antibodies that bind to a peptide-MHC complex.
Vaccines that contain an immunogenically effective amount of one or more peptides as described herein are a further embodiment of the invention. Once appropriately immunogenic epitopes have been defined, they can be sorted and delivered by various means, herein referred to as “vaccine” compositions. Such vaccine compositions can include, for example, lipopeptides (e.g., Vitiello, A. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 95:341, 1995), peptide compositions encapsulated in poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (“PLG”) microspheres (see, e.g., Eldridge, et al., Molec. Immunol. 28:287-294, 1991: Alonso et al., Vaccine 12:299-306, 1994; Jones et al., Vaccine 13:675-681, 1995), peptide compositions contained in immune stimulating complexes (ISCOMS) (see, e.g., Takahashi et al., Nature 344:873-875, 1990; Hu et al., Clin Exp Immunol. 113:235-243, 1998), multiple antigen peptide systems (MAPs) (see e.g., Tam, J. P., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 85:5409-5413, 1988; Tam, J. P., J. Immunol. Methods 196:17-32, 1996), viral delivery vectors (Perkus, M. E. et al., In: Concepts in vaccine development, Kaufmann, S. H. E., ed., p. 379, 1996; Chakrabarti, S. et al., Nature 320:535, 1986; Hu, S. L. et al., Nature 320:537, 1986; Kieny, M.-P. et al., AIDS Bio/Technology 4:790, 1986; Top, F. H. et al., J. Infect. Dis. 124:148, 1971; Chanda, P. K. et al., Virology 175:535, 1990), particles of viral or synthetic origin (e.g., Kofler, N. et al., J. Immunol. Methods. 192:25, 1996; Eldridge, J. H. et al., Sem. Hematol. 30:16, 1993; Falo, L. D., Jr. et al., Nature Med. 7:649, 1995), adjuvants (Warren, H. S., Vogel, F. R., and Chedid, L. A. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 4:369, 1986; Gupta, R. K. et al., Vaccine 11:293, 1993), liposomes (Reddy, R. et al., J. Immunol. 148:1585, 1992; Rock, K. L., Immunol. Today 17:131, 1996), or, naked or particle absorbed cDNA (Ulmer, J. B. et al., Science 259:1745, 1993; Robinson, H. L., Hunt, L. A., and Webster, R. G., Vaccine 11:957, 1993; Shiver, J. W. et al., In: Concepts in vaccine development, Kaufmann, S. H. E., ed., p. 423, 1996; Cease, K. B., and Berzofsky, J. A., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 12:923, 1994 and Eldridge, J. H. et al., Sem. Hematol. 30:16, 1993). Toxin-targeted delivery technologies, also known as receptor mediated targeting, such as those of Avant Immunotherapeutics, Inc. (Needham, Mass.) may also be used.
Furthermore, vaccines in accordance with the invention encompass compositions of one or more of the claimed peptide(s). The peptide(s) can be individually linked to its own carrier; alternatively, the peptide(s) can exist as a homopolymer or heteropolymer of active peptide units. Such a polymer has the advantage of increased immunological reaction and, where different peptide epitopes are used to make up the polymer, the additional ability to induce antibodies and/or CTLs that react with different antigenic determinants of the pathogenic organism or tumor-related peptide targeted for an immune response. The composition may be a naturally occurring region of an antigen or may be prepared, e.g., recombinantly or by chemical synthesis.
Furthermore, useful carriers that can be used with vaccines of the invention are well known in the art, and include, e.g., thyroglobulin, albumins such as human serum albumin, tetanus toxoid, polyamino acids such as poly L-lysine, poly L-glutamic acid, influenza, hepatitis B virus core protein, and the like. The vaccines can contain a physiologically tolerable (i.e., acceptable) diluent such as water, or saline, preferably phosphate buffered saline. The vaccines also typically include an adjuvant. Adjuvants such as incomplete Freund's adjuvant, aluminum phosphate, aluminum hydroxide, or alum are examples of materials well known in the art. Additionally, as disclosed herein, CTL responses can be primed by conjugating peptides of the invention to lipids, such as tripalmitoyl-S-glycerylcysteinlyseryl-serine (P3CSS).
As disclosed in greater detail herein, upon immunization with a peptide composition in accordance with the invention, via injection, aerosol, oral, transdermal, transmucosal, intrapleural, intrathecal, or other suitable routes, the immune system of the host responds to the vaccine by producing large amounts of CTLs specific for the desired antigen. Consequently, the host becomes at least partially immune to later infection, or at least partially resistant to developing an ongoing chronic infection, or derives at least some therapeutic benefit when the antigen was tumor-associated.
In some instances it may be desirable to combine the class I peptide vaccines of the invention with vaccines which induce or facilitate neutralizing antibody responses to the target antigen of interest, particularly to viral envelope antigens. A preferred embodiment of such a composition comprises class I and class II epitopes in accordance with the invention. An alternative embodiment of such a composition comprises a class I and/or class II epitope in accordance with the invention, along with a PADRE™ (Epimmune, San Diego, Calif.) molecule (described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,142). Furthermore, any of these embodiments can be administered as a nucleic acid mediated modality.
The vaccine compositions of the invention may also be used in combination with antiviral drugs such as interferon-α.
For therapeutic or prophylactic immunization purposes, the peptides of the invention can also be expressed by viral or bacterial vectors. Examples of expression vectors include attenuated viral hosts, such as vaccinia or fowlpox. This approach involves the use of vaccinia virus, for example, as a vector to express nucleotide sequences that encode the peptides of the invention. Upon introduction into an acutely or chronically infected host or into a non-infected host, the recombinant vaccinia virus expresses the immunogenic peptide, and thereby elicits a host CTL and/or HTL response. Vaccinia vectors and methods useful in immunization protocols are described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,848. Another vector is BCG (Bacille Calmette Guerin). BCG vectors are described in Stover et al., Nature 351:456-460 (1991). A wide variety of other vectors useful for therapeutic administration or immunization of the peptides of the invention, e.g. adeno and adeno-associated virus vectors, retroviral vectors, Salmonella typhi vectors, detoxified anthrax toxin vectors, and the like, will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description herein.
Antigenic peptides are used to elicit a CTL and/or HTL response ex vivo, as well. The resulting. CTL or HTL cells, can be used to treat chronic infections, or tumors in patients that do not respond to other conventional forms of therapy, or will not respond to a therapeutic vaccine peptide or nucleic acid in accordance with the invention. Ex vivo CTL or HTL responses to a particular antigen (infectious or tumor-associated antigen) are induced by incubating in tissue culture the patient's, or genetically compatible, CTL or HTL precursor cells together with a source of antigen-presenting cells (APC), such as dendritic cells, and the appropriate immunogenic peptide. After an appropriate incubation time (typically about 14 weeks), in which the precursor cells are activated and expanded into effector cells, the cells are infused back into the patient, where they will destroy (CTL) or facilitate destruction (HTL) of their specific target cell (an infected cell or a tumor cell). Transfected dendritic cells may also be used as antigen presenting cells. Alternatively, dendritic cells are transfected, e.g., with a minigene construct in accordance with the invention, in order to elicit immune responses. Minigenes will be discussed in greater detail in a following section.
Vaccine compositions may also be administered in vivo in combination with dendritic cell mobilization whereby loading of dendritic cells occurs in vivo.
DNA or RNA encoding one or more of the peptides of the invention can also be administered to a patient. This approach is described, for instance, in Wolff et. al., Science 247:1465 (1990) as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,580,859; 5,589,466; 5,804,566; 5,739,118; 5,736,524; 5,679,647; WO 98/04720; and in more detail below. Examples of DNA-based delivery technologies include “naked DNA”, facilitated (bupivicaine, polymers, peptide-mediated) delivery, cationic lipid complexes, and particle-mediated (“gene gun”) delivery.
Preferably, the following principles are utilized when selecting an array of epitopes for inclusion in a polyepitopic composition for use in a vaccine, or for selecting discrete epitopes to be included in a vaccine and/or to be encoded by nucleic acids such as a minigene. Exemplary epitopes that may be utilized in a vaccine to treat or prevent HCV infection are set out in Tables XXVI-XXIX, and Table XXXII. It is preferred that each of the following principles are balanced in order to make the selection.
1.) Epitopes are selected which, upon administration, mimic immune responses that have been observed to be correlated with HCV clearance. For HLA Class I this includes 3-4 epitopes that come from at least one antigen of HCV. For HLA Class II a similar rationale is employed; again 3-4 epitopes are selected from at least one HCV antigen (see e.g., Rosenberg et al., Science 278:1447-1450).
2.) Epitopes are selected that have the requisite binding affinity established to be correlated with immunogenicity: for HLA Class I an IC50 of 500 nM or less, or for Class II an IC50 of 1000 nM or less.
3.) Sufficient supermotif bearing-peptides, or a sufficient array of allele-specific motif-bearing peptides, are selected to give broad population coverage. For example, it is preferable to have at least 80% population coverage. A Monte Carlo analysis, a statistical evaluation known in the art, can be employed to assess the breadth, or redundancy of, population coverage.
4.) When selecting epitopes from cancer-related antigens it is often preferred to select analogs because the patient may have developed tolerance to the native epitope. When selecting epitopes for infectious disease-related antigens it is preferable to select either native or analoged epitopes. Of particular relevance for infectious disease vaccines (but for cancer-related vaccines as well), are epitopes referred to as “nested epitopes.” Nested epitopes occur where at least two epitopes overlap in a given peptide sequence. A peptide comprising “transcendent nested epitopes” is a peptide that has both HLA class I and HLA class II epitopes in it.
When providing nested epitopes, it is preferable to provide a sequence that has the greatest number of epitopes per provided sequence. Preferably, one avoids providing a peptide that is any longer than the amino terminus of the amino terminal epitope and the carboxyl terminus of the carboxyl terminal epitope in the peptide. When providing a longer peptide sequence, such as a sequence comprising nested epitopes, it is important to screen the sequence in order to insure that it does not have pathological or other deleterious biological properties.
5.) When creating a minigene, as disclosed in greater detail in the following section, an objective is to generate the smallest peptide possible that encompasses the epitopes of interest. The principles employed are similar, if not the same as those employed when selecting a peptide comprising nested epitopes. Furthermore, upon determination of the nucleic acid sequence to be provided as a minigene, the peptide encoded thereby is analyzed to determine whether any “junctional epitopes” have been created. A junctional epitope is an actual binding epitope, as predicted, e.g., by motif analysis, that only exists because two discrete peptide sequences are encoded directly next to each other. Junctional epitopes are generally to be avoided because the recipient may generate an immune response to that non-native epitope. Of particular concern is a junctional epitope that is a “dominant epitope.” A dominant epitope may lead to such a zealous response that immune responses to other epitopes are diminished or suppressed.
Polyepitopic vaccine compositions may include epitopes from the core, S, E1, NS1/E2, NS2, NS3, NS4, and NS5 domains of the HCV polyprotein. These regions encompass the following amino acid sequences using numbering relative to the prototype HCV-1 strain (Genbank accession number M62321; see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,683,864 and 5,670,153): C domain (amino acids 1-120); S (amino acids 120-400); NS3 (amino acids 1050-1640); NS4 (amino acids 1640-2000); NS5 (amino acids 2000-3011); and envelop proteins, E1 and E2/NS1, encompassing amino acids 192-750. Amino acids 750 to 1050 are designated as domain X as applied to the present invention. As appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the designation of the amino acid range for each domain may diverge to some extent from that of HCV-1 depending on the strain of HCV. One of ordinary skill in the art, when looking at an HCV polyprotein sequence, would readily be able to determine the domain boundaries.
Specific embodiments of the polyepitopic compositions of the present invention include a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and combination of motif-bearing peptides that are immunologically cross-reactive with peptides of HCV-1, wherein at least one of the peptides bears a motif of Table Ia, and further wherein the combination of motif-bearing peptides consists of: a) one or more peptides comprising at least 8 amino acids from an HCV C domain; b) one or more peptides comprising at least 8 amino acids of a further domain selected from the group consisting of: an S domain, an NS3 domain, an NS4 domain, or an NS5 domain, and; c) optionally, one or more motif-bearing peptides from one or more additional HCV domains with a proviso that an additional domain is not a further domain listed in “b”. Preferably, such a pharmaceutical composition may additionally comprise one or more distinct HCV motif-bearing peptide(s) comprising at least 8 amino acids of an X domain or, alternatively, the composition may further comprise additional HCV motif-bearing peptide(s) that are from an envelope domain, the envelope domain peptide(s) consisting of one or more copies of a single HCV peptide comprising at least 8 amino acids of an envelope domain.
In another embodiment, the polyepitopic pharmaceutical composition may comprise a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and combination of motif-bearing peptides that are immunologically cross-reactive with HCV-1 peptides, the peptides from multiple domains of HCV, wherein at least one of the peptides bears a motif of Table Ia, and wherein the combination of motif-bearing peptides consists essentially of: a) one or more peptides comprising at least 8 amino acids from a C domain; and, b) one or more peptides comprising at least 8 amino acids from an S, NS3, NS4, or NS5 domain, and, one HCV peptide comprising at least 8 amino acids of an envelope domain. Such a composition may further comprise one or more HCV motif-bearing peptides comprising at least 8 amino acids of an X domain.
Alternatively, a pharmaceutical composition of the invention may comprise: a) a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier; and, b) a combination of one or more motif-bearing peptides of at least 8 amino acids derived from one or more hepatitis C virus (HCV) domains, wherein said peptides are cross-reactive with peptides of HCV-1, with a proviso that the combination does not include a peptide of at least 8 amino acids from an HCV C domain, and wherein at least one of the peptides bears a motif of Table Ia, said domains selected from the group consisting of: an S domain; an NS3 domain; an NS4 domain; an NS5 domain; and, an X domain. Such a composition may additionally comprise motif-bearing HCV envelope peptide(s) consisting of one or more copies of a single HCV peptide comprising at least 8 amino acids of an envelope domain.
Lastly, an embodiment of the invention may comprise a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and combination of two or more motif-bearing peptides from a single domain of an HCV-1 strain, said peptides immunologically cross-reactive with peptides of an HCV-1 antigen, wherein at least one of the peptides bears a motif of Table Ia, and the peptides are derived from HCV, and the HCV domain is selected from the group consisting of: a C domain; an S domain; an NS3 domain; an NS4 domain; an NS5 domain; an X domain; or, an envelope domain from a single HCV strain, with a proviso that the envelope domain is other than a variable envelope domain.
In the embodiments set forth, “peptides immunologically cross-reactive with HCV-1” refers to peptides that are bound by the same antibody; “derived from” refers to a fragment or subsequence and conservatively modified variants thereof.
A growing body of experimental evidence demonstrates that a number of different approaches are available which allow simultaneous delivery of multiple epitopes. Nucleic acids encoding the peptides of the invention are a particularly useful embodiment of the invention. Epitopes for inclusion in a minigene are preferably selected according to the guidelines set forth in the previous section. A preferred means of administering nucleic acids encoding the peptides of the invention uses minigene constructs encoding a peptide comprising one or multiple epitopes of the invention. The use of multi-epitope minigenes is described below and in, e.g., co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 09/311,784; An, L. and Whitton, J. L., J. Virol. 71:2292, 1997; Thomson, S. A. et al., J. Immunol. 157:822, 1996; Whitton, J. L. et al., J. Virol. 67:348, 1993; Hanke, R. et al., Vaccine 16:426, 1998. For example, a multi-epitope DNA plasmid encoding nine dominant HLA-A*0201- and A11-restricted epitopes derived from the polymerase, envelope, and core proteins of HBV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the PADRE™ universal helper T cell (HTL) epitope, and an endoplasmic reticulum-translocating signal sequence was engineered. Immunization of HLA transgenic mice with this plasmid construct resulted in strong CTL induction responses against the nine epitopes tested, similar to those observed with a lipopeptide of known immunogenicity in humans, and significantly greater than immunization in oil-based adjuvants. Moreover, the immunogenicity of DNA-encoded epitopes in vivo correlated with the in vitro responses of specific CTL lines against target cells transfected with the DNA plasmid. Thus, these data show that the minigene served to both: 1.) generate a CTL response and 2.) that the induced CTLs recognized cells expressing the encoded epitopes. A similar approach may be used to develop minigenes encoding HCV epitopes.
For example, to create a DNA sequence encoding the selected epitopes (minigene) for expression in human cells, the amino acid sequences of the epitopes may be reverse translated. A human codon usage table can be used to guide the codon choice for each amino acid. These epitope-encoding DNA sequences may be directly adjoined, so that when translated, a continuous polypeptide sequence is created. To optimize expression and/or immunogenicity, additional elements can be incorporated into the minigene design. Examples of amino acid sequences that can be reverse translated and included in the minigene sequence include: HLA class I epitopes, HLA class II epitopes, a ubiquitination signal sequence, and/or an endoplasmic reticulum targeting signal. In addition, HLA presentation of CTL and HTL epitopes may be improved by including synthetic (e.g. poly-alanine) or naturally-occurring flanking sequences adjacent to the CTL or HTL epitopes; these larger peptides comprising the epitope(s) are within the scope of the invention.
The minigene sequence may be converted to DNA by assembling oligonucleotides that encode the plus and minus strands of the minigene. Overlapping oligonucleotides (30-100 bases long) may be synthesized, phosphorylated, purified and annealed under appropriate conditions using well known techniques. The ends of the oligonucleotides can be joined, for example, using T4 DNA ligase. This synthetic minigene, encoding the epitope polypeptide, can then be cloned into a desired expression vector.
Standard regulatory sequences well known to those of skill in the art are preferably included in the vector to ensure expression in the target cells. Several vector elements are desirable: a promoter with a down-stream cloning site for minigene insertion; a polyadenylation signal for efficient transcription termination; an E. coli origin of replication; and an E. coli selectable marker (e.g. ampicillin or kanamycin resistance). Numerous promoters can be used for this purpose, e.g., the human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) promoter. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,580,859 and 5,589,466 for other suitable promoter sequences.
Additional vector modifications may be desired to optimize minigene expression and immunogenicity. In some cases, introns are required for efficient gene expression, and one or more synthetic or naturally-occurring introns could be incorporated into the transcribed region of the minigene. The inclusion of mRNA stabilization sequences and sequences for replication in mammalian cells may also be considered for increasing minigene expression.
Once an expression vector is selected, the minigene is cloned into the polylinker region downstream of the promoter. This plasmid is transformed into an appropriate E. coli strain, and DNA is prepared using standard techniques. The orientation and DNA sequence of the minigene, as well as all other elements included in the vector, are confirmed using restriction mapping and DNA sequence analysis. Bacterial cells harboring the correct plasmid can be stored as a master cell bank and a working cell bank.
In addition, immunostimulatory sequences (ISSs or CpGs) appear to play a role in the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines. These sequences may be included in the vector, outside the minigene coding sequence, if desired to enhance immunogenicity.
In some embodiments, a bi-cistronic expression vector which allows production of both the minigene-encoded epitopes and a second protein (included to enhance or decrease immunogenicity) can be used. Examples of proteins or polypeptides that could beneficially enhance the immune response if co-expressed include cytokines (e.g., IL-2, IL-12, GM-CSF), cytokine-inducing molecules (e.g., LeIF), costimulatory molecules, or for HTL responses, pan-DR binding proteins (PADRE™, Epimmune, San Diego, Calif.) Helper (HTL) epitopes can be joined to intracellular targeting signals and expressed separately from expressed CTL epitopes; this allows direction of the HTL epitopes to a cell compartment different than that of the CTL epitopes. If required, this could facilitate more efficient entry of HTL epitopes into the HLA class II pathway, thereby improving HTL induction. In contrast to HTL or CTL induction, specifically decreasing the immune response by co-expression of immunosuppressive molecules (e.g. TGF-β) may be beneficial in certain diseases.
Therapeutic quantities of plasmid DNA can be produced for example, by fermentation in E. coli, followed by purification. Aliquots from the working cell bank are used to inoculate growth medium, and grown to saturation in shaker flasks or a bioreactor according to well known techniques. Plasmid DNA can be purified using standard bioseparation technologies such as solid phase anion-exchange resins supplied by QIAGEN, Inc. (Valencia, Calif.). If required, supercoiled DNA can be isolated from the open circular and linear forms using gel electrophoresis or other methods.
Purified plasmid DNA can be prepared for injection using a variety of formulations. The simplest of these is reconstitution of lyophilized DNA in sterile phosphate-buffer saline (PBS). This approach, known as “naked DNA,” is currently being used for intramuscular (IM) administration in clinical trials. To maximize the immunotherapeutic effects of minigene DNA vaccines, an alternative method for formulating purified plasmid DNA may be desirable. A variety of methods have been described, and new techniques may become available. Cationic lipids can also be used in the formulation (see, e.g., as described by WO 93/24640; Mannino & Gould-Fogerite, BioTechniques 6(7): 682 (1988); U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,833; WO 91/06309; and Felgner, et al., Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. USA 84:7413 (1987). In addition, glycolipids, fusogenic liposomes, peptides and compounds referred to collectively as protective, interactive, non-condensing compounds (PINC) could also be complexed to purified plasmid DNA to influence variables such as stability, intramuscular dispersion, or trafficking to specific organs or cell types.
Target cell sensitization can be used as a functional assay for expression and HLA class I presentation of minigene-encoded CTL epitopes. For example, the plasmid DNA is introduced into a mammalian cell line that is suitable as a target for standard CTL chromium release assays. The transfection method used will be dependent on the final formulation. Electroporation can be used for “naked” DNA, whereas cationic lipids allow direct in vitro transfection. A plasmid expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP) can be co-transfected to allow enrichment of transfected cells using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). These cells are then chromium-51 (51Cr) labeled and used as target cells for epitope-specific CTL lines; cytolysis, detected by 51Cr release, indicates both production of, and HLA presentation of, minigene-encoded CTL epitopes. Expression of HTL epitopes may be evaluated in an analogous manner using assays to assess HTL activity.
In vivo immunogenicity is a second approach for functional testing of minigene DNA formulations. Transgenic mice expressing appropriate human HLA proteins are immunized with the DNA product. The dose and route of administration are formulation dependent (e.g., IM for DNA in PBS, intraperitoneal (IP) for lipid-complexed DNA). Twenty-one days after immunization, splenocytes are harvested and restimulated for 1 week in the presence of peptides encoding each epitope being tested. Thereafter, for CTL effector cells, assays are conducted for cytolysis of peptide-loaded, 51Cr-labeled target cells using standard techniques. Lysis of target cells that were sensitized by HLA loaded with peptide epitopes, corresponding to minigene-encoded epitopes, demonstrates DNA vaccine function for in vivo induction of CTLs. Immunogenicity of HTL epitopes is evaluated in transgenic mice in an analogous manner.
Alternatively, the nucleic acids can be administered using ballistic delivery as described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,204,253. Using this technique, particles comprised solely of DNA are administered. In a further alternative embodiment, DNA can be adhered to particles, such as gold particles.
IV.K2. Combinations of CTL Peptides with Helper Peptides
Vaccine compositions comprising the peptides of the present invention, or analogs thereof, which have immunostimulatory activity may be modified to provide desired attributes, such as improved serum half life, or to enhance immunogenicity.
For instance, the ability of the peptides to induce CTL activity can be enhanced by linking the peptide to a sequence which contains at least one epitope that is capable of inducing a T helper cell response. The use of T helper epitopes in conjunction with CTL epitopes to enhance immunogenicity is illustrated, for example, in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 08/820,360, U.S. Ser. No. 08/197,484, and U.S. Ser. No. 08/464,234.
Particularly preferred CTL epitope/HTL epitope conjugates are linked by a spacer molecule. The spacer is typically comprised of relatively small, neutral molecules, such as amino acids or amino acid mimetics, which are substantially uncharged under physiological conditions. The spacers are typically selected from, e.g., Ala, Gly, or other neutral spacers of nonpolar amino acids or neutral polar amino acids. It will be understood that the optionally present spacer need not be comprised of the same residues and thus may be a hetero- or homo-oligomer. When present, the spacer will usually be at least one or two residues, more usually three to six residues. Alternatively, the CTL peptide may be linked to the T helper peptide without a spacer.
The CTL peptide epitope may be linked to the T helper peptide epitope either directly or via a spacer either at the amino or carboxy terminus of the CTL peptide. The amino terminus of either the immunogenic peptide or the T helper peptide may be acylated. The HTL peptide epitopes used in the invention can be modified in the same manner as CTL peptides. For instance, they may be modified to include D-amino acids or be conjugated to other molecules such as lipids, proteins, sugars and the like. Exemplary T helper peptides include tetanus toxoid 830-843, influenza 307-319, and malarial circumsporozoite 382-398 and 378-398.
In certain embodiments, the T helper peptide is one that is recognized by T helper cells present in the majority of the population. This can be accomplished by selecting amino acid sequences that bind to many, most, or all of the HLA class II molecules. These are known as “loosely HLA-restricted” or “promiscuous” T helper sequences. Examples of amino acid sequences that are promiscuous include sequences from antigens such as tetanus toxoid at positions 830-843 (QYIKANSKFIGITE), Plasmodium falciparum CS protein at positions 378-398 (DIEKKIAKMEKASSVFNVVNS), and Streptococcus 18 kD protein at positions 116 (GAVDSILGGVATYGAA). Other examples include peptides bearing a DR 1-4-7 supermotif, or either of the DR3 motifs.
Alternatively, it is possible to prepare synthetic peptides capable of stimulating T helper lymphocytes, in a loosely HLA-restricted fashion, using amino acid sequences not found in nature (see, e.g., PCT publication WO 95/07707). These synthetic compounds called Pan-DR-binding epitopes (e.g., PADRE™, Epimmune, Inc., San Diego, Calif.) are designed to most preferrably bind most HLA-DR (human HLA class II) molecules. For instance, a pan-DR-binding epitope peptide having the formula: aKXVWANTLKAAa, where “X” is either cyclohexylalanine, phenylalanine, or tyrosine, and a is either D-alanine or L-alanine, has been found to bind to most HLA-DR alleles, and to stimulate the response of T helper lymphocytes from most individuals, regardless of their HLA type. An alternative of a pan-DR binding epitope comprises all “L” natural amino acids and can be provided in the form of nucleic acids that encode the epitope.
HTL peptide epitopes can also be modified to alter their biological properties. For example, peptides comprising HTL epitopes can contain D-amino acids to increase their resistance to proteases and thus extend their serum half-life. Also, the epitope peptides of the invention can be conjugated to other molecules such as lipids, proteins or sugars, or any other synthetic compounds, to increase their biological activity. Specifically, the T helper peptide can be conjugated to one or more palmitic acid chains at either the amino or carboxyl termini.
In some embodiments it may be desirable to include in the pharmaceutical compositions of the invention at least one component which primes cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Lipids have been identified as agents capable of priming CTL in vivo against viral antigens. For example, palmitic acid residues can be attached to the ε- and α-amino groups of a lysine residue and then linked, e.g., via one or more linking residues such as Gly, Gly-Gly-, Ser, Ser-Ser, or the like, to an immunogenic peptide. The lipidated peptide can then be administered either directly in a micelle or particle, incorporated into a liposome, or emulsified in an adjuvant, e.g., incomplete Freund's adjuvant. In a preferred embodiment, a particularly effective immunogenic comprises palmitic acid attached to ε- and α-amino groups of Lys, which is attached via linkage, e.g., Ser-Ser, to the amino terminus of the immunogenic peptide. As another example of lipid priming of CTL responses, E. coli lipoproteins, such as tripalmitoyl-S-glycerylcysteinlyseryl-serine (P3CSS) can be used to prime virus specific CTL when covalently attached to an appropriate peptide. (See, e.g., Deres, et al., Nature 342:561, 1989). Peptides of the invention can be coupled to P3CSS, for example, and the lipopeptide administered to an individual to specifically prime a CTL response to the target antigen. Moreover, because the induction of neutralizing antibodies can also be primed with P3CSS-conjugated epitopes, two such compositions can be combined to more effectively elicit both humoral and cell-mediated responses to infection.
As noted herein, additional amino acids can be added to the termini of a peptide to provide for ease of linking peptides one to another, for coupling to a carrier support or larger peptide, for modifying the physical or chemical properties of the peptide or oligopeptide, or the like. Amino acids such as tyrosine, cysteine, lysine, glutamic or aspartic acid, or the like, can be introduced at the C- or N-terminus of the peptide or oligopeptide, particularly class I peptides. However, it is to be noted that modification at the carboxyl terminus of a CTL epitope may, in some cases, alter binding characteristics of the peptide. In addition, the peptide or oligopeptide sequences can differ from the natural sequence by being modified by terminal-NH2 acylation, e.g., by alkanoyl (C1-C20) or thioglycolyl acetylation, terminal-carboxyl amidation, e.g., ammonia, methylamine, etc. In some instances these modifications may provide sites for linking to a support or other molecule.
The peptides of the present invention and pharmaceutical and vaccine compositions of the invention are useful for administration to mammals, particularly humans, to treat and/or prevent HCV infection. Vaccine compositions containing the peptides of the invention are administered to a patient infected with HCV or to an individual susceptible to, or otherwise at risk for, HCV infection to elicit an immune response against HCV antigens and thus enhance the patient's own immune response capabilities. In therapeutic applications, peptide and/or nucleic acid compositions are administered to a patient in an amount sufficient to elicit an effective CTL and/or HTL response to the virus antigen and to cure or at least partially arrest or slow symptoms and/or complications. An amount adequate to accomplish this is defined as “therapeutically effective dose.” Amounts effective for this use will depend on, e.g., the particular composition administered, the manner of administration, the stage and severity of the disease being treated, the weight and general state of health of the patient, and the judgment of the prescribing physician.
The vaccine compositions of the invention may also be used purely as prophylactic agents. Generally the dosage for an initial prophylactic immunization generally occurs in a unit dosage range where the lower value is about 1, 5, 50, 500, or 1000 μg and the higher value is about 10,000; 20,000; 30,000; or 50,000 μg. Dosage values for a human typically range from about 500 μg to about 50,000 μg per 70 kilogram patient. This is followed by boosting dosages of between about 1.0 μg to about 50,000 μg of peptide administered at defined intervals from about four weeks to six months after the initial administration of vaccine. The immunogenicity of the vaccine may be assessed by measuring the specific activity of CTL and HTL obtained from a sample of the patient's blood.
As noted above, peptides comprising CTL and/or HTL epitopes of the invention induce immune responses when presented by HLA molecules and contacted with a CTL or HTL specific for an epitope comprised by the peptide. The manner in which the peptide is contacted with the CTL or HTL is not critical to the invention. For instance, the peptide can be contacted with the CTL or HTL either in vivo or in vitro. If the contacting occurs in vivo, the peptide itself can be administered to the patient, or other vehicles, e.g., DNA vectors encoding one or more peptides, viral vectors encoding the peptide(s), liposomes and the like, can be used, as described herein.
For pharmaceutical compositions, the immunogenic peptides of the invention, or DNA encoding them, are generally administered to an individual already infected with HCV. The peptides or DNA encoding them can be administered individually or as fusions of one or more peptide sequences. Those in the incubation phase or the acute phase of infection can be treated with the immunogenic peptides separately or in conjunction with other treatments, as appropriate.
For therapeutic use, administration should generally begin at the first diagnosis of HCV infection. This is followed by boosting doses until at least symptoms are substantially abated and for a period thereafter. In chronic infection, loading doses followed by boosting doses may be required.
Treatment of an infected individual with the compositions of the invention may hasten solution of the infection in acutely infected individuals. For those individuals susceptible (or predisposed) to developing chronic infection, the compositions are particularly useful in methods for preventing the evolution from acute to chronic infection. Where susceptible individuals are identified prior to or during infection, the composition can be targeted to them, thus minimizing the need for administration to a larger population.
The peptide or other compositions used for the treatment or prophylaxis of HCV infection can be used, e.g., in persons who have not manifested symptoms of disease but who act as a disease vector. In this context, it is generally important to provide an amount of the peptide epitope delivered by a mode of administration sufficient to effectively stimulate a cytotoxic T cell response; compositions which stimulate helper T cell responses can also be given in accordance with this embodiment of the invention.
The dosage for an initial therapeutic immunization generally occurs in a unit dosage range where the lower value is about 1, 5, 50, 500, or 1000 μg and the higher value is about 10,000; 20,000; 30,000; or 50,000 μg. Dosage values for a human typically range from about 500 μg to about 50,000 μg per 70 kilogram patient. Boosting dosages of between about 1.0 μg to about 50000 μg of peptide pursuant to a boosting regimen over weeks to months may be administered depending upon the patient's response and condition as determined by measuring the specific activity of CTL and HTL obtained from the patient's blood. The peptides and compositions of the present invention may be employed in serious disease states, that is, life-threatening or potentially life threatening situations. In such cases, as a result of the minimal amounts of extraneous substances and the relative nontoxic nature of the peptides in preferred compositions of the invention, it is possible and may be felt desirable by the treating physician to administer substantial excesses of these peptide compositions relative to these stated dosage amounts.
Thus, for treatment of chronic infection, a representative dose is in the range disclosed above, namely where the lower value is about 1, 5, 50, 500, or 1000 μg and the higher value is about 10,000; 20,000; 30,000; or 50,000 μg, preferably from about 500 μg to about 50,000 μg per 70 kilogram patient. Initial doses followed by boosting doses at established intervals, e.g., from four weeks to six months, may be required, possibly for a prolonged period of time to effectively immunize an individual. In the case of chronic infection, administration should continue until at least clinical symptoms or laboratory tests indicate that the viral infection has been eliminated or substantially abated and for a period thereafter. The dosages, routes of administration, and dose schedules are adjusted in accordance with methodologies known in the art.
The pharmaceutical compositions for therapeutic treatment are intended for parenteral, topical, oral, intrathecal, or local administration. Preferably, the pharmaceutical compositions are administered, parentally, e.g., intravenously, subcutaneously, intradermally, or intramuscularly. Thus, the invention, provides compositions for parenteral administration which comprise a solution of the immunogenic peptides dissolved or suspended in an acceptable carrier, preferably an aqueous carrier. A variety of aqueous carriers may be used, e.g., water, buffered water, 0.8% saline, 0.3% glycine, hyaluronic acid and the like. These compositions may be sterilized by conventional, well known sterilization techniques, or may be sterile filtered. The resulting aqueous solutions may be packaged for use as is, or lyophilized, the lyophilized preparation being combined with a sterile solution prior to administration. The compositions may contain pharmaceutically acceptable auxiliary substances as required to approximate physiological conditions, such as pH-adjusting and buffering agents, tonicity adjusting agents, wetting agents, preservatives, and the like, for example, sodium acetate; sodium lactate, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, sorbitan monolaurate, triethanolamine oleate, etc.
The concentration of peptides of the invention in the pharmaceutical formulations can vary widely, i.e., from less than about 0.1%, usually at or at least about 2% to as much as 20% to 50% or more by weight, and will be selected primarily by fluid volumes, viscosities, etc., in accordance with the particular mode of administration selected.
A human unit dose form of the peptide composition is typically included in a pharmaceutical composition that comprises a human unit dose of an acceptable carrier, preferably an aqueous carrier, and is administered in a volume of fluid that is known by those of skill in the art to be used for administration of such compositions to humans (see, e.g., Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, 17th Edition, A. Gennaro, Editor, Mack Publishing Co., Easton, Pa., 1985).
The peptides of the invention may also be administered via liposomes, which serve to target the peptides to a particular tissue, such as lymphoid tissue, or to target selectively to infected cells, as well as to increase the half-life of the peptide composition. Liposomes include emulsions, foams, micelles, insoluble monolayers, liquid crystals, phospholipid dispersions, lamellar layers and the like. In these preparations, the peptide to be delivered is incorporated as part of a liposome, alone or in conjunction with a molecule which binds to a receptor prevalent among lymphoid cells, such as monoclonal antibodies which bind to the CD45 antigen, or with other therapeutic or immunogenic compositions. Thus, liposomes either filled or decorated with a desired peptide of the invention can be directed to the site of lymphoid cells, where the liposomes then deliver the peptide compositions. Liposomes for use in accordance with the invention are formed from standard vesicle-forming lipids, which generally include neutral and negatively charged phospholipids and a sterol, such as cholesterol. The selection of lipids is generally guided by consideration of, e.g., liposome size, acid liability and stability of the liposomes in the blood stream. A variety of methods are available for preparing liposomes, as described in, e.g., Szoka, et al., Ann. Rev. Biophys. Bioeng. 9:467 (1980), and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,871, 4,501,728, 4,837,028, and 5,019,369.
For targeting cells of the immune system, a ligand to be incorporated into the liposome can include, e.g., antibodies or fragments thereof specific for cell surface determinants of the desired immune system cells. A liposome suspension containing a peptide may be administered intravenously, locally, topically, etc. in a dose which varies according to, inter alia, the manner of administration, the peptide being delivered, and the stage of the disease being treated.
For solid compositions, conventional nontoxic solid carriers may be used which include, for example, pharmaceutical grades of mannitol, lactose, starch, magnesium stearate, sodium saccharin, talcum, cellulose, glucose, sucrose, magnesium carbonate, and the like. For oral administration, a pharmaceutically acceptable nontoxic composition is formed by incorporating any of the normally employed excipients, such as those carriers previously listed, and generally 10-95% of active ingredient, that is, one or more peptides of the invention, and more preferably at a concentration of 25%-75%.
For aerosol administration, the immunogenic peptides are preferably supplied in finely divided form along with a surfactant and propellant. Typical percentages of peptides are 0.01%-20% by weight, preferably 1%-10%. The surfactant must, of course, be nontoxic, and preferably soluble in the propellant. Representative of such agents are the esters or partial esters of fatty acids containing from 6 to 22 carbon atoms, such as caproic, octanoic, lauric, palmitic, stearic, linoleic, linolenic, olesteric and oleic acids with an aliphatic polyhydric alcohol or its cyclic anhydride. Mixed esters, such as mixed or natural glycerides may be employed. The surfactant may constitute 0.1%-20% by weight of the composition, preferably 0.25-5%. The balance of the composition is ordinarily propellant. A carrier can also be included, as desired, as with, e.g., lecithin for intranasal delivery.
The peptide and nucleic acid compositions of this invention can be provided in kit form together with instructions for vaccine administration. Typically the kit would include desired peptide compositions in a container, preferably in unit dosage form and instructions for administration. An alternative kit would include a minigene construct with desired nucleic acids of the invention in a container, preferably in unit dosage form together with instructions for administration. Lymphokines such as IL-2 or IL-12 may also be included in the kit. Other kit components that may also be desirable include, for example, a sterile syringe, booster dosages, and other desired excipients.
The invention will be described in greater detail by way of specific examples. The following examples are offered for illustrative purposes, and are not intended to limit the invention in any manner. Those of skill in the art will readily recognize a variety of non-critical parameters that can be changed or modified to yield alternative embodiments in accordance with the invention.
As in many viral diseases, there is evidence that clearance of HCV is mediated by CTL. In a study of primary HCV infection in six chimpanzees, four progressed to chronic infection (Cooper et al., abstract, 19th US-Japan Hepatitis Joint Panel Meeting, Jan. 27-29, 1998). It was found that these four animals showed either no CTL response or a very narrowly focused response during early infection. In contrast, in the remaining two animals that resolved the infection, a broad CTL response was observed against multiple HCV proteins, some of which were conserved. Weiner et al. (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:2755-2759, 1995) demonstrated that viral escape, in which the epitopes presented to PATR class I molecules mutated, was linked with a progression toward chronic infection. These data show a role for the CTL in directing the course of HCV disease, and in shaping the genetic composition of HCV species in the persistently infected host.
In work in humans, Koziel and co-workers have established the presence of HCV-specific CTL in liver infiltrates from patients with chronic HCV infection (Koziel et al., J. Immunol. 149:3339, 1992; and Koziel et al.; J. Virol. 67:7522, 1993), and have also identified a number of CTL epitopes recognized in the context of several different HLA class I molecules. Other investigators have shown that HCV-specific CTL can be detected in the peripheral blood of patients with chronic hepatitis C (Cerny et al., J. Clin. Invest. 95:521, 1995; Cerny et al., Curr. Topics in Micro. and Immunol 189:169, 1994; Cerny et al., Abst. 2nd International Meeting on Hepatitis C and Related Viruses; La Jolla, Calif., 1994; Battegay et al., Abst. 2nd International Meeting on Hepatitis C and Related Viruses; La Jolla, Calif., 1994; Shirai et al., J. Virol. 68:3334, 1994; Shirai et al., J. Immunol. 154:2733, 1995; Battegay et al., J. Virol. 69:2462, 1995). In addition, escape variants have been demonstrated in patients chronically infected with HCV (Chang et al., J. Clin. Invest. 100:2376-2385, 1997; Tsai et al., Gastroenterology 115:954-966, 1998).
The magnitude of the CTL responses observed in HCV-infected patients is, in general, higher than those observed in the case of chronic hepatitis B infection, suggesting that there is less impairment of specific T cell immunity than with HBV infection. The magnitude of CTL responses in HCV patients is, however, lower than those observed in HBV infected individuals who successfully cleared HBV infection. These results support the understanding that HCV infected patients are capable of responding to active immunotherapy, and suggest that potentiation and increasing of T cell responses to HCV may be of use in therapy and prevention of chronic HCV infection (Prince, A. M. FEMS Micro. Rev. 14:273, 1994).
Several groups have analyzed the potential role of HCV-specific CTL responses in disease resistance and pathogenesis. In some studies no correlation was found between CTL viremia and CTL precursor frequency for individual HCV epitopes (Rehermann et al., J. Clin. Invest. 98:1432-1440, 1996; Wong et al., J. Immunol. 160:1479-1488, 1998). In other studies, however, it was shown that a clear correlation existed between levels of HCV infection and CTL responses, provided that the global response against multiple CTL epitopes was considered (Rehermann et al., J. Virol. 70:7092-7102, 1996). These data represent a strong rationale for development of vaccine constructs capable of inducing vigorous CTL responses directed against a multiplicity of conserved HCV-derived epitopes.
Koziel and colleagues have demonstrated the presence of HCV-specific CTLs, as well as T helper cell responses, in exposed but seronegative individuals (Koziel et al., J. Infect. Diseases 176:859-866, 1997). In addition, HCV-specific CTLs have been detected in healthy, seronegative family members of chronically HCV-infected patents, indicating that a protective immunity is established in absence of a detectable infection (Bronowicki et al., J. Infect. Dis. 176:518-522, 1997; Scognamiglio et al., in preparation).
Experimental evidence also indicates that HTL epitopes play an important role in immune reactivity and defenses against HCV infection (Missale et al., J. Clin. Invest. 98:706-714, 1996). Diepolder et al. (in Lancet 346:1006, 1995) have shown that a region of the NS3 gene (NS3 1007-1534) is recognized by patients who clear acute HCV infection, but is not seen by patients who develop chronic infection. Subsequent studies have shown that this particular region contained a highly cross-reactive HTL epitope (NS3 1248-1261), which binds with good affinity to 10 of 13 DR molecules tested, and is highly conserved in 30/33 different HCV isolates considered (Diepolder et al., J. Virol. 71:6011-6019, 1997). These data suggest that directing HTL responses to this type of epitope (rather than to less cross-reactive and/or highly variable ones) will be of therapeutic and prophylactic benefit and strongly argue for inclusion of this and other epitopes with similar characteristics in HCV vaccine constructs.
The following examples illustrate identification, selection, and use of immunogenic Class I and Class II peptide epitopes for inclusion in vaccine compositions.
The following example of peptide binding to HLA molecules demonstrates quantification of binding affinities of HLA class I and class II peptides. Binding assays can be performed with peptides that are either motif-bearing or not motif-bearing.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed homozygous cell lines, fibroblasts, CIR, or 721.22 transfectants were used as sources of HLA class I molecules. These cells were maintained in vitro by culture in RPMI 1640 medium supplemented with 2 mM L-glutamine (GIBCO, Grand Island, N.Y.), 50 μM 2-ME, 100 μg/ml of streptomycin,
Cell lysates were prepared and HLA molecules purified in accordance with disclosed protocols (Sidney et al., Current Protocols in Immunology 18.3.1 (1998); Sidney, et al., J. Immunol. 154:247 (1995); Sette, et al., Mol. Immunol. 31:813 (1994)). Briefly, cells were lysed at a concentration of 108 cells/ml in 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, containing 1% Nonidet P-40 (Fluka Biochemika, Buchs, Switzerland), 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM EDTA, and 2 mM PMSF. Lysates were cleared of debris and nuclei by centrifugation at 15,000×g for 30 min.
HLA molecules were purified from lysates by affinity chromatography. Lysates prepared as above were passed twice through two pre-columns of inactivated Sepharose CL4-B and protein A-Sepharose. Next, the lysate was passed over a column of Sepharose CL-4B beads coupled to an appropriate antibody. The antibodies used for the extraction of HLA from cell lysates are listed in Table XXV. The anti-HLA column was then washed with 10-column volumes of 10 mM Tris-HCL, pH 8.0, in 1% NP-40, PBS, 2-column volumes of PBS, and 2-column volumes of PBS containing 0.4% n-octylglucoside. Finally, MHC molecules were eluted with 50 mM diethylamine in 0.15M NaCl containing 0.4% n-octylglucoside, pH 11.5. A 1/25 volume of 2.0M Tris, pH 6.8, was added to the eluate to reduce the pH to ˜8.0. Eluates were then be concentrated by centrifugation in Centriprep 30 concentrators at 2000 rpm (Amicon, Beverly, Mass.). Protein content was evaluated by a BCA protein assay (Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, Ill.) and confirmed by SDS-PAGE.
A detailed description of the protocol utilized to measure the binding of peptides to Class I and Class II MHC has been published (Sette et al., Mol. Immunol. 31:813, 1994; Sidney et al., in Current Protocols in Immunology, Margulies, Ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York, Section 18.3, 1998). Briefly, purified MHC molecules (5 to 500 nM) were incubated with various unlabeled peptide inhibitors and 1-10 nM 125I-radiolabeled probe peptides for 48 h in PBS containing 0.05% Nonidet P-40 (NP40) (or 20% w/v digitonin for H-2 IA assays) in the presence of a protease inhibitor cocktail. The final concentrations of protease inhibitors (each from CalBioChem, La Jolla, Calif.) were 1 mM PMSF, 1.3 nM 1.10 phenanthroline, 73 μM pepstatin A, 8 mM EDTA, 6 mM N-ethylmaleimide (for Class II assays), and 200 μM N alpha-p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone (TLCK). All assays were performed at pH 7.0 with the exception of DRB1*0301, which was performed at pH 4.5, and DRB1*1601 (DR2w21β1) and DRB4*0101 (DRw53), which were performed at pH 5.0. pH was adjusted as described elsewhere (see Sidney et al., in Current Protocols in Immunology, Margulies, Ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York, Section 18.3, 1998).
Following incubation, MHC-peptide complexes were separated from free peptide by gel filtration on 7.8 mm×15 cm TSK200 columns (TosoHaas 16215, Montgomeryville, Pa.), eluted at 1.2 mls/min with PBS pH 6.5 containing 0.5% NP40 and 0.1% NaN3. Because the large size of the radiolabeled peptide used for the DRB1*1501 (DR2w2β1) assay makes separation of bound from unbound peaks more difficult under these conditions, all DRB1*1501 (DR2w2β1) assays were performed using a 7.8 mm×30 cm TSK2000 column eluted at 0.6 mls/min. The eluate from the TSK columns was passed through a Beckman 170 radioisotope detector, and radioactivity was plotted and integrated using a Hewlett-Packard 3396A integrator, and the fraction of peptide bound was determined.
Radiolabeled peptides were iodinated using the chloramine-T method. Representative radiolabeled probe peptides utilized in each assay, and its assay specific IC50 nM, are summarized in Tables IV and V. Typically, in preliminary experiments, each MHC preparation was titered in the presence of fixed amounts of radiolabeled peptides to determine the concentration of HLA molecules necessary to bind 10-20% of the total radioactivity. All subsequent inhibition and direct binding assays were performed using these HLA concentrations.
Since under these conditions [label]<[HLA] and IC50≧[HLA], the measured IC50 values are reasonable approximations of the true KD values. Peptide inhibitors are typically tested at concentrations ranging from 120 μg/ml to 1.2 ng/ml, and are tested in two to four completely independent experiments. To allow comparison of the data obtained in different experiments, a relative binding figure is calculated for each peptide by dividing the IC50 of a positive control for inhibition by the IC50 for each tested peptide (typically unlabeled versions of the radiolabeled probe peptide). For database purposes, and inter-experiment comparisons, relative binding values are compiled. These values can subsequently be converted back into IC50 nM values by dividing the IC50 nM of the positive controls for inhibition by the relative binding of the peptide of interest. This method of data compilation has proven to be the most accurate and consistent for comparing peptides that have been tested on different days, or with different lots of purified MHC.
Because the antibody used for HLA-DR purification (LB3.1) is α-chain specific, β1 molecules are not separated from β3 (and/or β4 and β5) molecules. The β1 specificity of the binding assay is obvious in the cases of DRB1*0101 (DR1), DRB1*0802 (DR8w2), and DRB1*0803 (DR8w3), where no β3 is expressed. It has also been demonstrated for DRB1*0301 (DR3) and DRB3*0101 (DR52a), DRB1*0401 (DR4w4), DRB1*0404 (DR4w14), DRB1*0405 (DR4w15), DRB1*L101 (DR5), DRB1*1201 (DR5w12), DRB1*1302 (DR6w19) and DRB1*0701 (DR7). The problem of P chain specificity for DRB1*1501 (DR2w2β1), DRB5*0101 (DR2w2β2), DRB1*1601 (DR2w21β1), DRB5*0201 (DR51Dw21), and DRB4*0101 (DRw53) assays is circumvented by the use of fibroblasts. Development and validation of assays with regard to DRβ molecule specificity have been described previously (see, e.g., Southwood et al., J. Immunol. 160:3363-3373, 1998).
Binding assays as outlined above may be used to analyze supermotif and/or motif-bearing epitopes as, for example, described in Example 2.
Vaccine compositions of the invention may include multiple epitopes that comprise multiple HLA supermotifs or motifs to achieve broad population coverage. This example illustrates the identification of supermotif- and motif-bearing epitopes for the inclusion in such a vaccine composition. Calculation of population coverage was performed using the strategy described below.
Computer Searches and Algorithms for Identification of Supermotif and/or Motif-Bearing Epitopes
Computer searches for epitopes bearing HLA Class I or Class II supermotifs or motifs were performed as follows. All translated HCV isolate sequences were analyzed using a text string search software program, e.g., MotifSearch 1.4 (D. Brown, San Diego) to identify potential peptide sequences containing appropriate HLA binding motifs; alternative programs are readily produced in accordance with information in the art in view of the motif/supermotif disclosure herein. Furthermore, such calculations can be made mentally. Identified A2-, A3-, and DR-supermotif sequences were scored using polynomial algorithms to predict their capacity to bind to specific HLA-Class I or Class II molecules. These polynomial algorithms take into account both extended and refined motifs (that is, to account for the impact of different amino acids at different positions), and are essentially based on the premise that the overall affinity (or AG) of peptide-HLA molecule interactions can be approximated as a linear polynomial function of the type:
“ΔG”=a1i×a2i×a3i . . . ×ani
where aji is a coefficient which represents the effect of the presence of a given amino acid (j) at a given position (i) along the sequence of a peptide of n amino acids. The crucial assumption of this method is that the effects at each position are essentially independent of each other (i.e., independent binding of individual side-chains). When residue j occurs at position i in the peptide, it is assumed to contribute a constant amount ji to the free energy of binding of the peptide irrespective of the sequence of the rest of the peptide. This assumption is justified by studies from our laboratories that demonstrated that peptides are bound to MHC and recognized by T cells in essentially an extended conformation (data omitted herein).
The method of derivation of specific algorithm coefficients has been described in Gulukota et al., J. Mol. Biol. 267:1258-126, 1997; (see also Sidney et al., Human Immunol. 45:79-93, 1996; and Southwood et al., J. Immunol. 160:3363-3373, 1998). Briefly, for all i positions, anchor and non-anchor alike, the geometric mean of the average relative binding (ARB) of all peptides carrying j is calculated relative to the remainder of the group, and used as the estimate of ji. For Class II peptides, if multiple alignments are possible, only the highest scoring alignment is utilized, following an iterative procedure. To calculate an algorithm score of a given peptide in a test set, the ARB values corresponding to the sequence of the peptide are multiplied. If this product exceeds a chosen threshold, the peptide is predicted to bind. Appropriate thresholds are chosen as a function of the degree of stringency of prediction desired.
Complete polyprotein sequences from fourteen HCV isolates were aligned, then scanned, utilizing motif identification software, to identify conserved 9- and 10-mer sequences containing the HLA-A2-supermotif main anchor specificity.
A total of 231 conserved, HLA-A2 supermotif-positive sequences were identified. These peptides were then evaluated for the presence of A*0201 preferred secondary anchor residues using A*0201-specific polynomial algorithms. A total of 67 conserved, motif-bearing and algorithm-positive sequences were identified.
Fifty of these conserved, motif-containing 9- and 10-mer peptides were tested for their capacity to bind to purified HLA-A*0201 molecules in vitro (HLA-A*0201 is considered a prototype A2 supertype molecule). Sixteen peptides bound A*0201 with IC50 values ≦500 nM; 4 with high binding affinities (IC50 values ≦50 nM) and 12 with intermediate binding affinities, in the 50-500 nM range (Table XXVI).
These 16 peptides were subsequently tested for the capacity to bind to additional A2-supertype molecules (A*0202, A*0203, A*0206, and A*6802). As shown in Table XXVI, most of these peptides were found to be A2-supertype cross-reactive binders. More specifically, 12/16 (75%) peptides bound at least three of the five A2-supertype molecules tested.
The sequences from the same fourteen known HCV isolates scanned above were also examined for the presence of conserved peptides with the HLA-A3-supermotif primary anchors. A total of 71 conserved 9- or 10-mer motif containing sequences were identified. Further analysis using the A03 and A11 algorithms (see, e.g., Gulukota et al, J. Mol. Biol. 267:1258-1267, 1997 and Sidney et al, Human Immunol. 45:79-93, 1996) identified 39 sequences that scored high in either or both algorithms. Twenty seven of the 39 peptides were synthesized and tested for binding to HLA-A*03 and HLA-A*11, the two most prevalent A3-supertype molecules. Fifteen peptides were identified which bound A3 and/or A11 with binding affinities of ≦500 nM (Table XXVII). These peptides were then tested for binding cross-reactivity to the other common A3-supertype alleles (A*3101, A*3301, and A*6801). Seven of the 15 peptides bound at least three of the five HLA-A3-supertype molecules tested.
In the course of an independent series of experiments (Kubo et al., J. Immunol. 152:3913-3924, 1994), one peptide, HCV NS3 1262, not identified by the selection criteria utilized above because it does not have the A3-supermotif main anchor specificity, was determined to be cross-reactive in the A3-supertype, binding A*03, A*11, and A*6801. It is also shown in Table XXVII. Interestingly, this peptide represents a single residue N-terminal truncation of peptide 1073.14, which is also shown in Table XXVII.
In summary, 8 peptides that bind 3 or more A3-supertype molecules derived from conserved regions of the HCV genome were identified.
When the same fourteen HCV isolates were also analyzed for the presence of conserved 9- or 10-mer peptides with the HLA-B7-supermotif, 35 sequences were identified. The corresponding peptides were synthesized and tested for binding to HLA-B*0702, the most common B7-supertype allele (i.e., the prototype B7 supertype allele). Thirteen peptides bound B*0702 with IC50 of ≦500 nM (Table XXVIIIa). These 13 peptides were then tested for binding to other common B7-supertype molecules (B*3501, B*51, B*5301, and B*5401). As shown in Table XXVIIIa, only 1 peptide (Core 169) was capable of binding to three or more of the five B7-supertype alleles tested.
To identify additional B7-supertype epitopes, further studies were undertaken. The protein sequences from the fourteen HCV isolates utilized above were again examined to identify conserved, motif-containing 8- and 111-mers. The isolates were also examined for 9- and 10-mer sequences allowing for lower conservancy (51%-78%). These analyses identified twenty-five 8-mers, sixteen 11-mers, and thirty-five 9- and 10-mers. These peptides were synthesized and tested for binding to B*0702. Thirteen peptides bound with high or intermediate affinity to B*0702 (IC50≦500 nM) (Table XXVIIIb). These peptides were additionally screened for binding to other B7-supertype molecules. Only one cross-reactive binder, the NS3 1378 8-mer (peptide 29.0035/1260.04), was identified (Table XXVIIIb).
In summary, a total of two cross-reactive B7-supertype binders were identified (Core 169 and NS3 1378).
To further increase population coverage, HLA-A1 and -A24 epitopes can also be incorporated into potential vaccine constructs.
In a previous analysis, two A1 and three A24 binders, 100% conserved among four strains of HCV, were identified (Wentworth et al., Int. Immunol. 8:651-659, 1996). An analysis of the protein sequence data from the fourteen HCV strains utilized above demonstrated that these peptides were >79% conserved, and also identified an additional eleven A1- and twenty five A24-motif-containing conserved sequences (see Table XXIXA and B). Testing for binding to the appropriate HLA molecule (i.e., A1 or A24) was completed for eight of the additional eleven A1 peptides, and seven of the additional twenty five A24 peptides. Overall, as shown in Table XXIX, four A1-motif peptides (A) and three A24-motif peptides (B) have been found with binding capacities of 500 nM or less for the appropriate allele-specific HLA molecule.
Analysis of the HLA-A2 and A3 supermotif-bearing epitopes identified above revealed that in 13/14 cases, peptides binding the supertype prototype HLA molecule (i.e. A*0201 for the A2 supertype, and A*0301 for the A3 supertype) with an IC50 of less than 100 nM were cross-reactive and recognized by HCV-infected patients as described in Example 3, which follows. Based on these observations, two A1 peptides and one A24 peptide epitopes were also selected as candidates for inclusion in vaccine compositions; these peptides bind the appropriate HLA molecule with an IC50 of less than 100 nM.
It has been shown that CTL induced in A*0201/Kb transgenic mice exhibit specificity similar to CTL induced in the human system (see, e.g., Vitiello et al., J. Exp. Med. 173:1007-1015, 1991; Wentworth et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 26:97-101, 1996). Accordingly, these mice were used to evaluate the immunogenicity of the twelve conserved A2-supertype cross-reactive peptides identified in Example 2 above.
CTL induction in transgenic mice following peptide immunization has been described (Vitiello et al., J. Exp. Med. 173:1007-1015, 1991; Alexander et al.; J. Immunol. 159:4753-4761, 1997). In these studies, mice were injected subcutaneously at the base of the tail with each peptide (50 μg/mouse) emulsified in IFA in the presence of an excess of an IAb-restricted helper peptide (140 μg/mouse) (HBV core 128-140, Sette et al., J. Immunol. 153:5586-5592, 1994). Eleven days after injection, splenocytes were incubated in the presence of peptide-loaded syngenic LPS blasts. After six days, cultures were assayed for cytotoxic activity using peptide-pulsed targets. The data, summarized in Table XXX, indicate that 7 of the 12 peptides (58%) were capable of inducing primary CTL responses in A*0201/Kb transgenic mice. (For these studies, a peptide was considered positive if it induced CTL (L.U. 30/106 cells ≧2 in at least two transgenic animals (Wentworth et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 26:97-101, 1996).
The conserved, cross reactive candidate CTL epitopes were also tested for recognition in vitro by PBMCs obtained from HCV-infected patients. Briefly, PBMC from patients infected with HCV were cultured in the presence of 10 μg/ml of synthetic peptide. After 7 and 14 days, the cultures were restimulated with peptide. The cultures were assayed for cytolytic activity on day 21 using target cells pulsed with the specific peptide in a standard four hour 51Cr release assay. The data are summarized in Table XXX. As shown, all 12 peptides are CTL epitopes recognized by PBMC from HCV-infected patients. From the data in Table XXX, it is interesting to note that HLA transgenics did not fully reveal the immimogenicity of some peptides that were positive in recall responses. This apparent discrepancy may reflect differences in the route of immunization utilized (e.g., natural infection versus peptide immunization), or CTL repertoire.
The immunogenicity of six of the eight A3-supertype cross-reactive peptides identified in Example 2 above was evaluated in HLA-A11/Kb transgenic mice, using the protocol described above for HLA-A2 transgenic mice (Alexander et al., J. Immunol. 159:4753-4761, 1997). Five of these six peptides were able to induce primary CTL responses (Table XXXI).
All eight peptides were also studied by collaborators using PBMC cultures from HCV infected patients and contacts of such patients. This data is also summarized in Table XXXI. Briefly, all eight peptides were recognized by HCV infected individuals.
One of the two B7-supertype cross-reactive peptides (1145.12, Core 169) has been evaluated for immunogenicity in HCV-infected patients. Two independent collaborators have shown that this peptide is indeed immunogenic, and is recognized by T cells from HCV-infected patients (Chang et al., J. Immunol. 162:1156-1164, 1999)
HLA motifs and supermotifs (comprising primary and/or secondary residues) are useful in the identification and preparation of highly cross-reactive native peptides, as demonstrated herein. Moreover, the definition of HLA motifs and supermotifs also allows one to engineer highly cross-reactive epitopes by identifying residues within a native peptide sequence which can be analogued, or “fixed” to confer upon the peptide certain characteristics, e.g. greater cross-reactivity within the group of HLA molecules that comprise a supertype, and/or greater binding affinity for some or all of those HLA molecules. Examples of analog peptides that exhibit modulated binding affinity are set forth in this example.
As shown in Example 2, more than ten different HCV-derived, A2-supertype-restricted epitopes were identified. Peptide engineering strategies are implemented to further increase the cross-reactivity of the candidate epitopes identified above which bind 3/5 of the A2 supertype alleles tested. On the basis of the data disclosed, e.g., in related and co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 09/226,775, the main anchors of A2-supermotif-bearing peptides are altered, for example, to introduce a preferred L, I, V, or M at position 2, and I or V at the C-terminus.
To analyze the cross-reactivity of the analog peptides, each engineered analog is initially tested for binding to the prototype A2 supertype allele A*0201, then, if A*0201 binding capacity is maintained, for A2-supertype cross-reactivity.
Similarly, analogs of HLA-A3 supermotif-bearing epitopes may also be generated. For example, peptides binding to 3/5 of the A3-supertype molecules may be engineered at primary anchor residues to possess a preferred residue (V, S, M, or A) at position 2.
The analog peptides are then tested for the ability to bind A*03 and A*11 (prototype A3 supertype alleles). Those peptides that demonstrate ≦500 nM binding capacity are then tested for A3-supertype cross-reactivity.
Similarly to the A2- and A3-motif bearing peptides, peptides binding 3 or more B7-supertype alleles may be improved, where possible, to achieve increased cross-reactive binding. B7 supermotif-bearing peptides may, for example, be engineered to possess a preferred residue (V, I, L, or F) at the C-terminal primary anchor position, as demonstrated by Sidney et al. (J. Immunol. 157:3480-3490, 1996).
Moreover, HLA supermotifs are of value in engineering highly cross-reactive peptides and/or peptides that bind HLA molecules with increased affinity by identifying particular residues at secondary anchor positions that are associated with such properties. Demonstrating this, the binding capacity of a peptide representing a discreet single amino acid substitution at position one was analyzed. Peptide 1145.13 (Table XXVIIIc), which represents the substitution of L to F at position 1 of the core 169 sequence, binds all five B7-supertype molecules with a good affinity (all IC50 values ≦132 nM), and in 3 instances has higher affinity over that of the parent peptide by >35-fold.
Because so few B7-supertype cross-reactive epitopes were identified, our results from previous binding evaluations were analyzed to identify conserved (8-, 9-, 10-, or 11-mer) peptides which bind, minimally, 3/5 B7 supertype molecules with weak affinity (IC50 of 500 nM-5 μM). This analysis identified 9 peptides, 6 of which are analogued (including core 169 which had been previously analogued). These peptides are tested for enhanced binding affinity and B7-supertype cross-reactivity.
Engineered analogs with sufficiently improved binding capacity or cross-reactivity are tested for immunogenicity in HLA-B7-transgenic mice, following for example, IFA immunization or lipopeptide immunization.
In conclusion, these data demonstrate that by the use of even single amino acid substitutions, it is possible to increase the binding affinity and/or cross-reactivity of peptide ligands for HLA supertype molecules.
Peptide epitopes bearing an HLA class II supermotif or motif may also be identified as outlined below using methodology similar to that described in Examples 1-3.
To identify HCV-derived, HLA class II HTL epitopes, the same fourteen HCV polyprotein sequences used for the identification of HLA Class I supermotif/motif sequences were analyzed for the presence of sequences bearing an HLA-DR-motif or supermotif. Specifically, 15-mer sequences were selected comprising a DR-supermotif, further comprising a 9-mer core, and three-residue N- and C-terminal flanking regions (15 amino acids total). It was also required that the 15-mer sequence be conserved in at least 79% (11/14) of the HCV strains analyzed. These criteria identified a total of 49 non-redundant sequences, which are shown in Table XXXIIA. (In the context of Class II epitopes, a sequence is considered operationally redundant if more than 80% of it's sequence overlaps with another peptide.)
Protocols for predicting peptide binding to DR molecules have been developed (Southwood et al., J. Immunol. 160:3363-3373, 1998). These protocols, specific for individual DR molecules, allow the scoring, and ranking, of 9-mer core regions. Each protocol not only scores peptide sequences for the presence of DR-supermotif primary anchors (i.e., at position 1 and position 6) within a 9-mer core, but additionally evaluates sequences for the presence of secondary anchors. Using allele specific selection tables (see, e.g., Southwood et al., ibid.), it has been found that these protocols efficiently select peptide sequences with a high probability of binding a particular DR molecule. Additionally, it has been found that performing these protocols in tandem, specifically those for DR1, DR4w4, and DR7, can efficiently select DR cross-reactive peptides.
To see if these protocols serve to identify additional epitopes, the same HCV polyproteins used above were re-scanned for the presence of 15-mer peptides with 9-mer core regions that were >79% (11/14 strains) conserved. This identified 152 sequences; 49 of which were identified previously, as described above. Next, the 9-mer core region of each of these peptides was scored using the DR1, DR4w4, and DR7 algorithms. Twenty-two peptides, including 12 new sequences (10 peptides were from the original set of 49) were found to have 9-mer cores with protocol-derived scores predictive of cross-reactive DR binders. The 12 additional sequences are shown in Table XXXIIB.
The conserved, HCV-derived peptides identified above were tested for their binding capacity for various common HLA-DR molecules. All peptides were initially tested for binding to the DR molecules in the primary panel: DR1, DR4w4, and DR7. Peptides binding at least 2 of these 3 DR molecules were then tested for binding to DR2w2 β1, DR2w2 β2, DR6w19, and DR9 molecules in secondary assays. Finally, peptides binding at least 2 of the 4 secondary panel DR molecules, and thus cumulatively at least 4 of 7 different DR molecules, were screened for binding to DR4w15, DR5w11, and DR8w2 molecules in tertiary assays. Peptides binding at least 7 of the 10 DR molecules comprising the primary, secondary, and tertiary screening assays were considered cross-reactive DR binders. The composition of these screening panels, and the phenotypic frequency of associated antigens, are shown in Table XXXIII.
Upon testing, it was found that 29 of the original 75 peptides (39%) bound two or more of the primary HLA molecules. Twenty-six of these cross-reactive binders were then tested in the secondary assays, and nineteen were found to bind at least four of the seven HLA DR molecules in the primary and secondary panels. Finally, the nineteen peptides passing the secondary screening phase were tested for binding in the tertiary assays. As a result, nine peptides were identified which bound at least seven of ten common HLA-DR molecules. Table XXXIV shows these nine peptides and their binding capacity for each allele-specific HLA-DR molecule in the primary through tertiary panels. Also shown in Table XXXIV are two peptides (F134.05 and F134.08) for which a complete binding analysis was not performed. However, both of these peptides bound six of the seven HLA DR molecules tested. F134.08 nests peptide 1283.44, which bound eight of 10 allele-specific HLA molecules.
In conclusion, eleven cross-reactive DR-binding peptides, derived from six discrete (i.e. non-redundant) regions of the HCV genome, have been identified. Two of the six regions from which these epitopes were derived are covered by multiple, overlapping epitopes.
Because HLA-DR3 is an allele that is prevalent in Caucasian, Black, and Hispanic populations, DR3 binding capacity is an important criterion in the selection of HTL epitopes. However, data generated previously indicated that DR3 only rarely cross-reacts with other DR alleles (Sidney et al., J. Immunol. 149:2634-2640, 1992; Geluk et al., J. Immunol. 152:5742-5748, 1994; Southwood et al., J. Immunol. 160:3363-3373, 1998). This is not entirely surprising in that the DR3 peptide-binding motif appears to be distinct from the specificity of most other DR alleles.
To efficiently identify peptides that bind DR3, target proteins were analyzed for conserved sequences carrying one of the two DR3 specific binding motifs reported by Geluk et al. (J. Immunol. 152:5742-5748, 1994). Fifteen sequences, including a peptide nested within a DR-supermotif sequence identified above (peptide Pape 22), were identified (Table XXXIId). Preferably, DR3 motifs will be found clustered in proximity with DR supermotif regions.
Fourteen of the fifteen peptides containing a DR3 motif were tested for their DR3 binding capacity. Two peptides (CH35.0106 and CH35.0107) were found to bind DR3 with an affinity of 1 μM or less (Table XXXV), and thereby qualify as HLA class II high affinity binders.
DR3 binding epitopes identified in this manner may then be included in vaccine compositions with DR supermotif-bearing peptide epitopes.
In the course of collaborative studies with G. Pape and C. Ferrari, eight conserved, HCV-derived peptides have been identified which are recognized by HCV-infected individuals.
One of these studies (Diepolder et al., J. Virol. 71:6011-6019, 1997), identified peptide F98.05, which spans residues 1248-1261 of the NS3 protein, as an immunodominant CD4+ T-cell epitope that was recognized by 14/23 NS3-specific CD4+ T-cell clones from 4/5 patients with acute hepatitis C infection. This epitope, shown above to be an HLA-DR cross-reactive binder (see Table XXXIV), was capable of being presented to helper CD4+ T cells by multiple HLA molecules (DR4, DR11, DR12, DR13, and DR16). Two other peptides, Pape 22 and Pape 29, were also recognized by CD4+ T cell clones, although, in a more limited context; correspondingly, neither of these peptides are DR-cross-reactive binders.
By direct peripheral blood T cell stimulation and by fine specificity analysis of HCV-specific T-cell lines and clones, studies done in collaboration with Ferrari's group identified 6 immunodominant epitopes, including one also identified in the Pape collaboration, that are derived from conserved regions of the core, NS3, and NS4 proteins. These epitopes were also found to be cross-reactive, being presented to T cells in the context of different Class II molecules. Three of the 6 epitopes, F98.04 (F134.03), F1 34.05 and F1 34.08, are cross-reactive HLA-DR binders (see Table XXXIV).
In conclusion, the immunogenicity of 8 epitopes derived from conserved regions of the HCV genome has been demonstrated. Three of these epitopes (F98.05, F134.05, and F1 34.08; see Table XXXIV) are broadly cross-reactive HLA-DR binding peptides.
This example illustrates the assessment of the breadth of population coverage of a vaccine composition comprised of multiple epitopes comprising multiple supermotifs and/or motifs.
In order to analyze population coverage, gene frequencies of HLA alleles were determined. Gene frequencies for each HLA allele were calculated from antigen or allele frequencies utilizing the binomial distribution formulae gf=1-(SQRT(1-af)) (see, e.g., Sidney et al., Human Immunol. 45:79-93, 1996). To obtain overall phenotypic frequencies, cumulative gene frequencies were calculated, and the cumulative antigen frequencies derived by the use of the inverse formula [af=1-(1-Cgf)2].
Where frequency data was not available at the level of DNA typing, correspondence to the serologically defined antigen frequencies was assumed. To obtain total potential supertype population coverage no linkage disequilibrium was assumed, and only alleles confirmed to belong to each of the supertypes were included (minimal estimates). Estimates of total potential coverage achieved by inter-loci combinations were made by adding to the A coverage the proportion of the non-A covered population that could be expected to be covered by the B alleles considered (e.g., total=A+B*(1-A)). Confirmed members of the A3-like supertype are A3, A11, A31, A*3301, and A*6801. Although the A3-like supertype may also include A34, A66, and A*7401, these alleles were not included in overall frequency calculations. Likewise, confirmed members of the A2-like supertype family are A*0201, A*0202, A*0203, A*0204, A*0205, A*0206, A*0207, A*6802, and A*6901. Finally, the B7-like supertype-confirmed alleles are: B7, B*3501-03, B51, B*5301, B*5401, B*5501-2, B*5601, B*6701, and B*7801 (potentially also B*1401, B*3504-06, B*4201, and B*5602).
Population coverage achieved by combining the A2-, A3- and B7-supertypes is approximately 86% in five major ethnic groups (see Table XXI). Coverage may be extended by including peptides bearing the A1 and A24 motifs. On average, A1 is present in 12% and A24 in 29% of the population across five different major ethnic groups (Caucasian, North American Black, Chinese, Japanese, and Hispanic). Together, these alleles are represented with an average frequency of 39% in these same ethnic populations. The total coverage across the major ethnicities when A1 and A24 are combined with the coverage of the A2-, A3- and B7-supertype alleles is >95%. An analagous approach can be used to estimate population coverage achieved with combinations of class II motif-bearing epitopes.
Summary of Candidate HLA class I and class II Epitopes
In summary, on the basis of the data presented in the above examples, 26 CTL candidate peptide epitopes derived from conserved regions of the HCV virus have been identified (Table XXXVIa). These include twelve HLA-A2 supermotif-bearing epitopes, eight HLA-A3 supermotif-bearing epitopes, and one HLA-B7 supermotif-bearing epitope, each capable of binding to multiple A2-, A3-, or B7-supertype molecules, and immunogenic in HLA transgenic mice or antigenic for human PBL (with the exception of peptide 29.0035/1260.04). Additional epitopes not evaluated for immunogenicity are also included. They are an additional B7-supermotif-bearing epitope and two HLA-A1 and one HLA-A24 high-affinity binding peptides. A known HLA-A31 restricted epitope (VGIYLLPNR), which also binds HLA-A33, is also set out in Table XXXVIa and is useful in combination with other Class I or Class II epitopes.
With these 26 CTL epitopes (as disclosed herein and from the art), average population coverage, (i.e., recognition of at least one HCV epitope), is predicted to be greater than 95% in each of five major ethnic populations. The potential redundancy of coverage afforded by 25 of these epitopes (the peptide 24.0086 was not included) was estimated using the game theory Monte Carlo simulation analysis, which is known in the art (see e.g., Osborne, M. J. and Rubinstein, A. “A course in game theory” MIT Press, 1994). As shown in
A list of HCV-derived HTL epitopes that would be preferred for use in the design of minigene constructs or other vaccine formulations is summarized in Table XXXVIb. As shown, 9 different peptide-binding regions have been identified which bind multiple HLA-DR molecules or bind HLA-DR3. (In the case of the NS4 1914-1935 region, the longer peptide, F134.08, recognized by patients, was chosen over the shorter peptide, 1283.44. The longer peptide essentially incorporates the shorter peptide, and also binds additional DR molecules that the shorter peptide does not bind.) Three of these peptides have been recognized as dominant epitopes in HCV infected patients.
It is estimated that each of 10 common DR molecules recognizing the DR supermotif, and DR3, are covered by a minimum of 2 epitopes. Correspondingly, the total estimated population coverage represented by this panel of epitopes is in excess of 91% in each of the 5 major ethnic populations (Table XXXVII).
This example determines that CTL induced by native or analogued peptide epitopes identified and selected as described in Examples 1-6 recognize endogenously synthesized, i.e., native antigens.
Effector cells isolated from transgenic mice that are immunized with peptide epitopes as in Example 3, for example HLA-A2 supermotif-bearing epitopes, are re-stimulated in vitro using peptide-coated stimulator cells. Six days later, effector cells are assayed for cytotoxicity and the cell lines that contain peptide-specific cytotoxic activity are further re-stimulated. An additional six days later, these cell lines are tested for cytotoxic activity on 51Cr labeled Jurkat-A2.1/Kb target cells in the absence or presence of peptide, and also tested on 51Cr labeled target cells bearing the endogenously synthesized antigen, i.e. cells that are stably transfected with HCV expression vectors.
The result will demonstrate that CTL lines obtained from animals primed with peptide epitope recognize endogenously synthesized HCV antigen. The choice of transgenic mouse model to be used for such an analysis depends upon the epitope(s) that is being evaluated. In addition to HLA-A*0201/Kb transgenic mice, several other transgenic mouse models including mice with human A11, which may also be used to evaluate A3 epitopes, and B7 alleles have been characterized and others (e.g., transgenic mice for HLA-A1 and A24) are being developed. HLA-DR1 and HLA-DR3 mouse models have also been developed, which may be used to evaluate HTL epitopes.
This example illustrates the induction of CTLs and HTLs in transgenic mice by use of an HCV CTL/HTL peptide conjugate whereby the vaccine composition comprises peptides administered to an HCV-infected patient or an individual at risk for HCV. The peptide composition can comprise multiple CTL and/or HTL epitopes. This analysis demonstrates enhanced immunogenicity that can be achieved by inclusion of one or more HTL epitopes in a vaccine composition. Such a peptide composition can comprise a lipidated HTL epitope conjugated to a preferred CTL epitope containing, for example, at least one CTL epitope selected from Table XXVI-XXIX, or an analog of that epitope. The HTL epitope is, for example, selected from Table XXXII.
Lipopeptide preparation: Lipopeptides are prepared by coupling the appropriate fatty acid to the amino terminus of the resin bound peptide. A typical procedure is as follows: A dichloromethane solution of a four-fold excess of a pre-formed symmetrical anhydride of the appropriate fatty acid is added to the resin and the mixture is allowed to react for two hours. The resin is washed with dichloromethane and dried. The resin is then treated with trifluoroacetic acid in the presence of appropriate scavengers [e.g. 5% (v/v) water] for 60 minutes at 20° C. After evaporation of excess trifluoroacetic acid, the crude peptide is washed with diethyl ether, dissolved in methanol and precipitated by the addition of water. The peptide is collected by filtration and dried.
Immunization procedures: Immunization of transgenic mice is performed as described (Alexander et al., J. Immunol. 159:4753-4761, 1997). For example, A2/Kb mice, which are transgenic for the human HLA A2.1 allele and are useful for the assessment of the immunogenicity of HLA-A*0201 motif- or HLA-A2 supermotif-bearing epitopes, are primed subcutaneously (base of the tail) with 0.1 ml of peptide conjugate formulated in saline, or DMSO/saline. Seven days after priming, splenocytes obtained from these animals are restimulated with syngenic irradiated LPS-activated lymphoblasts coated with peptide.
Cell lines: Target cells for peptide-specific cytotoxicity assays are Jurkat cells transfected with the HLA-A2.1/Kb chimeric gene (e.g., Vitiello et al., J. Exp. Med. 173:1007, 1991)
In vitro CTL activation: One week after priming, spleen cells (30×106 cells/flask) are co-cultured at 37° C. with syngeneic, irradiated (3000 rads), peptide coated lymphoblasts (10×106 cells/flask) in 10 ml of culture medium/T25 flask. After six days, effector cells are harvested and assayed for cytotoxic activity.
Assay for cytotoxic activity: Target cells (1.0 to 1.5×106) are incubated at 37° C. in the presence of 200 μl of 51Cr. After 60 minutes, cells are washed three times and resuspended in R10 medium. Peptide is added where required at a concentration of 1 μg/ml. For the assay, 104 51Cr-labeled target cells are added to different concentrations of effector cells (final volume of 200 μl) in U-bottom 96-well plates. After a 6 hour incubation period at 37° C., a 0.1 ml aliquot of supernatant is removed from each well and radioactivity is determined in a Micromedic automatic gamma counter. The percent specific lysis is determined by the formula: percent specific release=100×(experimental release−spontaneous release)/(maximum release−spontaneous release). To facilitate comparison between separate CTL assays run under the same conditions, % 51Cr release data is expressed as lytic units/106 cells. One lytic unit is arbitrarily defined as the number of effector cells required to achieve 30% lysis of 10,000 target cells in a 6 hour 51Cr release assay. To obtain specific lytic units/106, the lytic units/106 obtained in the absence of peptide is subtracted from the lytic units/106 obtained in the presence of peptide. For example, if 30% 51Cr release is obtained at the effector (E): target (T) ratio of 50:1 (i.e., 5×105 effector cells for 10,000 targets) in the absence of peptide and 5:1 (i.e., 5×104 effector cells for 10,000 targets) in the presence of peptide, the specific lytic units would be: [(1/50,000)−(1/500,000)]×106=18 LU.
The results are analyzed to assess the magnitude of the CTL responses of animals injected with the immunogenic CTL/HTL conjugate vaccine preparation and are compared to the magnitude of the CTL response achieved using the CTL epitope as outlined in Example 3. Analyses similar to this may be performed to evaluate the immunogenicity of peptide conjugates containing multiple CTL epitopes and/or multiple HTL epitopes. In accordance with these procedures it is found that a CTL response is induced, and concomitantly that an HTL response is induced upon administration of such compositions.
This example illustrates the procedure for the selection of peptide epitopes for vaccine compositions of the invention. The peptides in the composition may be in the form of a nucleic acid sequence, either single or one or more sequences (i.e., minigene) that encodes peptide(s), or may be single and/or polyepitopic peptides.
The following principles are utilized when selecting an array of epitopes for inclusion in a vaccine composition. Each of the following principles are balanced in order to make the selection.
1.) Epitopes are selected which, upon administration, mimic immune responses that have been observed to be correlated with HCV clearance. For HLA Class I this includes 3-4 epitopes that come from at least one antigen of HCV. In other words, it has been observed that patients who spontaneously clear HCV generate an immune response to at least 3 epitopes on at least one HCV antigen. For HLA Class II a similar rationale is employed; again 3-4 epitopes are selected from at least one HCV antigen.
2.) Epitopes are selected that have the requisite binding affinity established to be correlated with immunogenicity: for HLA Class I an IC50 of 500 nM or less, or for Class II an IC50 of 1000 nM or less.
3.) Sufficient supermotif bearing peptides, or a sufficient array of allele-specific motif bearing peptides, are selected to give broad population coverage. For example, epitopes are selected to provide at least 80% population coverage. A Monte Carlo analysis, a statistical evaluation known in the art and discussed herein, can be employed to assess breadth, or redundancy, of population coverage.
4.) When selecting epitopes for HCV antigens it may be preferable to select native epitopes. Therefore, of particular relevance for infectious disease vaccines, are epitopes referred to as “nested epitopes.” Nested epitopes occur where at least two epitopes overlap in a given peptide sequence. A peptide comprising “transcendent nested epitopes” is a peptide that has both HLA class I and HLA class II epitopes in it.
When providing nested epitopes, a sequence that has the greatest number of epitopes per provided sequence is provided. A limitation on this principle is to avoid providing a peptide that is any longer than the amino terminus of the amino terminal epitope and the carboxyl terminus of the carboxyl terminal epitope in the peptide. When providing a longer peptide sequence, such as a sequence comprising nested epitopes, the sequence is screened in order to insure that it does not have pathological or other deleterious biological properties.
5.) When creating a minigene, as disclosed in greater detail in Example 11, an objective is to generate the smallest peptide possible that encompasses the epitopes of interest. The principles employed are similar, if not the same as those employed when selecting a peptide comprising nested epitopes. Additionally, however, upon determination of the nucleic acid sequence to be provided as a minigene, the peptide encoded thereby is analyzed to determine whether any “junctional epitopes” have been created. A junctional epitope is an actual binding epitope, as predicted, e.g., by motif analysis. Junctional epitopes are generally to be avoided because the recipient may generate an immune response to that epitope, which is not present in a native HCV protein sequence. Of particular concern is a junctional epitope that is a “dominant epitope.” A dominant epitope may lead to such a zealous response that immune responses to other epitopes are diminished or suppressed.
Peptide epitopes for inclusion in vaccine compositions are, for example, selected from those listed in Tables XXVI-XXIX and Table XXXII. A vaccine composition comprised of selected peptides, when administered, is safe, efficacious, and elicits an immune response similar in magnitude of an immune response that clears an acute HCV infection.
This example provides general guidance for the construction of a minigene expression plasmid. Minigene plasmids may, of course, contain various configurations of CTL and/or HTL epitopes or epitope analogs as described herein. Expression plasmids have been constructed and evaluated as described, for example, in co-pending U.S. Ser. No. 09/311,784 filed May 13, 1999. An example of such a plasmid for the expression of HCV epitopes is shown in
A minigene expression plasmid may include multiple CTL and HTL peptide epitopes. In the present example, HLA-A2, -A3, -B7 supermotif-bearing peptide epitopes and HLA-A1 and -A24 motif-bearing peptide epitopes are used in conjunction with DR supermotif-bearing epitopes and/or DR3 epitopes (
This example illustrates the methods to be used for construction of such a minigene-bearing expression plasmid. Other expression vectors that may be used for minigene compositions are available and known to those of skill in the art.
The minigene DNA plasmid contains a consensus Kozak sequence and a consensus murine kappa Ig-light chain signal sequence followed by CTL and/or HTL epitopes selected in accordance with principles disclosed herein. The sequence encodes an open reading frame fused to the Myc and H is antibody epitope tag coded for by the pcDNA 3.1 Myc-His vector.
Overlapping oligonucleotides, for example eight oligonucleotides, averaging approximately 70 nucleotides in length with 15 nucleotide overlaps, are synthesized and HPLC-purified. The oligonucleotides encode the selected peptide epitopes as well as appropriate linker nucleotides, Kozak sequence, and signal sequence. The final multiepitope minigene is assembled by extending the overlapping oligonucleotides in three sets of reactions using PCR. A Perkin/Elmer 9600 PCR machine is used and a total of 30 cycles are performed using the following conditions: 95° C. for 15 sec, annealing temperature (5° below the lowest calculated Tm of each primer pair) for 30 sec, and 72° C. for 1 min.
For the first PCR reaction, 5 μg of each of two oligonucleotides are annealed and extended: Oligonucleotides 1+2, 3+4, 5+6, and 7+8 are combined in 100 μl reactions containing Pfu polymerase buffer (1×=10 mM KCL, 10 mM (NH4)2SO4, 20 mM Tris-chloride, pH 8.75, 2 mM MgSO4, 0.1% Triton X-100, 100 μg/ml BSA), 0.25 mM each dNTP, and 2.5 U of Pfu polymerase. The full-length dimer products are gel-purified, and two reactions containing the product of 1+2 and 3+4, and the product of 5+6 and 7+8 are mixed, annealed, and extended for 10 cycles. Half of the two reactions are then mixed, and 5 cycles of annealing and extension carried out before flanking primers are added to amplify the full length product for 25 additional cycles. The full-length product is gel-purified and cloned into pCR-blunt (Invitrogen) and individual clones are screened by sequencing.
The degree to which the plasmid construct prepared using the methodology outlined in Example 11 is able to induce immunogenicity is evaluated through in vivo injections into mice and subsequent in vitro assessment of CTL and HTL activity, which are analysed using cytotoxicity and proliferation assays, respectively, as detailed e.g., in U.S. Ser. No. 09/311,784 filed May 13, 1999 and Alexander et al., Immunity 1:751-761, 1994. To assess the capacity of the pMin minigene construct to induce CTLs in vivo, HLA-A11/Kb transgenic mice, for example, are immunized intramuscularly with 100 μg of naked cDNA. As a means of comparing the level of CTLs induced by cDNA immunization, a control group of animals is also immunized with an actual peptide composition that comprises multiple epitopes synthesized as a single polypeptide as they would be encoded by the minigene.
Splenocytes from immunized animals are stimulated twice with each of the respective compositions (peptide epitopes encoded in the minigene or the polyepitopic peptide), then assayed for peptide-specific cytotoxic activity in a 51Cr release assay. The results indicate the magnitude of the CTL response directed against the A3-restricted epitope, thus indicating the in vivo immunogenicity of the minigene vaccine and polyepitopic vaccine. It is, therefore, found that the minigene elicits immune responses directed toward the HLA-A3 supermotif peptide epitopes as does the polyepitopic peptide vaccine. A similar analysis is also performed using other HLA-A2 and HLA-B7 transgenic mouse models to assess CTL induction by HLA-A2 and HLA-B7 motif or supermotif epitopes.
To assess the capacity of a class II epitope encoding minigene to induce HTLs in vivo, I-Ab restricted mice, for example, are immunized intramuscularly with 100 μg of plasmid DNA. As a means of comparing the level of HTLs induced by DNA immunization, a group of control animals is also immunized with an actual peptide composition emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant.
CD4+ T cells, i.e. HTLs, are purified from splenocytes of immunized animals and stimulated with each of the respective compositions (peptides encoded in the minigene). The HTL response is measured using a 3H-thymidine incorporation proliferation assay, (see, e.g., Alexander et al. Immunity 1:751-761, 1994). the results indicate the magnitude of the HTL response, thus demonstrating the in vivo immunogenicity of the minigene.
Vaccine compositions of the present invention are used to prevent HCV infection in persons who are at risk for such infection. For example, a polyepitopic peptide epitope composition (or a nucleic acid comprising the same) containing multiple CTL and HTL epitopes such as those selected in Examples 9 and/or 10, which are also selected to target greater than 80% of the population, is administered to individuals at risk for HCV infection. The composition is provided as a single lipidated polypeptide that encompasses multiple epitopes. The vaccine is administered in an aqueous carrier comprised of Freunds Incomplete Adjuvant. The dose of peptide for the initial immunization is from about 1 to about 50,000 μg, generally 100-5,000 μg, for a 70 kg patient. The initial administration of vaccine is followed by booster dosages at 4 weeks followed by evaluation of the magnitude of the immune response in the patient, by techniques that determine the presence of epitope-specific CTL populations in a PBMC sample. Additional booster doses are administered as required. The composition is found to be both safe and efficacious as a prophylaxis against HCV infection.
Alternatively, the polyepitopic peptide composition can be administered as a nucleic acid in accordance with methodologies known in the art and disclosed herein.
A native HCV polyprotein sequence is screened, preferably using computer algorithms defined for each class I and/or class II supermotif or motif, to identify “relatively short” regions of the polyprotein that comprise multiple epitopes and is preferably less in length than an entire native antigen. This relatively short sequence that contains multiple distinct, even overlapping, epitopes is selected and used to generate a minigene construct. The construct is engineered to express the peptide, which corresponds to the native protein sequence. The “relatively short” peptide is generally less than 250 amino acids in length, often less than 100 amino acids in length, preferably less than 75 amino acids in length, and more preferably less than 50 amino acids in length. The protein sequence of the vaccine composition is selected because it has maximal number of epitopes contained within the sequence, i.e., it has a high concentration of epitopes. As noted herein, epitope motifs may be nested or overlapping (i.e., frame shifted relative to one another). For example, with frame shifted overlapping epitopes, two 9-mer epitopes and one 10-mer epitope can be present in a 10 amino acid peptide. Such a vaccine composition is administered for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes.
The vaccine composition will preferably include, for example, three CTL epitopes and at least one HTL epitope from HCV. This polyepitopic native sequence is administered either as a peptide or as a nucleic acid sequence which encodes the peptide. Alternatively, an analog can be made of this native sequence, whereby one or more of the epitopes comprise substitutions that alter the cross-reactivity and/or binding affinity properties of the polyepitopic peptide.
The embodiment of this example provides for the possibility that an as yet undiscovered aspect of immune system processing will apply to the native nested sequence and thereby facilitate the production of therapeutic or prophylactic immune response-inducing vaccine compositions. Additionally such an embodiment provides for the possibility of motif-bearing epitopes for an HLA makeup that is presently unknown. Furthermore, this embodiment (absent analogs) directs the immune response to multiple peptide sequences that are actually present in native HCV antigens thus avoiding the need to evaluate any junctional epitopes. Lastly, the embodiment provides an economy of scale when producing nucleic acid vaccine compositions.
Related to this embodiment, computer programs can be derived in accordance with principles in the art, which identify in a target sequence, the greatest number of epitopes per sequence length.
The HCV peptide epitopes of the present invention are used in conjunction with peptide epitopes from target antigens related to one or more other diseases, to create a vaccine composition that is useful for the prevention or treatment of HCV as well as the one or more other disease(s). Examples of the other diseases include, but are not limited to, HIV, HBV, and HPV.
For example, a polyepitopic peptide composition comprising multiple CTL and HTL epitopes that target greater than 98% of the population may be created for administration to individuals at risk for both HCV and HIV infection. The composition can be provided as a single polypeptide that incorporates the multiple epitopes from the various disease-associated sources, or can be administered as a composition comprising one or more discrete epitopes.
Peptides of the invention may be used to analyze an immune response for the presence of specific CTL or HTL populations directed to HCV. Such an analysis may be performed in a manner as that described by Ogg et al., Science 279:2103-2106, 1998. In the following example, peptides in accordance with the invention are used as a reagent for diagnostic or prognostic purposes, not as an immunogen.
In this example highly sensitive human leukocyte antigen tetrameric complexes (“tetramers”) are used for a cross-sectional analysis of, for example, HCV HLA-A*0201-specific CTL frequencies from HLA A*0201-positive individuals at different stages of infection or following immunization using an HCV peptide containing an A*0201 motif. Tetrameric complexes are synthesized as described (Musey et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 337:1267, 1997). Briefly, purified HLA heavy chain (A*0201 in this example) and β2-microglobulin are synthesized by means of a prokaryotic expression system. The heavy chain is modified by deletion of the transmembrane-cytosolic tail and COOH-terminal addition of a sequence containing a BirA enzymatic biotinylation site. The heavy chain, β2-microglobulin, and peptide are refolded by dilution. The 45-kD refolded product is isolated by fast protein liquid chromatography and then biotinylated by BirA in the presence of biotin (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo.), adenosine 5′triphosphate and magnesium. Streptavidin-phycoerythrin conjugate is added in a 1:4 molar ratio, and the tetrameric product is concentrated to 1 mg/ml. The resulting product is referred to as tetramer-phycoerythrin.
For the analysis of patient blood samples, approximately one million PBMCs are centrifuged at 300 g for 5 minutes and resuspended in 50 μl of cold phosphate-buffered saline. Tri-color analysis is performed with the tetramer-phycoerythrin, along with anti-CD8-Tricolor, and anti-CD38. The PBMCs are incubated with tetramer and antibodies on ice for 30 to 60 min and then washed twice before formaldehyde fixation. Gates are applied to contain >99.98% of control samples. Controls for the tetramers include both A*0201-negative individuals and A*0201-positive uninfected donors. The percentage of cells stained with the tetramer is then determined by flow cytometry. The results indicate the number of cells in the PBMC sample that contain epitope-restricted CTLs, thereby readily indicating the extent of immune response to the HCV epitope, and thus the stage of infection with HCV, the status of exposure to HCV, or exposure to a vaccine that elicits a protective or therapeutic response.
The peptide epitopes of the invention are used as reagents to evaluate T cell responses, such as acute or recall responses, in patients. Such an analysis may be performed on patients who have recovered from infection, who are chronically infected with HCV, or who have been vaccinated with an HCV vaccine.
For example, the class I restricted CTL response of persons who have been vaccinated may be analyzed. The vaccine may be any HCV vaccine. PBMC are collected from vaccinated individuals and HLA typed. Appropriate peptide epitopes of the invention that are preferably highly conserved and, optimally, bear supermotifs to provide cross-reactivity with multiple HLA supertype family members, are then used for analysis of samples derived from individuals who bear that HLA type.
PBMC from vaccinated individuals are separated on Ficoll-Histopaque density gradients (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.), washed three times in HBSS (GIBCO Laboratories), resuspended in RPMI-1640 (GIBCO Laboratories) supplemented with L-glutamine (2 mM), penicillin (50 U/ml), streptomycin (50 μg/ml), and Hepes (10 mM) containing 10% heat-inactivated human AB serum (complete RPMI) and plated using microculture formats. A synthetic peptide comprising an epitope of the invention is added at 10 μg/ml to each well and HBV core 128-140 epitope is added at 1 μg/ml to each well as a source of T cell help during the first week of stimulation.
In the microculture format, 4×105 PBMC are stimulated with peptide in 8 replicate cultures in 96-well round bottom plate in 100 μl/well of complete RPMI. On days 3 and 10, 100 ml of complete RPMI and 20 U/ml final concentration of rIL-2 are added to each well. On day 7 the cultures are transferred into a 96-well flat-bottom plate and restimulated with peptide, rIL-2 and 105 irradiated (3,000 rad) autologous feeder cells. The cultures are tested for cytotoxic activity on day 14. A positive CTL response requires two or more of the eight replicate cultures to display greater than 10% specific 51Cr release, based on comparison with uninfected control subjects as previously described (Rehermann, et al., Nature Med. 2:1104,1108, 1996; Rehermann et al., J. Clin. Invest. 97:1655-1665, 1996; and Rehermann et al. J. Clin. Invest. 98:1432-1440, 1996).
Target cell lines are autologous and allogeneic EBV-transformed B-LCL that are either purchased from the American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI, Boston, Mass.) or established from the pool of patients as described (Guilhot, et al. J. Virol. 66:2670-2678, 1992).
Cytotoxicity assays are performed in the following manner. Target cells consist of either allogeneic HLA-matched or autologous EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell line that are incubated overnight with the synthetic peptide epitope of the invention at 10 μM, and labeled with 100 μCi of 51Cr (Amersham Corp., Arlington Heights, Ill.) for 1 hour after which they are washed four times with HBSS.
Cytolytic activity is determined in a standard 4-h, split well 51Cr release assay using U-bottomed 96 well plates containing 3,000 targets/well. Stimulated PBMC are tested at effector/target (E/T) ratios of 20-50:1 on day 14. Percent cytotoxicity is determined from the formula: 100×[(experimental release-spontaneous release)/maximum release-spontaneous release)]. Maximum release is determined by lysis of targets by detergent (2% Triton X-100; Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.). Spontaneous release is <25% of maximum release for all experiments.
The results of such an analysis indicate the extent to which HLA-restricted CTL populations have been stimulated by previous exposure to HCV or an HCV vaccine.
The class II restricted HTL responses may also be analyzed. Purified PBMC are cultured in a 96-well flat bottom plate at a density of 1.5×105 cells/well and are stimulated with 10 μg/ml synthetic peptide, whole antigen, or PHA. Cells are routinely plated in replicates of 4-6 wells for each condition. After seven days of culture, the medium is removed and replaced with fresh medium containing 10 U/ml IL-2. Two days later, 1 μCi 3H-thymidine is added to each well and incubation is continued for an additional 18 hours. Cellular DNA is then harvested on glass fiber mats and analyzed for 3H-thymidine incorporation. Antigen-specific T cell proliferation is calculated as the ratio of 3H-thymidine incorporation in the presence of antigen divided by the 3H-thymidine incorporation in the absence of antigen.
A human clinical trial for an immunogenic composition comprising CTL and HTL epitopes of the invention is set up as an IND Phase I, dose escalation study and carried out as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Such a trial is designed, for example, as follows:
A total of about 27 subjects are enrolled and divided into 3 groups:
Group I: 3 subjects are injected with placebo and 6 subjects are injected with 5 μg of peptide composition;
Group II: 3 subjects are injected with placebo and 6 subjects are injected with 50 μg peptide composition;
Group III: 3 subjects are injected with placebo and 6 subjects are injected with 500 μg of peptide composition.
After 4 weeks following the first injection, all subjects receive a booster inoculation at the same dosage.
The endpoints measured in this study relate to the safety and tolerability of the peptide composition as well as its immunogenicity. Cellular immune responses to the peptide composition are an index of the intrinsic activity of this the peptide composition, and can therefore be viewed as a measure of biological efficacy. The following summarize the clinical and laboratory data that relate to safety and efficacy endpoints.
Safety: The incidence of adverse events is monitored in the placebo and drug treatment group and assessed in terms of degree and reversibility.
Evaluation of Vaccine Efficacy: For evaluation of vaccine efficacy, subjects are bled before and after injection. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells are isolated from fresh heparinized blood by Ficoll-Hypaque density gradient centrifugation, aliquoted in freezing media and stored frozen. Samples are assayed for CTL and HTL activity.
The vaccine is found to be both safe and efficacious.
Phase II trials are performed to study the effect of administering the CTL-HTL peptide compositions to patients having chronic HCV infection. The main objectives of the trials are to determine an effective dose and regimen for inducing CTLs in chronically infected HCV patients, to establish the safety of inducing a CTL and HTL response in these patients, and to see to what extent activation of CTLs improves the clinical picture of chronically infected CTL patients, as manifested by a transient flare in alanine aminotransferase (ALT), normalization of ALT, and reduction in HCV DNA. Such a study is designed, for example, as follows:
The studies are performed in multiple centers. The trial design is an open-label, uncontrolled, dose escalation protocol wherein the peptide composition is administered as a single dose followed six weeks later by a single booster shot of the same dose. The dosages are 50, 500 and 5,000 micrograms per injection. Drug-associated adverse effects (severity and reversibility) are recorded.
There are three patient groupings. The first group is injected with 50 micrograms of the peptide composition and the second and third groups with 500 and 5,000 micrograms of peptide composition, respectively. The patients within each group range in age from 21-65, include both males and females, and represent diverse ethnic backgrounds. All of them are infected with HCV for over five years and are HIV, HBV and delta hepatitis virus (HDV) negative, but have positive levels of HCV antigen.
The magnitude and incidence of ALT flares and the levels of HCV DNA in the blood are monitored to assess the effects of administering the peptide compositions. The levels of HCV DNA in the blood are an indirect indication of the progress of treatment. The vaccine composition is found to be both safe and efficacious in the treatment of chronic HCV infection.
Another way of identifying motif-bearing peptides is to elute them from cells bearing defined MHC molecules. For example, EBV transformed B cell lines used for tissue typing, have been extensively characterized to determine which HLA molecules they express. In certain cases these cells express only a single type of HLA molecule. These cells can then be infected with a pathogenic organism, e.g., HCV, HIV, etc. or transfected with nucleic acids that express the antigen of interest. Thereafter, peptides produced by endogenous antigen processing of peptides produced consequent to infection (or as a result of transfection) will bind to HLA molecules within the cell and be transported and displayed on the cell surface.
The peptides are then eluted from the HLA molecules by exposure to mild acid conditions and their amino acid sequence determined, e.g., by mass spectral analysis (e.g., Kubo et al., J. Immunol. 152:3913, 1994). Because, as disclosed herein, the majority of peptides that bind a particular HLA molecule are motif-bearing, this is an alternative modality for obtaining the motif-bearing peptides correlated with the particular HLA molecule expressed on the cell.
Alternatively, cell lines that do not express any endogenous HLA molecules can be transfected with an expression construct encoding a single HLA allele. These cells may then be used as described, i.e., they may be infected with a pathogenic organism or transfected with nucleic acid encoding an antigen of interest to isolate peptides corresponding to the pathogen or antigen of interest that have been presented on the cell surface. Peptides obtained from such an analysis will bear motif(s) that correspond to binding to the single HLA allele that is expressed in the cell.
As appreciated by one in the art, one can perform a similar analysis on a cell bearing more than one HLA allele and subsequently determine peptides specific for each HLA allele expressed. Moreover, one of skill would also recognize that means other than infection or transfection, such as loading with a protein antigen, can be used to provide a source of antigen to the cell.
The above examples are provided to illustrate the invention but not to limit its scope. For example, the human terminology for the Major Histocompatibility Complex, namely HLA, is used throughout this document. It is to be appreciated that these principles can be extended to other species as well. Thus, other variants of the invention will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and are encompassed by the appended claims. All publications, patents, and patent application cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
TI
LVMS
FWY
LIVM
ATQ
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MATL
VSMA
TLI
RK
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FI
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Y
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Y
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V
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CGD
KYR
HFA
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CDF
K
RYH
YFW
M
FLIW
MVT
ALIS
R
K
MVALF
IST
RK
AVT
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RK
P
LMF
WYAIV
P
LMFWY
IVA
P
LIVF
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P
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T
T
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aVerified alleles includes alleles whose specificity has been determined by pool sequencing analysis, peptide binding assays, or by analysis of the sequences of CTL epitopes.
bPredicted alleles are alleles whose specificity is predicted on the basis of B and F pocket structure to overlap with the supertype specificity.
aData shown represents the number of positive responses over the total number of patients or contacts examined.
bFrequency represents the number of positive responses over the total number of mice examined. Response indicates the average magnitude (standard deviation) of the response in positive animals, measured in lytic units.
aData shown represents the number of positive responses over the total number of patients or contacts examined.
bFrequency represents the number of positive responses over the total number of mice examined. Response indicates the average magnitude (standard deviation) of the response in positive animals, measured in lytic units.
1Peptides identified on the basis of either the DR P1-P6 supermotif or by use of the DR 1-4-7 algorithms are indicated by ‘DR’. Peptides identified using the DR3 motif are indicated by ‘DR3’.
1Total population coverage has been adjusted to acount for the presence of DRX in many ethnic populations. It has been assumed that the range of specificities represented by DRX alleles will mirror those of previously characterized HLA-DR alleles. The proportion of DRX incorporated under each motif is representative of the frequency of the motif in the remainder of the population. Total coverage has not been adjusted to account for unknown gene types.
2Number of epitopes represents a minimal estimate, considering only the epitopes shown in Table 6. Additional alleles possibly bound by nested epitopes have not been accounted.
This application is a Continuation-In-Part (“CIP”) of U.S. Ser. No. 09/189,702 filed Nov. 10, 1998, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/205,713 filed Mar. 4, 1994, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/159,184 filed Nov. 29, 1993 and now abandoned, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/073,205 filed Jun. 4, 1993 and now abandoned, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/027,146 filed Mar. 5, 1993 and now abandoned. The present application is also related to U.S. Ser. No. 09/226,775, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/815,396, which claims the benefit of U.S. Ser. No. 60/013,113, now abandoned. Furthermore, the present application is related to U.S. Ser. No. 09/017,735, which is a CIP of abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 08/589,108; U.S. Ser. No. 08/753,622, U.S. Ser. No. 08/822,382, abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 60/013,980, U.S. Ser. No. 08/454,033, U.S. Ser. No. 09/116,424, and U.S. Ser. No. 08/349,177. The present application is also related to U.S. Ser. No. 09/017,524, U.S. Ser. No. 08/821,739, abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 60/013,833, U.S. Ser. No. 08/758,409, U.S. Ser. No. 08/589,107, U.S. Ser. No. 08/451,913, U.S. Ser. No. 08/186,266, U.S. Ser. No. 09/116,061, and U.S. Ser. No. 08/347,610, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/159,339, which is a CIP of abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 08/103,396, which is a CIP of abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 08/027,746, which is a CIP of abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 07/926,666. The present application is also related to U.S. Ser. No. 09/017,743, U.S. Ser. No. 08/753,615; U.S. Ser. No. 08/590,298, U.S. Ser. No. 09/115,400, and U.S. Ser. No. 08/452,843, which is a CIP of U.S. Ser. No. 08/344,824, which is a CIP of abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 08/278,634. The present application is also related to provisional U.S. Ser. No. 60/087,192 and U.S. Ser. No. 09/009,953, which is a CIP of abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 60/036,713 and abandoned U.S. Ser. No. 60/037,432. In addition, the present application is related to U.S. Ser. No. 09/098,584, U.S. Ser. No. 09/239,043, and to Provisional U.S. Patent Application 60/117,486 filed Jan. 27, 1999. The present application is also related to U.S. patent application entitled “Inducing Cellular Immune Responses to Hepatitis C Virus Using Peptide and Nucleic Acid Compositions”, Attorney Docket No. 018623-0013910 filed Jul. 8, 1999. All of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
This invention was funded, in part, by the United States government under grants with the National Institutes of Health. The U.S. government has certain rights in this invention.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09357737 | Jul 1999 | US |
| Child | 11980348 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09189702 | Nov 1998 | US |
| Child | 09357737 | US | |
| Parent | 08347610 | Dec 1994 | US |
| Child | 09189702 | US | |
| Parent | 08205713 | Mar 1994 | US |
| Child | 08347610 | US | |
| Parent | 08159339 | Nov 1993 | US |
| Child | 08205713 | US | |
| Parent | 08103396 | Aug 1993 | US |
| Child | 08159339 | US | |
| Parent | 08159184 | Nov 1993 | US |
| Child | 08205713 | US | |
| Parent | 08073205 | Jun 1993 | US |
| Child | 08159184 | US | |
| Parent | 08027146 | Mar 1993 | US |
| Child | 08073205 | US |
