Biomedical subjects

Vania Manolova

Publications and source records attributed to Vania Manolova.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Functional CD1a is stabilized by exogenous lipids.

Self-glycosphingolipids bind to surface CD1 molecules and are readily displaced by other CD1 ligands. This capacity to exchange antigens at the cell surface is not common to other antigen-presenting molecules and its physiological importance is unclear. Here we show that a large pool of cell-surface CD1a, but not CD1b molecules, is stabilized by exogenous lipids present in serum. Under serum deprivation CD1a molecules are altered and functionally inactive, as they are unable to present lipid antigens to T cells. Glycosphingolipids and phospholipids bind to, and restore functionality to CD1a without the contribution of newly synthesized and recycling CD1a molecules. The dependence of CD1a stability on exogenous lipids is not related to its intracellular traffic and rather to its antigen-binding pockets. These results indicate a functional dichotomy between CD1a and CD1b molecules and provide new information on how the lipid antigenic repertoire is immunologically sampled.

Antigens, CD1↗

PubMed2005

Virus-like particles as carriers for T-cell epitopes: limited inhibition of T-cell priming by carrier-specific antibodies.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are able to induce cytotoxic T-cell responses in the absence of infection or replication. This makes VLPs promising candidates for the development of recombinant vaccines. However, VLPs are also potent inducers of B-cell responses, and it is generally assumed that such VLP-specific antibodies interfere with the induction of protective immune responses, a phenomenon summarized as carrier suppression. In this study, we investigated the impact of preexisting VLP-specific antibodies on the induction of specific cytotoxic T-cell and Th-cell responses in mice. The data show that VLP-specific antibodies did not measurably reduce antigen presentation in vitro or in vivo. Nevertheless, T-cell priming was slightly reduced by antigen-specific antibodies; however, the overall reduction was limited and vaccination with VLPs in the presence of VLP-specific antibodies still resulted in protective T-cell responses. Thus, carrier suppression is unlikely to be a limiting factor for VLP-based T-cell vaccines.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2004

Cutting edge: distinct roles for T help and CD40/CD40 ligand in regulating differentiation of proliferation-competent memory CD8+ T cells.

Murine primary antiviral cytotoxic T cell (CTL) responses are often induced in the absence of Th cells. In this study, we show that virus-like particles, if combined with DNA rich in CpG motifs, efficiently trigger primary CTL responses and comparable frequencies of memory CTLs in the presence or absence of T help. However, memory CTLs primed in the absence of T help failed to proliferate upon viral challenge. Nevertheless, they were efficiently recruited to sites of inflammation, indicating that T help may regulate the balance between proliferation-competent and migration-competent memory CTLs. Surprisingly, generation of proliferation-competent memory CTLs was completely independent of CD40 or CD40L, molecules commonly assumed to be central for mediating the beneficial effects of Th cells on CTL development. Thus, Th cells but not CD40/CD40L are key for the differentiation of proliferation-competent central memory CD8(+) T cells.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

CpG oligodeoxynucleotides block human immunodeficiency virus type 1 replication in human lymphoid tissue infected ex vivo.

Oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) with immunomodulatory motifs control a number of microbial infections in animal models, presumably by acting through toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) to induce a number of cytokines (e.g., alpha interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha). The immunomodulatory motif consists of unmethylated sequences of cytosine and guanosine (CpG motif). ODNs without CpG motifs do not trigger TLR9. We hypothesized that triggering of TLR9 generates a cellular environment unfavorable for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication. We tested this hypothesis in human lymphocyte cultures and found that phosphorothioate-modified ODN CpG2006 (type B ODNs) inhibited HIV replication nearly completely and prevented the loss of CD4(+) T cells. ODNs CpG2216 and CpG10 (type A ODNs) were less effective. CpG2006 blocked HIV replication in purified CD4(+) T cells and T-cell lines; CpG10 was ineffective in this setting, indicating that type A ODNs may inhibit HIV replication in CD4(+) T-cell lines indirectly through a separate cell subset. However, control ODNs without CpG motifs also showed anti-HIV effects, indicating that these effects are nonspecific and not due to TLR9 triggering. The mechanism of action is not clear. CpG2006 and its control ODN blocked syncytium formation in a cell fusion-based assay, but CpG10, CpG2216, and their control ODNs did not. The latter types interfered with the HIV replication cycle during disassembly or reverse transcription. In contrast, CpG2006 and CpG2216 specifically induced cytokines critical to initiation of the innate immune response. In summary, the nonspecific anti-HIV activity of CpG ODNs, their ability to stimulate HIV replication in latently infected cells, potentially resulting in their elimination, and their documented ability to link the innate and adaptive immune responses make them attractive candidates for further study as anti-HIV drugs.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

PubMed2003

Role of Toll-like receptors in costimulating cytotoxic T cell responses.

Stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLR) by pathogen-derived compounds leads to activation of APC, facilitating the induction of protective immunity. This phenomenon is the basis of most adjuvant formulations currently in development. Here, we tested the ability of TLR2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 signaling to enhance CTL responses upon vaccination with virus-like particles. Stimulation of TLR2 and 4 failed to increase CTL responses, whereas ligands for TLR3, 5 and 7 exhibited moderate adjuvant function. In contrast, stimulation of TLR9 dramatically increased CTL responses, indicating that ligands for TLR9 are likely to be the most promising candidates for the development of novel adjuvant formulations for stimulating CTL responses.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗

PubMed2003

CD1a and CD1b surface expression is independent from de novo synthesized glycosphingolipids.

CD1 molecules resemble classical MHC molecules in structure, bind self and bacterial glycolipids and present them to T cells. Whether the CD1 antigen-binding groove becomes filled during maturation and traffic to the cell surface is an important and still unsolved biological question. As most cell types synthesize complex glycosphingolipids (GSL), which also stimulate CD1-restricted T cells, it could be possible that these ligands associate with nascent CD1 molecules. Here, we show that treatment of cells with drugs blocking at different levels the de novo and salvage pathways of GSL synthesis does not prevent surface expression of CD1a and CD1b. Furthermore, transfection of CD1A and CD1B genes in a mutant cell line unable to synthesize glucosylceramides and galactosylceramides showed normal surface expression of both CD1 molecules. Lack of GSL did not induce intracellular CD1 accumulation as indicated by confocal microscopy. The same results were obtained by transfecting the Lec series of mutants, which are deficient in sugar addition to glycolipids and glycoproteins. These findings demonstrate that endogenous de novo synthesized GSL are not mandatory for CD1a and CD1b negotiating surface expression.

Animals↗