Zugl.: Giessen, Univ., Diss., 2008

Universiẗat, Diss., 2008--Giessen.

Zugl.: Dresden, Techn. Universiẗat, Habil.-Schr., 2007.

Würzburg, Univ., Diss., 2004.

Ph.d.

Despite progress through expanded use of bed nets and anti-malarial drugs, Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) malaria caused about 200 million cases and 500,000 deaths in 2015. An ideal vaccine would reduce the burden of disease and interrupt transmission. Despite decades of effort, there is no vaccine that can adequately address the global burden of malaria. This thesis focuses on two potential weaknesses in the parasite life-cycle. First, I investigate two vaccination strategies aimed at improving the antibody response to RH5, an essential and conserved protein for erythrocyte invasion. Due to instability of the resultant recombinant vaccine constructs, these efforts have required re-engineering of the vaccine platform, which remains an ongoing effort. Second, the immunogenicity and mechanism of protection of a live-attenuated whole sporozoite vaccine, PfSPZ Vaccine, was assessed. In a study that examined PfSPZ Vaccine at intravenous (IV) doses between 1.35 &tiles; 10⁵ to 4.5 &tiles; 10⁵ PfSPZ, I demonstrate that PfSPZ antibody responses correlated with durable sterile protection against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI). Surprisingly, the pre-vaccine frequency of Vγ9⁺Vδ2⁺ T cells, an innate T cell that recognizes conserved Plasmodium phosphoantigens, also correlated with durable sterile protection. Regarding the mechanism of protection, PfSPZ-specific antibodies as well as CD8 and CD4 T cells in the blood decreased substantially over time, yet sterile protection was maintained. In non-human primates, the CD8 T cell response in the liver at a memory time point was measured to be about 100-fold higher than found in the blood. Collectively, these data suggest that PfSPZ Vaccine confers durable protection in humans by long-lived, tissue-resident CD8 T cells. These findings were extended with a study using 9.0 x 10⁵ PfSPZ, wherein I demonstrate that T cell responses peaked immediately after the first vaccination with minimal T cell activation despite additional immunizations. This suggests that anti-PfSPZ immunity may be limiting the effectiveness of subsequent immunizations. Finally, I examined the T cell response to PfSPZ attenuated by chloroquine (termed PfSPZ-CVac). T cell responses were substantially higher than achieved with comparable PfSPZ Vaccine doses. Additionally, a significantly higher proportion of PfSPZ-specific CD4 T cells were polyfunctional, simultaneously expressing IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α, in subjects that were protected from CHMI. In sum, these studies provide insight into the immunobiology of a protective immune response that may guide future malaria vaccine development efforts.

Malaria is one of the most prevalent diseases in Africa and the Plasmodium falciparum species is widely accepted as the most virulent, with a fatality rate of 15 – 20 % of reported cases of infection. While various treatments have been accepted into early stage clinical trials there has been little progress towards a proven vaccine. Pending a long term solution, endemic countries rely heavily on the development of innovative drugs with acute efficacy coupled with rapids mode of action. Until recently the rate of drug action has been measured by light microscopic examination of parasite morphology using blood slides of drug treated parasite cultures at regular time intervals. This technique is tedious and, most importantly, subject to interpretation with regards to distinguishing between viable and comprised parasite cells, thus making it impossible to objectively quantitate the rate of drug action. This study aimed to develop a series of bioassays using the calcein-acetoxymethyl and propidium iodide vitality probes which would allow the rate of drug action on Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites to be assessed and ranked in relation to each other. A novel bioassay using these fluorescent vitality probes coupled with fluorescence microscopy was developed and optimized and allowed the rate of drug action on malaria parasites to be assessed i) rapidly (in relation to current assay techniques) and ii) in a semi-quantitative manner. Extrapolation to flow cytometry for improved quantification provided favourable rankings of drug killing rates in the pilot study, however, requires further development to increase throughput and approach the ultimate goal of producing a medium-throughput assay for rapidly assessing the rate of action of antimalarial drugs. Attempts to adapt the assay for use in a multiwell plate reader, as well as using ATP measurements as an indication of parasite vitality after drug treatment, was met with erratic results. The viability probes assay as it stands represents an improvement on other assay formats in terms of rapidity and quantification of live/compromised parasites in cultures.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-06T22:55:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2009 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Ministério da Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Coreia do Sul (MEST) / Governo da província de Gyeonggi da Coreia do Sul / Instituto Coreano de Informação Científica e Tecnológica (KISTI) / Crescentes evidências mostram que a organização espacial da transcrição é um fator epigenético importante na regulação gênica em eucariotos. Em células de mamíferos, os genes são transcritos em estruturas nucleares discretas conhecidas como fábricas de transcrição, e genes com funções relacionadas e co-regulados compartilham as mesmas fábricas de transcrição. Plasmodium falciparum apresenta um padrão de expressão gênica bastante complexo durante o ciclo eritrocítico, contrastando paradoxalmente com o baixo número de putativos fatores de transcrição codificados pelo seu genoma. Por outro lado, mecanismos epigenéticos são importantes na regulação gênica neste parasita. Nesta tese, investigamos a organização da transcrição em P. falciparum visando determinar se a organização nuclear está relacionada com a expressão/regulação gênica ao longo do desenvolvimento do parasita. Com este objetivo, marcamos transcritos nascentes com BrUTP em formas eritrocíticas de P. falciparum. Assim como em mamíferos, a transcrição no parasita também está organizada em focos nucleoplásmicos discretos, chamados fábricas de transcrição. Análises automatizadas de imagens em 3D mostram que o número e a intensidade das fábricas de transcrição variam durante o ciclo eritrocítico, estando correlacionados com o número de genes expressos em cada estágio, mas não com o volume nuclear. O baixo número de fábricas indica que os genes ativos compartilham as fábricas enquanto estão sendo transcritos. Surpreendentemente, as fábricas são espacilamente redistribuídas durante o desenvolvimento de anéis para trofozoítas, com a periferia nuclear sendo a zona de transcrição favorita nos anéis, enquanto nos trofozoítas as fábricas estão igualmente distribuídas por todo o nucleoplasma. Também observamos que a transcrição por RNA polimerase I ocorre principalmente nas áreas centrais dos núcleos em trofozoítas, sugerindo que os componentes nucleolares podem ser dispersos devido à entrada na fase S. Assim como nos eucariotos superiores, as fábricas de transcrição em P. falciparum também se localizam em áreas nucleares com baixa densidade de cromatina. Análises de imunofluorescência combinando incorporação de BrUTP com marcadores nucleares mostram que as fábricas de transcrição formam um compartimento exclusivo, diferente do compartimento de silenciamento definido por PfSir2A ou do compartimento de cromatina ativa definido por H4ac ou H3K79me3. Para estudar a organização espacial da cromatina e entender como os genes co-regulados interagem com as fábricas de transcrição, decidimos realizar ensaios de hibridização fluorescente in situ (fluorescence in situ hybridization, FISH). Durante a realização de ensaios de FISH seguindo protocolos publicados, observamos uma grande variação na morfologia nuclear dos parasitas, o que nos moveu a otimizar esta técnica. Utilizando análises automatizadas de imagens, mostramos que os parasitas desidratados por secagem ao ar e fixados por curtos períodos de tempo à temperatura ambiente apresentam uma variação intra-populacional maior em relação à forma e ao volume nucleares após o ensaio de FISH, assim como valores de volume quase duas vezes maiores, do que núcleos de parasitas fixados em suspensão por longos períodos de tempo e em baixas temperaturas. Também observamos que a fixação em suspensão leva a uma melhor conservação da estrutura nuclear, e índices de colocalização mais altos para duas sondas de repetições adjacentes das extremidades cromossômicas, Rep20 e telômeros. Em resumo, nossos resultados mostram que o tipo de protocolo de fixação utilizado antes da realização do desenvolvimento de FISH é um fator crucial para a conservação apropriada da arquitetura nuclear. / Growing evidence points that transcription spatial organization is an important epigenetic factor for eukaryotes gene regulation. In mammalian cells, genes are transcribed in discrete nuclear structures known as transcription factories, and developmentally co-regulated, functionally related genes have been shown to share factories. Plasmodium falciparum shows a remarkably complex pattern of gene expression during the erythrocytic cycle, paradoxically contrasting with the low number of putative transcription factors encoded by its genome. However, epigenetic mechanisms are important for gene regulation in this parasite. In this thesis, we investigated transcription organization of P. falciparum in order to determine if nuclear architecture is related with developmentally regulated gene expression. To this aim, we have labeled nascent transcrips with BrUTP in P. falciparum erythrocytic forms. Transcription in organized in discrete nuceloplasmic foci, the transcription factories. Automated 3D analysis of confocal images shows the number and intensity of transcription factories change during the erythrocytic cycle, correlating with the number of genes expressed at each stage but not with the nuclear volume. The low number of factories indicates that active genes share factories while being transcribed. Unexpectedly, factories spatially redistribute from ring to trophozoites, being the nuclear periphery the preferential transcription zone in rings while in trophozoites factories are equally distributed throughout the nucleoplasm. We also observed that RNApolymerase I transcription occurs mostly at central nuclear areas in trophozoites, suggesting that nucleolar components may be dispersed upon S phase transition. Like in higher eukaryotes, in P. falciparum transcription factories occur on nuclear areas with low chromatin density. Immunofluorescence analysis of P. falciparum nuclear markers combined with BrUTP incorporation show that transcription factories are a novel and exclusive nuclear compartment, different from the silent compartment defined by PfSir2A or the active chromatin compartment defined by H4ac and H3K79me3. In order to study the spatial organization of chromatin, and how co-regulated, functionally related genes interact with transcription factories, we decided to perform fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). While performing FISH with published protocols, we observed great variation in the parasite nuclear morphology, prompting us to optimize this technique. Using automated image analysis, we show that parasites dehydrated by air-drying and fixed for short periods at room temperature present after FISH higher intra-population variation of nuclear shape and volume, as well as almost two-times higher relative volume values, than parasite nuclei fixed in suspension for long periods at low temperatures. We also observe that longer fixation in suspension leads to improved conservation of the nuclear structure, with chromosome end clusters preferentially locating at the nuclear periphery, and higher colocalization indexes for two adjacent chromosome end probes, Rep20 and telomere. Overall, our results show that the type of fixation protocol applied prior to FISH is crucial for the conservation of nuclear architecture. / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

Le paludisme est une maladie causée par un parasite Apicomplexe du genre Plasmodium pouvant aboutir à de graves complications. Les modèles murins ont révélé un rôle des lymphocytes T CD4 (LT CD4) dans la réponse immunitaire protectrice et pathologique. Les LT CD4 peuvent être protecteurs en limitant la croissance parasitaire et pathogénique au cours du neuropaludisme expérimental (NPE) : une complication cérébrale que développent les souris sensibles après infection par PbA. Au cours du NPE, l'interféron gamma (IFN gamma) produit par lesLT CD4 participe à la séquestration des LT CD8 dans les capillaires cérébraux, provoquant des dommages vasculaires qui aboutissent à la mort de l'animal. A ce jour, aucun antigène reconnu par les LT CD4 dans ce modèle n'est caractérisé et les cellules présentatrices d'antigènes (CPA) impliquées dans la mise en place de ces réponses ne sont pas connues. Nous avons utilisé la protéomique pour caractériser l'immunopeptidome dérivé de PbA et présenté par le CMH II au cours de l'infection. Nous avons identifié 14 peptides issus de 13 protéines antigéniques et avons établi leur immunodominance. Nous avons observé que les trois épitopes dominants représentent 1/3 des réponses LT CD4 spécifiques au cours de l'infection à PbA et que ces réponses sont détectées dans un contexte d'infection naturelle. Afin de mieux comprendre les mécanismes de présentation antigénique, nous avons développé des LT CD4 rapporteurs appelés hybridomes. Ces outils ont montré que les Cdc1 de souris infectées à J6 sont meilleures présentatrices d'antigènes de PbA mais aussi d'antigènes non-parasitaires. De plus, la déplétion de cDC1 in vivo a souligné l'importance jusqu'alors insoupçonnée des cDC1 dans le développement des réponses Th1 effectrices au cours du paludisme sévère. Cette étude apporte un nouvel éclairage sur les mécanismes qui conduisent à l'immunité effectrice par les LT CD4. Elle pourrait être utile pour améliorer l'aide apportée aux LB par les LT CD4 au cours de stratégies vaccinales. / Malaria is a blood-borne disease caused by parasites of the genus plasmodium that can lead to severe manifestations. Mouse models have revealed the dual role of t cells in limiting parasite growth and in mediating immune pathology, especially during experimental cerebral malaria (ECM), a cerebral complication that develops in susceptible mice infected by plasmodium Berghei (Pb) anka (PbA) parasites. During ECM, IFN gamma produced by CD4 t cells promotes sequestration of cd8 t cells in brain capillaries, resulting in vascular damage and early mouse death. As of now, the antigens from PbA recognized by CD4 t cells are unknown and the phagocytes involved in uptake of parasitized erythrocytes and priming and differentiation of cd4 t cells are poorly understood. Here we used mass spectrometry to characterize the PbA-derived MHC II peptidome presented by dc during blood stage malaria. we identified 14 peptides from 13 antigenic proteins and established the immunodominance hierarchy of the peptide-specific CD4 responses. We found that t cells specific for the three dominant epitopes represented 1/3 of the entire parasite-specific response. Interestingly, these dominant responses were detectable after natural infection. To gain insights into the antigen presentation mechanisms, we generated ß-gal-inducible reporter cd4 t cell hybridomas. After 6 days of infection the cDC1 subset was the most potent to present PbA and non-PbA antigens to CD4 t cells. In accordance, cDC1 depletion in vivo impaired the development of effector th1 responses in PbA-infected mice. This study sheds light on the mechanisms eliciting CD4 t cell immunity to blood stage malaria and may help improve CD4 t cell-mediated b cell help in vaccination strategies.

Submitted by Nuzia Santos (nuzia@cpqrr.fiocruz.br) on 2013-08-06T18:32:18Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_RicardodeSouzaRibeiro.pdf: 1191496 bytes, checksum: cdb1da9294c409d1a1f2a403b87cf9c9 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-08-06T18:32:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao_RicardodeSouzaRibeiro.pdf: 1191496 bytes, checksum: cdb1da9294c409d1a1f2a403b87cf9c9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / A malária é uma doença que provoca um enorme impacto em todo mundo e muitos esforços tem sido feitos na tentativa de eliminar esta doença há séculos. O desenvolvimento de uma vacina eficaz contra esta doença se tornou prioridade para muitos grupos de pesquisa, entretanto apenas um antígeno apresentou resultados promissores em ensaios clínicos de fase III. O processo de identificação de candidatos promissores para comporem uma vacina é muito laborioso e demanda um tempo muito grande, principalmente devido à biologia complexa destes parasitos intracelulares. Identificar proteínas nesses tipos de patógenos intracelulares é um grande desafio e requer a análise de diferentes fatores ao mesmo tempo. Um bom candidato a antígeno deve possuir características que façam com que a proteína ou pelo menos parte dela, entre em contato com o sistema imune do hospedeiro em algum momento do ciclo de vida do parasito e que este contato seja capaz de gerar uma resposta imune capaz de neutralizar o parasito e acabar com a infecção. As proteínas secretadas/exportadas se encaixam perfeitamente nessas características e foi justamente com o objetivo de identificá-las que foi desenvolvida uma estratégia automática integrando diferentes programas para buscar estas proteínas. Dessa forma, o proteoma predito de 5 espécies diferentes do gênero Plasmodium foi submetidas à análise de três programas que procuram por características importantes para proteínas exportadas/secretadas nesse gênero. O peptídeo sinal foi investigado utilizando o SignalP, um script em Perl foi desenvolvido para buscar um motivo que é crucial para a exportação de algumas proteínas (PEXEL) e os domínios transmembrana foram buscados utilizando o TMHMM. Algumas proteínas selecionadas foram submetidas à predição de epitopos de células B. Com esta abordagem foi possível identificar algumas famílias de proteínas que já são conhecidas como proteínas exportadas, como Rifin e Stevor, o que mostra que esta abordagem pode ser uma ferramenta útil na identificação de novos prováveis alvos para o desenvolvimento de uma vacina eficaz. Utilizando esta metodologia, esperamos contribuir para aumentar o número de proteínas em testes para formulação de um antígeno que seja capaz de ajudar no controle e erradicação desta doença que causa tantos prejuízos para a humanidade. / Malaria is a disease that causes a huge impact around the world and many efforts have been made in an attempt to eliminate this disease for centuries. The development of an effective vaccine against this disease has become a priority for many research groups, however only one antigen showed promising results in phase III clinical trials. The process of identifying promising candidates to compose a vaccine is very laborious and requires a very long time, mainly due to the complex biology of these intracellular parasites. Identify proteins in these types ofintracellular pathogens is a major challenge and requires the analysis of different factors simultaneously. A good candidate antigen must possess characteristics that make the protein or at least part of it, contact the host immune system at some point in the life cycle of the parasite and that this contact is able to generate an immune response capable to neutralize the parasite and stop the infection. The proteins secreted / exported fit perfectly and it was precisely these characteristics in order to identify them we developed a strategy that automatically integrating different programs to find these proteins. Thus, the predicted proteome of 5 different species of the genus Plasmodium was subjected to analysis of three programs looking for important features for proteins exported/secreted in this genre. The signal peptide was investigated using SignalP, a Perl script was developed to find a subject that is crucial for the export of some proteins (PEXEL) and transmembrane domains using TMHMM were searched. Some selected proteins were subjected to prediction of B cell epitopes With this approach it was possible to identify some protein families that are already known as proteinsexported as Rifin and Stevor, showing that this approach can be a useful tool in identifying new likely targets for the development of an effective vaccine. Using this methodology, we hope to contribute to increasing the number of proteins in tests for formulation of an antigen that is able to help control and eradicate the disease that causes so much harm to humanity.