Identification of cross-reacting T-cell epitopes in structural and non-structural proteins of swine and pandemic H1N1 influenza A virus strains in pigs.

Massimiliano Baratelli,Ramona Trebbien,Maria Montoya,Lasse Eggers Pedersen,Esther Blanco,Jens Nielsen,Gregers Jungersen,Lars Erik Larsen

doi:10.1099/jgv.0.000748

Abstract

Heterologous protection against swine influenza viruses (SwIVs) of different lineages is an important concern for the pig industry. Cross-protection between 'avian-like' H1N1 and 2009 pandemic H1N1 lineages has been observed previously, indicating the involvement of cross-reacting T-cells. Here, reverse vaccinology was applied to identify cross-reacting MHC class I T-cell epitopes from two different SwIV H1 lineages in pigs. In silico prediction followed by in vitro and in vivo testing was used to identify SLA-1*0702 T-cell epitopes in heterologous SwIV-infected pigs. Following viral infection, tetramer specific T-cell populations were identified. The majority of the identified T-cell epitopes were conserved between the examined lineages, suggesting that targeting cross-reactive T-cell epitopes could be used to improve vaccines against SwIV in SLA-1*0702-positive pigs.

Highlights

Heterologous protection against swine influenza viruses (SwIVs) of different lineages is an important concern for the pig industry
Some previous studies have shown that infection with Swine influenza virus (SwIV) of European ‘avian-like’ H1N1 lineage can induce complete protection against the influenza A virus of the 2009 pandemic H1N1 lineage [3, 4]
Recent approaches that use immunoinformatic tools have been used to identify MHC class I and class II T-cell epitopes that are highly conserved in SwIVs circulating in the US swine population [6]

Summary

Introduction

Heterologous protection against swine influenza viruses (SwIVs) of different lineages is an important concern for the pig industry. A combination of different bioinformatics prediction methods and in vitro testing has been used to identify T-cell epitopes in pigs Reverse vaccinology technologies were extended to identify cross-reactive T-cell epitopes to two different H1N1 influenza A virus (IV) strains during the infection of pigs expressing SLA-1*0702 allele.

Results

Conclusion