AUTHOR=Natalini Ambra , Simonetti Sonia , Favaretto Gabriele , Lucantonio Lorenzo , Peruzzi Giovanna , Muñoz-Ruiz Miguel , Kelly Gavin , Contino Alessandra M. , Sbrocchi Roberta , Battella Simone , Capone Stefania , Folgori Antonella , Nicosia Alfredo , Santoni Angela , Hayday Adrian C. , Di Rosa Francesca TITLE=Improved memory CD8 T cell response to delayed vaccine boost is associated with a distinct molecular signature JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology VOLUME=14 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1043631 DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2023.1043631 ISSN=1664-3224 ABSTRACT=

Effective secondary response to antigen is a hallmark of immunological memory. However, the extent of memory CD8 T cell response to secondary boost varies at different times after a primary response. Considering the central role of memory CD8 T cells in long-lived protection against viral infections and tumors, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the changing responsiveness of these cells to antigenic challenge would be beneficial. We examined here primed CD8 T cell response to boost in a BALB/c mouse model of intramuscular vaccination by priming with HIV-1 gag-encoding Chimpanzee adenovector, and boosting with HIV-1 gag-encoding Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara. We found that boost was more effective at day(d)100 than at d30 post-prime, as evaluated at d45 post-boost by multi-lymphoid organ assessment of gag-specific CD8 T cell frequency, CD62L-expression (as a guide to memory status) and in vivo killing. RNA-sequencing of splenic gag-primed CD8 T cells at d100 revealed a quiescent, but highly responsive signature, that trended toward a central memory (CD62L+) phenotype. Interestingly, gag-specific CD8 T cell frequency selectively diminished in the blood at d100, relative to the spleen, lymph nodes and bone marrow. These results open the possibility to modify prime/boost intervals to achieve an improved memory CD8 T cell secondary response.