Structural basis of Blastomyces Endoglucanase-2 adjuvancy in anti-fungal and -viral immunity.

The development of safe subunit vaccines requires adjuvants that augment immunogenicity of non-replicating protein-based antigens. Current vaccines against infectious diseases preferentially induce protective antibodies driven by adjuvants such as alum. However, the contribution of antibody to host...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lucas Dos Santos Dias, Hannah E Dobson, Brock Kingstad Bakke, Gregory C Kujoth, Junfeng Huang, Elaine M Kohn, Cleison Ledesma Taira, Huafeng Wang, Nitin T Supekar, J Scott Fites, Daisy Gates, Christina L Gomez, Charles A Specht, Stuart M Levitz, Parastoo Azadi, Lingjun Li, Marulasiddappa Suresh, Bruce S Klein, Marcel Wüthrich
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-03-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009324
Description
Summary:The development of safe subunit vaccines requires adjuvants that augment immunogenicity of non-replicating protein-based antigens. Current vaccines against infectious diseases preferentially induce protective antibodies driven by adjuvants such as alum. However, the contribution of antibody to host defense is limited for certain classes of infectious diseases such as fungi, whereas animal studies and clinical observations implicate cellular immunity as an essential component of the resolution of fungal pathogens. Here, we decipher the structural bases of a newly identified glycoprotein ligand of Dectin-2 with potent adjuvancy, Blastomyces endoglucanase-2 (Bl-Eng2). We also pinpoint the developmental steps of antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T responses augmented by Bl-Eng2 including expansion, differentiation and tissue residency. Dectin-2 ligation led to successful systemic and mucosal vaccination against invasive fungal infection and Influenza A infection, respectively. O-linked glycans on Bl-Eng2 applied at the skin and respiratory mucosa greatly augment vaccine subunit- induced protective immunity against lethal influenza and fungal pulmonary challenge.
ISSN:1553-7366
1553-7374