Repeated exposure to heterologous hepatitis C viruses associates with enhanced neutralizing antibody breadth and potency



Frumento, Nicole, Figueroa, Alexis, Wang, Tingchang, Zahid, Muhammad N, Wang, Shuyi, Massaccesi, Guido, Stavrakis, Georgia, Crowe, James E Jr, Flyak, Andrew I, Ji, Hongkai
et al (show 4 more authors) (2022) Repeated exposure to heterologous hepatitis C viruses associates with enhanced neutralizing antibody breadth and potency. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION, 132 (15). e160058-.

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Abstract

A prophylactic hepatitis C virus (HCV) vaccine that elicits neutralizing antibodies could be key to HCV eradication. However, the genetic and antigenic properties of HCV envelope (E1E2) proteins capable of inducing anti-HCV broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) in humans have not been defined. Here, we investigated the development of bNAbs in longitudinal plasma of HCV-infected persons with persistent infection or spontaneous clearance of multiple reinfections. By measuring plasma antibody neutralization of a heterologous virus panel, we found that the breadth and potency of the antibody response increased upon exposure to multiple genetically distinct infections and with longer duration of viremia. Greater genetic divergence between infecting strains was not associated with enhanced neutralizing breadth. Rather, repeated exposure to antigenically related, antibody-sensitive E1E2s was associated with potent bNAb induction. These data reveal that a prime-boost vaccine strategy with genetically distinct, antibody-sensitive viruses is a promising approach to inducing potent bNAbs in humans.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Humans, Hepacivirus, Viremia, Hepatitis C, Viral Envelope Proteins, Hepatitis C Antibodies, Antibodies, Neutralizing, Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 11 Oct 2022 14:31
Last Modified: 15 Dec 2023 09:04
DOI: 10.1172/JCI160058
Open Access URL: https://www.jci.org/articles/view/160058
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3165384