The Immune Response to Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Acquired Through Organ Transplantation

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Vanessa Raabe, Emory University; Lilin Lai, Emory University; Yong Xu, Emory University; Chris Huerta, Emory University; Dongli Wang, Emory University; Stephanie Pouch, Emory University; Crystal W. Burke, US Army; Ashley E. Piper, US Army; Christina L. Gardner, US Army; Pamela J. Glass, US Army; Mark Mulligan, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-09-24
• Publisher: FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2020 Raabe, Lai, Xu, Huerta, Wang, Pouch, Burke, Piper, Gardner, Glass and Mulligan.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2020.561530
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
• Volume: 11
• Start Page: 561530
• End Page: 561530
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was conducted at Emory University was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (training grant number T32AI074492 to VR and MM). The work conducted at USAMRIID was sponsored by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Program CB3691. The research conducted at USAMRIID was performed while CG held an NRC Research Associateship award in PG lab. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the National Institutes of Health or the United States Army.
• Keywords: humoral immunity; INFECTION; CHALLENGE; eastern equine encephalomyelitis; DISEASE; eastern equine encephalitis virus; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Science & Technology; cellular immunity; Microbiology; WESTERN; CLEARANCE; T-CELLS; MICE; IMMUNOGLOBULIN-M; adaptive immunity
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Microbiology; Biology, Cell; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

The human immune response to eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) infection is poorly characterized due to the rarity of infection. We examined the humoral and cellular immune response to EEEV acquired from an infected donor via liver transplantation. Both binding and highly neutralizing antibodies to EEEV as well as a robust EEEV-specific IgG memory B cell response were generated. Despite triple-drug immunosuppressive therapy, a virus-specific CD4+ T cell response, predominated by interferon-γ production, was generated. T cell epitopes on the E2 envelope protein were identified by interferon-γ ELISpot. Although these results are from a single person who acquired EEEV by a non-traditional mechanism, to our knowledge this work represents the first analysis of the human cellular immune response to EEEV.