Journal article

Combined NKT cell activation and influenza virus vaccination boosts memory CTL generation and protective immunity

Carole Guillonneau, Justine D Mintern, Francois-Xavier Hubert, Aeron C Hurt, Gurdyal S Besra, Steven Porcelli, Ian G Barr, Peter C Doherty, Dale I Godfrey, Stephen J Turner

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | NATL ACAD SCIENCES | Published : 2009

Abstract

Current influenza A virus vaccines do not generate significant immunity against serologically distinct influenza A virus subtypes and would thus be ineffective in the face of a pandemic caused by a novel variant emerging from, say, a wildlife reservoir. One possible solution would be to modify these vaccines so that they prime cross-reactive CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) cell-mediated immunity directed at conserved viral epitopes. A further strategy is to use novel adjuvants, such as the immunomodulatory glycolipid alpha-galactosylceramide (alpha-GalCer). We show here that giving alpha-GalCer with an inactivated influenza A virus has the paradoxical effect of diminishing acute CTL imm..

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Grants

Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC)


Awarded by Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union, Marie Curie


Awarded by NHMRC Project


Awarded by National Institutes of Health


Awarded by Marie Curie Fellowship


Awarded by Medical Research Council


Awarded by The Wellcome Trust


Awarded by MRC


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Project Grant 499455 (to S.J.T, D.I.G, and I.G.B.). C.G. is supported by a fellowship from the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union, Marie Curie (040840), and by the Fondation pour la Recherche Medicale. P.C.D was supported by NHMRC Project Grant 454595 and National Institutes of Health Grant AI70251; D.I.G. by an NHMRC Principal Research Fellowship, S.J.T. by a Pfizer Senior Research Fellowship; J.D.M. by a CJ Martin Fellowship; and F.-X. H. by a Marie Curie Fellowship (040998). G.S.B. acknowledges the Medical Research Council (G9901077 and G0500590) and The Wellcome Trust (081569/2/06/2). The Melbourne WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza is supported by the Australian Government Department of Health and Aging.