Antibody Correlates of Protection for Ebola Virus Infection: Effects of Mutations Within the Viral Glycoprotein on Immune Escape
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Antibody correlates of protection for Ebola virus infection: Effects of mutations within the viral glycoprotein on immune escape. Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Kimberley Steeds. May 2019 Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... V Abbreviations ......................................................................................................................... VII Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................. XV Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 History of Ebola virus (EBOV) ......................................................................................... 1 1.1.1 Filovirus discovery ................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Ecology and transmission ........................................................................................ 4 1.1.3 Origin and evolutionary rate ................................................................................... 7 1.1.4 Clinical manifestations ............................................................................................ 9 1.1.5 Disease pathogenesis ............................................................................................ 10 1.2 Virology ........................................................................................................................ 14 1.2.1 Genome structure and organisation ..................................................................... 14 1.2.2 Virion structure and viral proteins ........................................................................ 15 1.2.3 EBOV GPs .............................................................................................................. 16 1.2.4 EBOV life cycle ....................................................................................................... 21 1.3 Immune response to EBOV .......................................................................................... 25 1.3.1 Innate immune response ...................................................................................... 25 1.3.2 Adaptive immune response .................................................................................. 26 1.3.3 Neutralising antibodies ......................................................................................... 32 1.4 Pseudotyped viruses .................................................................................................... 38 1.4.1 Retrovirus-based pseudotyped viruses ................................................................. 39 1.4.2 Rhabdovirus-based pseudotyped viruses ............................................................. 40 1.4.3 Neutralisation of pseudotyped viruses ................................................................. 43 1.4.4 Reverse genetics systems ..................................................................................... 44 1.5 EVD treatment and prevention .................................................................................... 49 1.5.1 Convalescent therapy ........................................................................................... 49 1.5.2 Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) ............................................................................. 51 1.5.3 Vaccines ................................................................................................................ 54 1.5.4 Correlates of protection ........................................................................................ 60 1.5.5 Immune escape ..................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 2 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................... 64 2.1 Plasmids for generation of pseudotyped viruses......................................................... 64 2.1.1 Plasmids ................................................................................................................ 64 I 2.1.2 E. coli transformation ............................................................................................ 67 2.1.3 E. coli culture ......................................................................................................... 67 2.1.4 Plasmid DNA purification ...................................................................................... 67 2.1.5 Restriction enzyme digest ..................................................................................... 68 2.1.6 Separation of DNA fragments by agarose gel electrophoresis ............................. 68 2.1.7 Site-directed mutagenesis .................................................................................... 68 2.1.8 DNA sequencing .................................................................................................... 70 2.2 Cells for pseudotyped virus assays .............................................................................. 71 2.2.1 Cell culture ............................................................................................................ 71 2.3 Generation of pseudotyped viruses ............................................................................. 72 2.3.1 Production of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentiviruses by transfection ...................... 72 2.3.2 Production of EBOV GP pseudotyped VSV-G by transfection and infection ...... 73 2.3.3 Expansion of rVSV-G-Luc-VSV-G virus stock by transfection and infection ....... 74 2.4 Titration of pseudotyped viruses ................................................................................. 74 2.4.1 Pseudotyped lentivirus titration by luciferase assay ............................................ 74 2.4.2 Pseudotyped VSV-G titration by luciferase assay ............................................... 75 2.4.3 rVSV-G-Luc-VSV-G virus titration by plaque assay ............................................. 75 2.5 Neutralisation of pseudotyped viruses ........................................................................ 76 2.5.1 Human plasma samples ........................................................................................ 76 2.5.2 Pseudotyped lentivirus neutralisation assay ........................................................ 80 2.5.3 Pseudotyped VSV-G neutralisation assay ........................................................... 80 2.5.4 Statistical analysis ................................................................................................. 81 Chapter 3 Assessment of an EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus neutralisation assay ............ 82 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 82 3.1.1 Generation and quantification of pseudotyped lentiviruses ................................ 83 3.1.2 Neutralisation of pseudotyped viruses ................................................................. 84 3.1.3 Use of pseudotyped viruses as alternatives for infectious virus .......................... 84 3.2 Chapter aims ................................................................................................................ 85 3.3 Results .......................................................................................................................... 85 3.3.1 Preparation of plasmids for production of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus ...... 85 3.3.2 Cell tropism of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus ................................................. 86 3.3.3 Assessment of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus input for neutralisation ........... 87 3.3.4 Neutralisation of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus by EVD survivor plasma ....... 89 3.3.5 Reproducibility and correlation with live EBOV neutralisation ............................ 92 II 3.4 Discussion ..................................................................................................................... 94 3.4.1 Generation and quantification of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus .................... 95 3.4.2 Neutralisation of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus by EVD survivor plasma ....... 95 3.4.3 Suitability of EBOV GP pseudotyped lentivirus neutralisation assay for future use ....................................................................................................................................... 96 3.5 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 98 Chapter 4 Assessment of an EBOV GP pseudotyped VSV neutralisation assay ..................... 99 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 99 4.1.1 Generation and quantification of pseudotyped VSVs .......................................... 99 4.1.2 Use of pseudotyped VSVs as alternatives for infectious virus ............................ 101 4.2 Chapter aims .............................................................................................................. 101 4.3 Results ........................................................................................................................ 102 4.3.1 rVSV-G-Luc-VSV-G virus expansion