Reduced Ebola vaccine responses in CMV+ young adults is associated with expansion of CD57+KLRG1+ T cells

Bowyer G., Sharpe H., Venkatraman N., Ndiaye PB., Wade D., Brenner N., Mentzer A., Mair C., Waterboer T., Lambe T., Dieye T., Mboup S., Hill AVS., Ewer KJ.

CMV is associated with immunosenescence and reduced vaccine responses in the elderly (>70 yr). However, the impact of CMV in young adults is less clear. In this study, healthy UK and Senegalese adults aged 18–50 yr (average, 29 yr) were vaccinated with the Ebola vaccine candidate chimpanzee adenovirus type 3–vectored Ebola Zaire vaccine (ChAd3-EBO-Z) and boosted with modified vaccinia Ankara Ebola Zaire–vectored (MVA–EBO-Z) vaccine. CMV carriage was associated with an expansion of phenotypically senescent CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing CD57 and killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1), which was negatively associated with vaccine responses in both cohorts. Ebola-specific T cell responses induced by vaccination also contained significantly increased frequencies of terminally differentiated CD57+KLRG1+ cells in CMV seropositive (CMV+) individuals. This study suggests that CMV can also affect vaccine responses in younger adults and may have a particularly marked impact in many developing countries where CMV seroprevalence is almost universal.

DOI

10.1084/jem.20200004

Type

Journal article

Journal

Journal of Experimental Medicine

Publisher

Rockefeller University Press

Publication Date

06/07/2020

Volume

217

Permalink Original publication