Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genetics dictate adaptive cellular immune responses, making robust MHC genotyping methods essential for studies of infectious disease, vaccine development, and transplantation. Nonhuman primates provide essential preclinical models for these areas of biomedical research. Unfortunately, given the unparalleled complexity of macaque MHCs, existing methodologies are inadequate for MHC typing of these critical animal models. Here, we demonstrate pyrosequencing of cDNA-PCR amplicons as a general approach to determine comprehensive MHC class I genotypes in nonhuman primates. More than 500 unique MHC class I sequences were resolved by sequence-based typing of 92 rhesus, cynomolgus, and pig-tailed macaques. We identified an average of 22 distinct MHC class I cDNA sequences in each macaque, nearly half of which have not been reported previously. The remarkable sensitivity of this approach in macaques demonstrates that pyrosequencing is viable for ultra-high throughput MHC genotyping of primates, including humans.

The importance of a broad CD8-T lymphocyte (CD8-TL) immune response to HIV is unknown. Ex vivo measurements of immunological activity directed at a limited number of defined epitopes provide an incomplete portrait of the actual immune response. Here we examined viral loads in SIVinfected MHC homozygous and heterozygous Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (MCM). Chronic viremia in MHC homozygous macaques was 80-fold greater than in MHC heterozygous macaques. Virus from MHC homozygous macaques accumulated 11 to 14 variants consistent with escape from CD8-TL responses after one year of SIV infection. The pattern of mutations detected in MHC heterozygous macaques suggests that their epitope-specific CD8-TL responses are a composite of NIH Public Access

Human and simian immunodeficiency viruses (HIV/SIV) exhibit enormous sequence heterogeneity within each infected host. Here, we use ultradeep pyrosequencing to create a comprehensive picture of CD8 ؉ T-lymphocyte (CD8-TL) escape in SIV-infected macaques, revealing a previously undetected complex pattern of viral variants. This increased sensitivity enabled the detection of acute CD8-TL escape as early as 17 days postinfection, representing the earliest published example of CD8-TL escape in intrarectally infected macaques. These data demonstrate that pyrosequencing can be used to study the evolution of CD8-TL escape during immunodeficiency virus infection with an unprecedented degree of sensitivity.

Vaccines that elicit CD8؉ T-cell responses are routinely tested for immunogenicity in nonhuman primates before advancement to clinical trials. Unfortunately, the magnitude and specificity of vaccine-elicited T-cell responses are variable in currently utilized nonhuman primate populations, owing to heterogeneity in major histocompatibility (MHC) class I genetics. We recently showed that Mauritian cynomolgus macaques (

The use of live bacteria to induce an immune response to itself or to a carried vaccine component is an attractive vaccine strategy. Advantages of live bacterial vaccines include their mimicry of a natural infection, intrinsic adjuvant properties and their possibility to be administered orally. Derivatives of pathogenic and non-pathogenic food related bacteria are currently being evaluated as live vaccines. However, pathogenic bacteria demands for attenuation to weaken its virulence. The use of bacteria as vaccine delivery vehicles implies construction of recombinant strains that contain the gene cassette encoding the antigen. With the increased knowledge of mucosal immunity and the availability of genetic tools for heterologous gene expression the concept of live vaccine vehicles gains renewed interest. However, administration of live bacterial vaccines poses some risks. In addition, vaccination using recombinant bacteria results in the release of live recombinant organisms into nature. This places these vaccines in the debate on application of genetically modified organisms. In this review we give an overview of live bacterial vaccines on the market and describe the development of new live vaccines with a focus on attenuated bacteria and food-related lactic acid bacteria. Furthermore, we outline the safety concerns and identify the hazards associated with live bacterial vaccines and try to give some suggestions of what to consider during their development.