Biology subjects

Borriello, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Borriello, F..

8 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

A Multigenerational ''Dirty'' Mouse Model for Studying Trauma-Induced Immune Dysregulation and Infection Susceptibility

Trauma induces immune dysregulation in both humans and mice, increasing infection susceptibility. Mouse models are critical in research but have been criticized for lacking translational relevance. This study tested whether multigenerational "natural immune" (NI) mice - generated by co-housing C57BL/6 mice with "dirty" pet shop mice and breeding through multiple generations - would develop a more human-like immune response to trauma and infection than "clean" specific pathogen-free (SPF) C57BL/6 mice whose immune systems developed without normal flora. To address this gap, SPF and NI mice underwent burn trauma followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infection. Peripheral blood and bone marrow immune cells were characterized by flow cytometry and mass cytometry (CyTOF). Blood samples from trauma patients were analyzed for comparison. At baseline, NI mice exhibited more neutrophils compared to SPF mice, closer resembling human peripheral immune composition. Following injury, SPF mice demonstrated increased blood neutrophils and monocytes with reduced B and T cells, whereas NI mice exhibited a muted blood immune cell response. In contrast, NI mice showed a robust emergency granulopoiesis response and preserved hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) following secondary infection, whereas HSCs decreased in SPF mice. Time-matched blood samples from human trauma patients revealed alterations more closely resembling those observed in NI mice. These findings support the hypothesis that NI mice develop a more human-like immune response to trauma and infection than SPF mice. This suggests that NI mice may provide a more translationally relevant platform for studying trauma-induced immune dysfunction and infection susceptibility mechanisms. Summary SentenceMultigenerational natural immune mice exhibit more human-like immune responses to trauma and infection that offer a model with significant translatable advantages for studying post-injury immune dysfunction in patients.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2025

Functional and structural characterization of a combination of pan-sarbecovirus antibodies with potent antiviral activity

Sarbecoviruses, a subgenus of coronaviruses, include strains with zoonotic spillover risk as exemplified by recent outbreaks (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2). Monoclonal antibodies targeting conserved spike protein regions (RBD class 4, S2 fusion machinery) exhibit broad sarbecovirus neutralization, but their utility has been impacted by immune selection leading to escape and suboptimal neutralization. Using structure-conditioned machine-learning protein design we optimized two broadly neutralizing sarbecovirus antibodies to rescue the activity of a class 4 anti-RBD antibody against Omicron variants and improve the neutralization profile of an anti-S2 stem antibody, resulting in the identification of the lead candidates PRO-37587 and GB-0669. Both antibodies displayed remarkable resilience to SARS-CoV-2 evolution. Structural analyses elucidated the mechanistic basis of their broad neutralization profiles. In combination, these antibodies exhibited improved SARS-CoV-2 neutralization in vitro and in vivo and a higher barrier to resistance. These findings support further evaluation of such antibody combination as countermeasure against current and emerging sarbecoviruses.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2022

Correction of age-associated defects in dendritic cell functions enables CD4+ T cells to eradicate tumors in the elderly

Defective host defenses later in life are associated with changes in immune system activity. The means to correct immune defects to ensure immunity in the elderly are undefined. In this study, we found that CD8+ T cells, which are necessary for anti-tumor immunity in young mice, are not required to eradicate the same cancers later in life. Rather, CD4+ T cells drive anti-tumor immunity in elderly mice. The generation of anti-tumor CD4+ T cells requires multiple dendritic cell (DC) activities that are elicited by immune agonists known as hyperactivators, but not by adjuvants that model those used clinically. DC hyperactivators correct age-associated defects in DC migration and T cell co-stimulation while enabling NLRP3 inflammasome activities within living cells. These combined activities enable DCs to induce TH1-skewed T cells that persist into old age and eliminate implantable tumors. These results raise the possibility of correcting age-associated immune defects through DC manipulation.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2022

Shaping neonatal immunization by tuning delivery of synergistic adjuvants via nanocarriers

Adjuvanted nanocarrier-based vaccines hold substantial potential for applications in novel early-life immunization strategies. Here, via mouse and human age-specific in vitro modelling, we identified the combination of a small molecule STING agonist (2'3'-cyclic GMP-AMP, cGAMP) and a TLR7/8 agonist (CL075) to drive synergistic activation of neonatal dendritic cells and precision CD4 Th cell expansion via the IL-12/IFN{gamma} axis. We further demonstrate that vaccination of neonatal mice with quadrivalent influenza recombinant hemagglutinin (rHA) and an admixture of two polymersome (PS) nanocarriers separately encapsulating-cGAMP (cGAMP-PS) and CL075 (CL075-PS) drove robust T helper (Th)1 bias, high frequency of T follicular helper (TFH) cells and germinal center B (GC B) cells along with IgG2c-skewed humoral response in vivo. Dual loaded cGAMP/CL075-PSs did not outperform admixed cGAMP-PSs and CL075-PSs in vivo. These data validate an optimally designed adjuvantation system, via age-selected small molecule synergy and a multi-component nanocarrier formulation, as an effective approach to induce type 1 immune responses in early life.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2022

Prioritized single-cell proteomics reveals molecular and functional polarization across primary macrophages

Major aims of single-cell proteomics include increasing the consistency, sensitivity, and depth of protein quantification, especially for proteins and modifications of biological interest. To simultaneously advance all these aims, we developed prioritized Single Cell ProtEomics (pSCoPE). pSCoPE consistently analyzes thousands of prioritized peptides across all single cells (thus increasing data completeness) while analyzing identifiable peptides at full duty-cycle, thus increasing proteome depth. These strategies increased the sensitivity, data completeness, and proteome coverage over 2-fold. The gains enabled quantifying protein variation in untreated and lipopolysaccharide-treated primary macrophages. Within each condition, proteins covaried within functional sets, including phagosome maturation and proton transport. This protein covariation within a treatment condition was similar across the treatment conditions and coupled to phenotypic variability in endocytic activity. pSCoPE also enabled quantifying proteolytic products, suggesting a gradient of cathepsin activities within a treatment condition. pSCoPE is freely available and widely applicable, especially for analyzing proteins of interest without sacrificing proteome coverage. Support for pSCoPE is available at: scp.slavovlab.net/pSCoPE O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=76 SRC="FIGDIR/small/484655v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (19K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c44f04org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1fb3e8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@15c456eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@d271e0_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2021

An adjuvanted SARS-CoV-2 RBD nanoparticle elicits neutralizing antibodies and fully protective immunity in aged mice

Development of affordable and effective vaccines that can also protect vulnerable populations such as the elderly from COVID-19-related morbidity and mortality is a public health priority. Here we took a systematic and iterative approach by testing several SARS-CoV-2 protein antigens and adjuvants to identify a combination that elicits neutralizing antibodies and protection in young and aged mice. In particular, SARS-CoV-2 receptorbinding domain (RBD) displayed as a protein nanoparticle (RBD-NP) was a highly effective antigen, and when formulated with an oil-in-water emulsion containing Carbohydrate fatty acid MonoSulphate derivative (CMS) induced the highest levels of cross-neutralizing antibodies compared to other oil-in-water emulsions or AS01B. Mechanistically, CMS induced antigen retention in the draining lymph node (dLN) and expression of cytokines, chemokines and type I interferon-stimulated genes at both injection site and dLN. Overall, CMS:RBD-NP is effective across multiple age groups and is an exemplar of a SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine tailored to the elderly.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

Alum:CpG adjuvant enables SARS-CoV-2 RBD-induced protection in aged mice and synergistic activation of human elder type 1 immunity

Global deployment of vaccines that can provide protection across several age groups is still urgently needed to end the COVID-19 pandemic especially for low- and middle-income countries. While vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 based on mRNA and adenoviral-vector technologies have been rapidly developed, additional practical and scalable SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are needed to meet global demand. In this context, protein subunit vaccines formulated with appropriate adjuvants represent a promising approach to address this urgent need. Receptor-binding domain (RBD) is a key target of neutralizing antibodies (Abs) but is poorly immunogenic. We therefore compared pattern recognition receptor (PRR) agonists, including those activating STING, TLR3, TLR4 and TLR9, alone or formulated with aluminum hydroxide (AH), and benchmarked them to AS01B and AS03-like emulsion-based adjuvants for their potential to enhance RBD immunogenicity in young and aged mice. We found that the AH and CpG adjuvant formulation (AH:CpG) demonstrated the highest enhancement of anti-RBD neutralizing Ab titers in both age groups ([~]80-fold over AH), and protected aged mice from the SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Notably, AH:CpG-adjuvanted RBD vaccine elicited neutralizing Abs against both wild-type SARS-CoV-2 and B.1.351 variant at serum concentrations comparable to those induced by the authorized mRNA BNT162b2 vaccine. AH:CpG induced similar cytokine and chemokine gene enrichment patterns in the draining lymph nodes of both young adult and aged mice and synergistically enhanced cytokine and chemokine production in human young adult and elderly mononuclear cells. These data support further development of AH:CpG-adjuvanted RBD as an affordable vaccine that may be effective across multiple age groups. One Sentence SummaryAlum and CpG enhance SARS-CoV-2 RBD protective immunity, variant neutralization in aged mice and Th1-polarizing cytokine production by human elder leukocytes.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

The physical form of microbial ligands bypasses the need for dendritic cell migration to stimulate adaptive immunity

A central paradigm of immunology is that the innate immune system first detects infectious agents in peripheral tissues, shortly after a pathogen has breached an epithelial barrier. This detection event is mediated by pattern recognition receptors in phagocytes, which then migrate to draining lymph nodes (dLNs), where information of a microbial encounter is conveyed to T and B lymphocytes to generate adaptive immunity. Through the study of fungal moieties, we present data that challenge this model. We found that soluble fungal polysaccharides are immunosilent in the periphery, but become potent immunogens in the dLN. These ligands completely bypass the need of phagocyte migration and, instead, directly activate an immune response that is most similar to those that typify viral infections. These data establish a class of microbial products that violate a central tenet of the immunological lexicon and illustrate that the physical form (not just the chemical structure) impacts innate and adaptive immunity.

immunology↗