1. Persistence of Varicella-Zoster Virus-Specific Plasma Cells in Adult Human Bone Marrow following Childhood Vaccination
- Author
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Andreas Wieland, Alessandro Sette, Tahseen H. Nasti, Rafi Ahmed, Nadine Rouphael, Alba Grifoni, Christiane S Eberhardt, Bali Pulendran, D. Scott Schmid, Edmund K. Waller, and Elizabeth A. Wilson
- Subjects
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ,Male ,Herpesvirus 3, Human ,viruses ,Immunology ,Plasma Cells ,ddc:616.07 ,Biology ,medicine.disease_cause ,Antibodies, Viral ,Vaccines, Attenuated ,Microbiology ,Herpes Zoster ,03 medical and health sciences ,Interferon-gamma ,Young Adult ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Immunity ,Bone Marrow ,Virology ,Vaccines and Antiviral Agents ,medicine ,Herpes Zoster Vaccine ,Humans ,030304 developmental biology ,0303 health sciences ,Immunity, Cellular ,ddc:618 ,integumentary system ,Vaccination ,Varicella zoster virus ,virus diseases ,biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition ,Acquired immune system ,eye diseases ,3. Good health ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Immunization ,Insect Science ,biology.protein ,Leukocytes, Mononuclear ,Female ,Bone marrow ,Antibody ,030215 immunology - Abstract
Childhood immunization with the live-attenuated varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine induces protective immune responses. Routine VZV vaccination started only 2 decades ago, and thus, there are few studies examining the longevity of vaccine-induced immunity. Here, we analyzed the quantity of VZV-specific plasma cells (PCs) and CD4 T cells in the bone marrow (BM) of healthy young adults (n = 15) following childhood VZV immunization. Long-lived BM resident plasma cells constitutively secrete antibodies, and we detected VZV-specific PCs in the BM of all subjects. Anti-VZV plasma antibody titers correlated positively with the number of VZV-specific BM PCs. Furthermore, we quantified the number of interferon gamma (IFN-γ)-producing CD4 T cells specific for VZV glycoprotein E and all other structural and nonstructural VZV proteins in both BM and blood (peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs]). The frequency of VZV-specific IFN-γ-producing CD4 T cells was significantly higher in PBMCs than BM. Our study shows that VZV-specific PCs and VZV-specific CD4 memory T cells persist up to 20 years after vaccination. These findings indicate that childhood VZV vaccination can elicit long-lived immune memory responses in the bone marrow. IMPORTANCE Childhood varicella-zoster virus (VZV) immunization induces immune memory responses that protect against primary VZV infection, chicken pox. In the United States, routine childhood VZV vaccination was introduced only 2 decades ago. Hence, there is limited information on the longevity of B and CD4 T cell memory, which are both important for protection. Here, we showed in 15 healthy young adults that VZV-specific B and CD4 T cell responses are detectable in bone marrow (BM) and blood up to 20 years after vaccination. Specifically, we measured antibody-secreting plasma cells in the BM and VZV-specific CD4 T cells in BM and blood. These findings suggest that childhood VZV vaccination induces long-lived immunity.
- Published
- 2020