Immune Responses to Dengue and Zika Viruses-Guidance for T Cell Vaccine Development

Abstract

Despite numerous efforts to identify the molecular and cellular effectors of the adaptive immunity that induce a long-lasting immunity against dengue or Zika virus infection, the specific mechanisms underlying such protective immunity remain largely unknown. One of the major challenges lies in the high level of dengue virus (DENV) seroprevalence in areas where Zika virus (ZIKV) is circulating. In the context of such a pre-existing DENV immunity that can exacerbate ZIKV infection and disease, and given the lack of appropriate treatment for ZIKV infection, there is an urgent need to develop an efficient vaccine against DENV and ZIKV. Notably, whereas several ZIKV vaccine candidates are currently in clinical trials, all these vaccine candidates have been designed to induce neutralizing antibodies as the primary mechanism of immune protection. Given the difficulty to elicit simultaneously high levels of neutralizing antibodies against the different DENV serotypes, and the potential impact of pre-existing subneutralizing antibodies induced upon DENV infection or vaccination on ZIKV infection and disease, additional or alternative strategies to enhance vaccine efficacy, through T cell immunity, are now being considered. In this review, we summarize recent discoveries about cross-reactive B and T cell responses against DENV and ZIKV and propose guidelines for the development of safe and efficient T cell vaccines targeting both viruses.

Keywords: T cell epitopes; Zika virus; dengue virus; vaccination.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of class I- and class II-restricted cross-reactive Zika virus (ZIKV) epitopes identified in humans and transgenic mice. The ZIKV genome is not to scale. E: Envelope; HLA: Human Leukocyte Antigen; M: Protein M; NS: Non-Structural Proteins; pr: Precursor; Tg: Transgenic; UTR: Untranslated Region.