Journal Article

Serum neutralization activity declines but memory B cells persist after cure of chronic hepatitis C

Hasan, Sharika, Park, Heiyoung, Juneau, Paul, Frumento, Nicole, Nishio, Akira, Ghany, Marc G., Kardava, Lela, Moir, Susan, Bailey, Justin R., Grakoui, Arash, Salas, Jordan H., Rehermann, Barbara, Salinas, Eduardo, Park, Nana, Massaccesi, Guido

2022

Overview

The increasing incidence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections underscores the need for an effective vaccine. Successful vaccines to other viruses generally depend on a long-lasting humoral response. However, data on the half-life of HCV-specific responses are lacking. Here we study archived sera and mononuclear cells that were prospectively collected up to 18 years after cure of chronic HCV infection to determine the role of HCV antigen in maintaining neutralizing antibody and B cell responses. We show that HCV-neutralizing activity decreases rapidly in potency and breadth after curative treatment. In contrast, HCV-specific memory B cells persist, and display a restored resting phenotype, normalized chemokine receptor expression and preserved ability to differentiate into antibody-secreting cells. The short half-life of HCV-neutralizing activity is consistent with a lack of long-lived plasma cells. The persistence of HCV-specific memory B cells and the reduced inflammation after cure provide an opportunity for vaccination to induce protective immunity against re-infection. Long-term dynamics of the humoral response to HCV in cured individuals aren’t well understood. Here, Nishio et al. show that virus-neutralizing antibody levels decrease in potency and breadth after cure of chronic hepatitis C, while HCV-specific memory B cells persist.

• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK,Nature Publishing Group,Nature Portfolio
• Subject: 13/1 / 13/106 / 13/31 / 631/250/2152/1566/1571 / 631/250/2152/2153/1291 / 631/326/596/1905 / 692/308/575 / Antibodies / Antibodies, Neutralizing / Antigens / Cell differentiation / Chemokine receptors / Chronic infection / Half-life / Hepacivirus - genetics / Hepatitis / Hepatitis C / Hepatitis C, Chronic - therapy / Humanities and Social Sciences / Humans / Immune response (humoral) / Immunological memory / Interferon / Leukocytes (mononuclear) / Lymphocytes B / Memory B Cells - metabolism / Memory B Cells - virology / Memory cells / multidisciplinary / Neutralization / Neutralizing / Phenotypes / Plasma cells / Receptors, Chemokine / Science / Science (multidisciplinary) / Vaccines / Viral Hepatitis Vaccines / Viruses