The role of T cells in mediating heterosubtypic protection against natural influenza illness in humans is uncertain. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic (pH1N1) provided a unique natural experiment to determine whether crossreactive cellular immunity limits symptomatic illness in antibody-naive individuals. We followed 342 healthy adults through the UK pandemic waves and correlated the responses of pre-existing T cells to the pH1N1 virus and conserved core protein epitopes with clinical outcomes after incident pH1N1 infection. Higher frequencies of pre-existing T cells to conserved CD8 epitopes were found in individuals who developed less severe illness, with total symptom score having the strongest inverse correlation with the frequency of interferon-γ (IFN-γ)(+) interleukin-2 (IL-2)(-) CD8(+) T cells (r = -0.6, P = 0.004). Within this functional CD8(+)IFN-γ(+)IL-2(-) population, cells with the CD45RA(+) chemokine (C-C) receptor 7 (CCR7)(-) phenotype inversely correlated with symptom score and had lung-homing and cytotoxic potential. In the absence of crossreactive neutralizing antibodies, CD8(+) T cells specific to conserved viral epitopes correlated with crossprotection against symptomatic influenza. This protective immune correlate could guide universal influenza vaccine development.

In vitro, engagement of GITR on Treg cells by the agonistic anti-GITR mAb, DTA-1, appears to abrogate their suppressive function. The consequence of in vivo engagement of GITR by DTA-1 is, however, less clear. In this study, we show that Treg cells isolated from DTA-1-treated mice were as potent as those from untreated mice in suppressing conventional CD4 T cells in vitro, indicating that in vivo GITR ligation does not disable Treg cells. Treatment of Foxp3/GFP knock-in mice with DTA-1 led to a selective reduction of circulating Treg cells, suggesting that DTA-1 is a depleting mAb which preferentially targets Treg cells. In tumour-bearing mice, DTA-1-mediated depletion of Treg cells was most marked in tumours but not in tumour-draining lymph node. These features were confirmed in an adoptive transfer model using tumour antigen-specific Treg cells. Interestingly, Treg cells detected in tumour tissues expressed much higher levels of GITR than those in tumour-draining lymph nodes, indicating that the efficiency of depletion might be correlated with the level of GITR expression. Finally, in vivo labelling of GITR in naive or tumour-bearing mice demonstrated that Treg cells constitutively expressed higher levels of GITR than conventional T cells, independent of location and activation state, consistent with the preferential in vivo depletion of Tregs by DTA-1. Thus, depletion of Treg cells represents a previously unrecognised in vivo activity of DTA-1 which has important implications for the application of anti-GITR antibodies in cancer immunotherapy.

The 2009/10 pandemic (pH1N1) highlighted the need for vaccines conferring heterosubtypic immunity against antigenically shifted influenza strains. Although cross‐reactive T cells are strong candidates for mediating heterosubtypic immunity, little is known about the population‐level prevalence, frequency, and cytokine‐secretion profile of heterosubtypic T cells to pH1N1. To assess this, pH1N1 sero‐negative adults were recruited. Single‐cell IFN‐γ and IL‐2 cytokine‐secretion profiles to internal proteins of pH1N1 or live virus were enumerated and characterised. Heterosubtypic T cells recognising pH1N1 core proteins were widely prevalent, being detected in 90% (30 of 33) of pH1N1‐naïve individuals. Although the last exposure to influenza was greater than 6 months ago, the frequency and proportion of the IFN‐γ‐only‐secreting T‐cell subset was significantly higher than the IL‐2‐only‐secreting subset. CD8+ IFN‐γ‐only‐secreting heterosubtypic T cells were predominantly CCR7−CD45RA− effector‐memory phenotype, expressing the tissue‐homing receptor CXCR3 and degranulation marker CD107. Receipt of the 2008–09 influenza vaccine did not alter the frequency of these heterosubtypic T cells, highlighting the inability of current vaccines to maintain this heterosubtypic T‐cell pool. The surprisingly high prevalence of pre‐existing circulating pH1N1‐specific CD8+ IFN‐γ‐only‐secreting effector memory T cells with cytotoxic and lung‐homing potential in pH1N1‐seronegative adults may partly explain the low case fatality rate despite high rates of infection of the pandemic in young adults.

Rationale: Antibodies to influenza hemagglutinin are the primary correlate of protection against infection. The strength and persistence of this immune response influences viral evolution and consequently the nature of influenza epidemics. However, the durability and immune determinants of induction of humoral immunity after primary influenza infection remain unclear.Objectives: The spread of a novel H1N1 (A[H1N1]pdm09) virus in 2009 through an unexposed population offered a natural experiment to assess the nature and longevity of humoral immunity after a single primary influenza infection.Methods: We followed A(H1N1)pdm09-seronegative adults through two influenza seasons (2009-2011) as they developed A(H1N1)pdm09 influenza infection or were vaccinated. Antibodies to A(H1N1)pdm09 virus were measured by hemagglutinationinhibition assay in individuals with paired serum samples collected preinfection and postinfection or vaccination to assess durability of humoral immunity. Preexisting A(H1N1)pdm09-specific multicytokine-secreting CD4 and CD8 T cells were quantified by multiparameter flow cytometry to test the hypothesis that higher frequencies of CD4 1 T-cell responses predict stronger antibody induction after infection or vaccination.Measurements and Main Results: Antibodies induced by natural infection persisted at constant high titer for a minimum of approximately 15 months. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, the fold increase in A(H1N1)pdm09-specific antibody titer after infection was inversely correlated to the frequency of preexisting circulating A(H1N1)pdm09-specific CD4 1 IL-2 1 IFN-g 2 TNF-a 2 T cells (r = 20.4122; P = 0.03).Conclusions: The longevity of protective humoral immunity after influenza infection has important implications for influenza transmission dynamics and vaccination policy, and identification of its predictive cellular immune correlate could guide vaccine development and evaluation.