New insights into the mechanism of vaccine-induced T cell immunity

A team led by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research has gained new insights into the mechanism of vaccine-induced T cell immunity utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing and metabolic profiling techniques. Though numerous vaccines induce and amplify T cells, a critical part of the body’s adaptive immune system, there is still an information gap regarding what determines the magnitude, diversity and persistence of that response. This study, published in Nature Communications, was conducted at the WRAIR Viral Diseases Branch in partnership with the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Institute for Immunology and Informatics at the University of Rhode Island. It utilized samples from a Phase 1 clinical trial for TAK-003, a live-attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine. Dengue virus, present in four distinct serotypes, infects up to 280-500 million individuals yearly around the world. Though many recover quickly from dengue infection, approximately 500,000 develop severe dengue disease, a condition with an approximately 2.5%...