Oral typhoid vaccine Ty21a elicits antigen-specific resident memory CD4(+) T cells in the human terminal ileum lamina propria and epithelial compartments

BACKGROUND: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) is a highly invasive bacterium that infects the human intestinal mucosa and causes ~ 11.9–20.6 million infections and ~ 130,000–223,000 deaths annually worldwide. Oral typhoid vaccine Ty21a confers a moderate level of long-lived protection (5–7 years) in the field. New and improved vaccines against enteric pathogens are needed but their development is hindered by a lack of the immunological correlates of protection especially at the site of infection. Tissue resident memory T (T(RM)) cells provide immediate adaptive effector immune responsiveness at the infection site. However, the mechanism(s) by which S. Typhi induces T(RM) in the intestinal mucosa are unknown. Here, we focus on the induction of S. Typhi-specific CD4+T(RM) subsets by Ty21a in the human terminal ileum lamina propria and epithelial compartments. METHODS: Terminal ileum biopsies were obtained from consenting volunteers undergoing routine colonoscopy who were either immunized orally with 4 doses of Ty21a or not. Isolated lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMC) and intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) CD4+T(RM) immune responses were determined using either S. Typhi-infected or non-infected autologous EBV-B cell lines as stimulator cells. T-CMI was assessed by the production of 4 cytokines [interferon (IFN)γ, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-17A and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α] in 36 volunteers (18 vaccinees and 18 controls volunteers). RESULTS: Although the frequencies of LPMC CD103+ CD4+T(RM) were significant decreased, both CD103+ and CD103− CD4+T(RM) subsets spontaneously produced significantly higher levels of cytokines (IFNγ and IL-17A) following Ty21a-immunization. Importantly, we observed significant increases in S. Typhi-specific LPMC CD103+ CD4+T(RM) (IFNγ and IL-17A) and CD103− CD4+T(RM) (IL-2 and IL-17A) responses following Ty21a-immunization. Further, differences in S. Typhi-specific responses between these two CD4+T(RM) subsets were observed following multifunctional analysis. In addition, we determined the effect of Ty21a-immunization on IEL and observed significant changes in the frequencies of IEL CD103+ (decrease) and CD103− CD4+T(RM) (increase) following immunization. Finally, we observed that IEL CD103− CD4+T(RM), but not CD103+ CD4+T(RM), produced increased cytokines (IFNγ, TNFα and IL-17A) to S. Typhi-specific stimulation following Ty21a-immunization. CONCLUSIONS: Oral Ty21a-immunization elicits distinct compartment specific immune responses in CD4+T(RM) (CD103+ and CD103−) subsets. This study provides novel insights in the generation of local vaccine-specific responses. Trial registration This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier NCT03970304, Registered 29 May 2019—Retrospectively registered, http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03970304)