TLR agonists induce sustained IgG to hemagglutinin stem and modulate T cells following newborn vaccination

The newborn immune system is characterized by diminished immune responses that leave infants vulnerable to virus-mediated disease and make vaccination more challenging. Optimal vaccination strategies for influenza A virus (IAV) in newborns should result in robust levels of protective antibodies, including those with broad reactivity to combat the variability in IAV strains across seasons. The stem region of the hemagglutinin (HA) molecule is a target of such antibodies. Using a nonhuman primate model, we investigate the capacity of newborns to generate and maintain antibodies to the conserved stem region following vaccination. We find adjuvanting an inactivated vaccine with the TLR7/8 agonist R848 is effective in promoting sustained HA stem-specific IgG. Unexpectedly, HA stem-specific antibodies were generated with a distinct kinetic pattern compared to the overall response. Administration of R848 was associated with increased influenza-specific T follicular helper cells as well as Tregs with a less suppressive phenotype, suggesting adjuvant impacts multiple cell types that have the potential to contribute to the HA-stem response.