Open AccessApoptosis and other immune biomarkers predict influenza vaccine responsiveness
Author(s) -
Furman David,
Jojic Vladimir,
Kidd Brian,
ShenOrr Shai,
Price Jordan,
Jarrell Justin,
Tse Tiffany,
Huang Huang,
Lund Peder,
Maecker Holden T,
Utz Paul J,
Dekker Cornelia L,
Koller Daphne,
Davis Mark M
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
molecular systems biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.523
H-Index - 148
ISSN - 1744-4292
DOI - 10.1038/msb.2013.15
Subject(s) - immune system , biology , immunology , vaccination , antibody , hemagglutinin (influenza) , influenza vaccine , cytokine , virology
Despite the importance of the immune system in many diseases, there are currently no objective benchmarks of immunological health. In an effort to identifying such markers, we used influenza vaccination in 30 young (20–30 years) and 59 older subjects (60 to >89 years) as models for strong and weak immune responses, respectively, and assayed their serological responses to influenza strains as well as a wide variety of other parameters, including gene expression, antibodies to hemagglutinin peptides, serum cytokines, cell subset phenotypes and in vitro cytokine stimulation. Using machine learning, we identified nine variables that predict the antibody response with 84% accuracy. Two of these variables are involved in apoptosis, which positively associated with the response to vaccination and was confirmed to be a contributor to vaccine responsiveness in mice. The identification of these biomarkers provides new insights into what immune features may be most important for immune health.