Associations between Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Cellular Viral Receptors and Attachment Factor-Related Genes and Humoral Immunity to Rubella Vaccination

Haralambieva, Iana H.; Lambert, Nathaniel D.; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Kennedy, Richard B.; Larrabee, Beth R.; Pankratz, V. Shane; Poland, Gregory A.

BACKGROUND: Viral attachment and cell entry host factors are important for viral replication, pathogenesis, and the generation and sustenance of immune responses after infection and/or vaccination, and are plausible genetic regulators of vaccine-induced immunity. METHODS: Using a tag-SNP approach in candidate gene study, we assessed the role of selected cell surface receptor genes, attachment factor-related genes, along with other immune genes in the genetic control of immune response variations after live rubella vaccination in two independent study cohorts. RESULTS: Our analysis revealed evidence for multiple associations between genetic variants in the PVR, PVRL2, CD209/DC-SIGN, RARB, MOG, IL6 and other immune function-related genes and rubella-specific neutralizing antibodies after vaccination (meta p-value <0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that multiple SNPs from genes involved in cell adhesion, viral attachment, and viral entry, as well as others in genes involved in signaling and/or immune response regulation, play a role in modulating humoral immune responses following live rubella vaccination.