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Jaturong Sewatanon

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Jaturong Sewatanon

Assistant Professor

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0254-3223

Accepting PhD Students

20072025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Research interests

Characterization of novel dengue NS3-specific memory CD8 T cells that potentially provide cross-protection against both dengue and Zika virus illnesses in healthy Thai population
   Although dengue vaccine (Dengvaxia®) has been approved in Thailand, the efficacy of this vaccine is as low as 44% in children younger than 9 years old and varies among different serotypes. Thus, more effective vaccines that induce protective immune responses against dengue infections are still in need. Optimal T-cell responses during dengue infection could contribute to efficient lysis of infected cells, leading to protective immunity. Recently, we have identified a novel dengue non-structural protein 3 epitope (NS3296-304) that induced robust proliferation of interferon gamma (IFNγ)-producing CD8 T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from a Thai healthy individual who has been infected with dengue virus but never had dengue illness. This suggests that these proliferated CD8 T cells are very efficient dengue-specific memory cells that could provide protective immunity. Moreover, this dengue NS3296-304 epitope is highly conserved among flaviviruses, suggesting that cross-reactivity is highly likely among other flaviviruses especially the emerging Zika virus.
    The findings from this project will provide more insight into memory CD8 T cells that specifically recognize epitopes of dengue non-structural proteins in protective immunity and might identify new genes and pathways involed in protective functions of these dengue-specific memory CD8 T cells. This could shred some light on a novel strategy for designing highly effective dengue vaccine, which induces long-lived dengue-specific memory CD8 T cells that provide cross-protection against Zika and other flaviviruses with much lower likelihood to enhance subsequent heterogenous flavivirus infections mediated through the antibody enhancement (ADE) mechanism.

Research interests

Characterization of T-cell immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the Southeast Asian and European populations
   The vaccines that target conserved regions of human coronaviruses and induce both protective T-cell responses and antibodies are essential for limiting the spread of the COVID-19 and future coronavirus pandemic.  However, specific viral antigens recognized by both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells differ across populations due to the different prevalence of HLA alleles.  Therefore, identification of these different T-cell epitopes of the SARS-CoV-2 and gain more insight into the characters and functions of the T cells that respond to infection in various populations are important.  The vast majority of such works has been done among Caucasian populations that overlooked particular alleles such as HLA-A*24:07, which is prevalent in Indonesian and Thai populations.  Therefore, this project is unique and will be the first to identify SARS-CoV-2 T-cell epitopes that could be recognized by T cells in people from diverse populations.  We aim to identify the SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes for the most common 15 HLA Class I and 6 HLA-DR allotypes that cover approximately 90% and 75% of the Southeast Asian population, respectively by using the established algorithms SYFPEITHI and NetMHCpan. The high-throughput screening of potential SARS-CoV-2 epitopes will be performed by IFN-γ ELISpot assays using peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the donors who recovered from COVID-19. The validated T-cell epitopes will be further used to characterize and compare the SARS-CoV-2 immunity between the COVID-19 convalescent and the healthy population that has not been infected by SARS-CoV-2.  This will allow us to i) gain more knowledge about the similarities and differences of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in different populations, ii) provide novel tools for monitoring long-lasting memory T cells that could convey COVID-19 protection iii) define possible targets for COVID-19 vaccine developments and immunotherapies for severe COVID-19 treatment such as adoptive transfer of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells.

Related documents

Education/Academic qualification

PhD, Gammaherpesvirus Evasion of Promyelocytic Leukemia Protein-mediated Intrinsic Antiviral Defenses, Baylor College of Medicine

31 Jul 2006 → 24 Jul 2013

Award Date: 24 Jul 2013

Bachelor, Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital

1 Jun 1997 → 4 Mar 2003

Award Date: 4 Mar 2003

Keywords

  • QR355 Virology
  • Emerging viruses
  • Flaviviruses
  • Coronaviruses
  • QR180 Immunology
  • Adaptive immune responses

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  2. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  3. SDG 5 - Gender Equality
    SDG 5 Gender Equality
  4. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  5. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  6. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  7. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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