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Zornikova KV, Sheetikov SA, Rusinov AY, Iskhakov RN, Bogolyubova AV. Architecture of the SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell repertoire. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1070077. [PMID: 37020560 PMCID: PMC10067759 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1070077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The T cell response plays an indispensable role in the early control and successful clearance of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, several important questions remain about the role of cellular immunity in COVID-19, including the shape and composition of disease-specific T cell repertoires across convalescent patients and vaccinated individuals, and how pre-existing T cell responses to other pathogens—in particular, common cold coronaviruses—impact susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the subsequent course of disease. This review focuses on how the repertoire of T cell receptors (TCR) is shaped by natural infection and vaccination over time. We also summarize current knowledge regarding cross-reactive T cell responses and their protective role, and examine the implications of TCR repertoire diversity and cross-reactivity with regard to the design of vaccines that confer broader protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ksenia V. Zornikova
- Laboratory of Transplantation Immunology, National Medical Research Center for Hematology, Moscow, Russia
| | - Saveliy A. Sheetikov
- Laboratory of Transplantation Immunology, National Medical Research Center for Hematology, Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander Yu Rusinov
- Laboratory of Transplantation Immunology, National Medical Research Center for Hematology, Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Rustam N. Iskhakov
- Laboratory of Transplantation Immunology, National Medical Research Center for Hematology, Moscow, Russia
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Apollinariya V. Bogolyubova
- Laboratory of Transplantation Immunology, National Medical Research Center for Hematology, Moscow, Russia
- *Correspondence: Apollinariya V. Bogolyubova,
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Young A. T cells in SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Ther Adv Vaccines Immunother 2022; 10:25151355221115011. [PMID: 36051003 PMCID: PMC9425900 DOI: 10.1177/25151355221115011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
While antibodies garner the lion’s share of attention in SARS-CoV-2 immunity, cellular immunity (T cells) may be equally, if not more important, in controlling infection. Both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells are elicited earlier and are associated with milder disease, than antibodies, and T-cell activation appears to be necessary for control of infection. Variants of concern (VOCs) such as Omicron have escaped the neutralizing antibody responses after two mRNA vaccine doses, but T-cell immunity is largely intact. The breadth and patient-specific nature of the latter offers a formidable line of defense that can limit the severity of illness, and are likely to be responsible for most of the protection from natural infection or vaccination against VOCs which have evaded the antibody response. Comprehensive searches for T-cell epitopes, T-cell activation from infection and vaccination of specific patient groups, and elicitation of cellular immunity by various alternative vaccine modalities are here reviewed. Development of vaccines that specifically target T cells is called for, to meet the needs of patient groups for whom cellular immunity is weaker, such as the elderly and the immunosuppressed. While VOCs have not yet fully escaped T-cell immunity elicited by natural infection and vaccines, some early reports of partial escape suggest that future VOCs may achieve the dreaded result, dislodging a substantial proportion of cellular immunity, enough to cause a grave public health burden. A proactive, rather than reactive, solution which identifies and targets immutable sequences in SARS-CoV-2, not just those which are conserved, may be the only recourse humankind has to disarm these future VOCs before they disarm us.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arthur Young
- InvVax, 2265 E. Foohill Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91107, USA
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Development of a T Cell-Based COVID-19 Vaccine Using a Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine Viral Vector. Vaccines (Basel) 2022; 10:vaccines10071142. [PMID: 35891306 PMCID: PMC9318028 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines10071142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 07/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in 2020 and has caused an unprecedented burden to all countries in the world. SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate and antigenically evolve, enabling multiple reinfections. To address the issue of the virus antigenic variability, T cell-based vaccines are being developed, which are directed to more conserved viral epitopes. We used live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) virus vector to generate recombinant influenza viruses expressing various T-cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 from either neuraminidase (NA) or non-structural (NS1) genes, via the P2A self-cleavage site. Intranasal immunization of human leukocyte antigen-A*0201 (HLA-A2.1) transgenic mice with these recombinant viruses did not result in significant SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses, due to the immunodominance of NP366 influenza T-cell epitope. However, side-by-side stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of COVID-19 convalescents with recombinant viruses and LAIV vector demonstrated activation of memory T cells in samples stimulated with LAIV/SARS-CoV-2, but not LAIV alone. Hamsters immunized with a selected LAIV/SARS-CoV-2 prototype were protected against challenge with influenza virus and a high dose of SARS-CoV-2 of Wuhan and Delta lineages, which was confirmed by reduced weight loss, milder clinical symptoms and less pronounced histopathological signs of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the lungs, compared to LAIV- and mock-immunized animals. Overall, LAIV is a promising platform for the development of a bivalent vaccine against influenza and SARS-CoV-2.
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Kockelbergh H, Evans S, Deng T, Clyne E, Kyriakidou A, Economou A, Luu Hoang KN, Woodmansey S, Foers A, Fowler A, Soilleux EJ. Utility of Bulk T-Cell Receptor Repertoire Sequencing Analysis in Understanding Immune Responses to COVID-19. Diagnostics (Basel) 2022; 12:diagnostics12051222. [PMID: 35626377 PMCID: PMC9140453 DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics12051222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Revised: 05/09/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Measuring immunity to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), can rely on antibodies, reactive T cells and other factors, with T-cell-mediated responses appearing to have greater sensitivity and longevity. Because each T cell carries an essentially unique nucleic acid sequence for its T-cell receptor (TCR), we can interrogate sequence data derived from DNA or RNA to assess aspects of the immune response. This review deals with the utility of bulk, rather than single-cell, sequencing of TCR repertoires, considering the importance of study design, in terms of cohort selection, laboratory methods and analysis. The advances in understanding SARS-CoV-2 immunity that have resulted from bulk TCR repertoire sequencing are also be discussed. The complexity of sequencing data obtained by bulk repertoire sequencing makes analysis challenging, but simple descriptive analyses, clonal analysis, searches for specific sequences associated with immune responses to SARS-CoV-2, motif-based analyses, and machine learning approaches have all been applied. TCR repertoire sequencing has demonstrated early expansion followed by contraction of SARS-CoV-2-specific clonotypes, during active infection. Maintenance of TCR repertoire diversity, including the maintenance of diversity of anti-SARS-CoV-2 response, predicts a favourable outcome. TCR repertoire narrowing in severe COVID-19 is most likely a consequence of COVID-19-associated lymphopenia. It has been possible to follow clonotypic sequences longitudinally, which has been particularly valuable for clonotypes known to be associated with SARS-CoV-2 peptide/MHC tetramer binding or with SARS-CoV-2 peptide-induced cytokine responses. Closely related clonotypes to these previously identified sequences have been shown to respond with similar kinetics during infection. A possible superantigen-like effect of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein has been identified, by means of observing V-segment skewing in patients with severe COVID-19, together with structural modelling. Such a superantigen-like activity, which is apparently absent from other coronaviruses, may be the basis of multisystem inflammatory syndrome and cytokine storms in COVID-19. Bulk TCR repertoire sequencing has proven to be a useful and cost-effective approach to understanding interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and the human host, with the potential to inform the design of therapeutics and vaccines, as well as to provide invaluable pathogenetic and epidemiological insights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Kockelbergh
- Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GF, UK;
| | - Shelley Evans
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (S.E.); (T.D.); (E.C.); (K.N.L.H.); (S.W.)
| | - Tong Deng
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (S.E.); (T.D.); (E.C.); (K.N.L.H.); (S.W.)
| | - Ella Clyne
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (S.E.); (T.D.); (E.C.); (K.N.L.H.); (S.W.)
| | - Anna Kyriakidou
- School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (A.K.); (A.E.)
| | - Andreas Economou
- School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (A.K.); (A.E.)
| | - Kim Ngan Luu Hoang
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (S.E.); (T.D.); (E.C.); (K.N.L.H.); (S.W.)
| | - Stephen Woodmansey
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (S.E.); (T.D.); (E.C.); (K.N.L.H.); (S.W.)
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay, Kendal LA9 7RG, UK
| | - Andrew Foers
- Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7YF, UK;
| | - Anna Fowler
- Department of Health Data Science, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3GF, UK;
- Correspondence: (A.F.); (E.J.S.)
| | - Elizabeth J. Soilleux
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK; (S.E.); (T.D.); (E.C.); (K.N.L.H.); (S.W.)
- Correspondence: (A.F.); (E.J.S.)
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Mei X, Gu P, Shen C, Lin X, Li J. Computer-Based Immunoinformatic Analysis to Predict Candidate T-Cell Epitopes for SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Design. Front Immunol 2022; 13:847617. [PMID: 35432316 PMCID: PMC9006954 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.847617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Since the first outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in 2019, its high infectivity led to its prevalence around the world in an exceptionally short time. Efforts have been made to control the ongoing outbreak, and among them, vaccine developments are going on high priority. New clinical trials add to growing evidence that vaccines from many countries were highly effective at preventing SARS-CoV-2 virus infection. One of them is B cell-based vaccines, which were common during a pandemic. However, neutralizing antibody therapy becomes less effective when viruses mutate. In order to tackle the problem, we focused on T-cell immune mechanism. In this study, the mutated strains of the virus were selected globally from India (B.1.617.1 and B.1.617.2), United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), and Brazil (P.1), and the overlapping peptides were collected based on mutation sites of S-protein. After that, residue scanning was used to predict the affinity between overlapping peptide and HLA-A*11:01, the most frequent human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele among the Chinese population. Then, the binding free energy was evaluated with molecular docking to further verify the affinity changes after the mutations happen in the virus genomes. The affinity test results of three epitopes on spike protein from experimental validation were consistent with our predicted results, thereby supporting the inclusion of the epitope 374FSTFKCYGL382 in future vaccine design and providing a useful reference route to improve vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueyin Mei
- Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Pan Gu
- Department of Math and Computer Sciences, College of Letters and Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Chuanlai Shen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Medical School of Southeast University, Nanjing, China
| | - Xue Lin
- Department of Bioinformatics, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jian Li
- Key Laboratory of Developmental Genes and Human Disease, Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
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