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Nelson RW, Chen Y, Venezia OL, Majerus RM, Shin DS, Carrington MN, Yu XG, Wesemann DR, Moon JJ, Luster AD. SARS-CoV-2 epitope-specific CD4 + memory T cell responses across COVID-19 disease severity and antibody durability. Sci Immunol 2022; 7:eabl9464. [PMID: 35857584 PMCID: PMC9097883 DOI: 10.1126/sciimmunol.abl9464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
CD4+ T cells are central to long-term immunity against viruses through the functions of T helper 1 (TH1) and T follicular helper (TFH) cell subsets. To better understand the role of these subsets in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) immunity, we conducted a longitudinal study of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific CD4+ T cell and antibody responses in convalescent individuals who seroconverted during the first wave of the pandemic in Boston, MA, USA, across a range of COVID-19 disease severities. Analyses of spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) epitope-specific CD4+ T cells using peptide and major histocompatibility complex class II (pMHCII) tetramers demonstrated expanded populations of T cells recognizing the different SARS-CoV-2 epitopes in most individuals compared with prepandemic controls. Individuals who experienced a milder disease course not requiring hospitalization had a greater percentage of circulating TFH (cTFH) and TH1 cells among SARS-CoV-2-specific cells. Analysis of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cells responses in a subset of individuals with sustained anti-S antibody responses after viral clearance also revealed an increased proportion of memory cTFH cells. Our findings indicate that efficient early disease control also predicts favorable long-term adaptive immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan W. Nelson
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yuezhou Chen
- Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Olivia L. Venezia
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Infectious Disease Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | | | - Daniel S. Shin
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - MGH COVID-19 Collection & Processing Team†
- Division of Immunology, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Queens University of Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, MA, USA
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD and Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute; Bethesda, MD, USA
- Infectious Disease Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mary N. Carrington
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, MA, USA
- Basic Science Program, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD and Laboratory of Integrative Cancer Immunology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute; Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Xu G. Yu
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, MA, USA
- Infectious Disease Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Duane R. Wesemann
- Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - James J. Moon
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew D. Luster
- Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School; Boston, MA, USA
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