CD4+ T cells from COVID-19 mRNA vaccine recipients recognize a conserved epitope present in diverse coronaviruses.
J Clin Invest
; 132(5)2022 03 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35061630
ABSTRACT
Recent studies have shown that vaccinated individuals harbor T cells that can cross-recognize SARS-CoV-2 and endemic human common cold coronaviruses. However, it is still unknown whether CD4+ T cells from vaccinated individuals recognize peptides from bat coronaviruses that may have the potential of causing future pandemics. In this study, we identified a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein epitope (S815-827) that is conserved in coronaviruses from different genera and subgenera, including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, multiple bat coronaviruses, and a feline coronavirus. Our results showed that S815-827 was recognized by 42% of vaccinated participants in our study who received the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) or Moderna (mRNA-1273) COVID-19 vaccines. Using T cell expansion and T cell receptor sequencing assays, we demonstrated that S815-827-reactive CD4+ T cells from the majority of responders cross-recognized homologous peptides from at least 6 other diverse coronaviruses. Our results support the hypothesis that the current mRNA vaccines elicit T cell responses that can cross-recognize bat coronaviruses and thus might induce some protection against potential zoonotic outbreaks. Furthermore, our data provide important insights that inform the development of T cell-based pan-coronavirus vaccine strategies.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell
/
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
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Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
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Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
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SARS-CoV-2
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COVID-19
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BNT162 Vaccine
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2019-nCoV Vaccine mRNA-1273
Limits:
Female
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Humans
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Male
Language:
En
Journal:
J Clin Invest
Year:
2022
Document type:
Article