BCG Vaccine Derived Peptides Induce SARS-CoV-2 T Cell Cross-Reactivity.
Front Immunol
; 12: 692729, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1369667
ABSTRACT
Epidemiological studies and clinical trials suggest Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine has protective effects against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). There are now over 30 clinical trials evaluating if BCG vaccination can prevent or reduce the severity of COVID-19. However, the mechanism by which BCG vaccination can induce severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific T cell responses is unknown. Here, we identify 8 novel BCG-derived peptides with significant sequence homology to either SARS-CoV-2 NSP3 or NSP13-derived peptides. Using an in vitro co-culture system, we show that human CD4+ and CD8+ T cells primed with a BCG-derived peptide developed enhanced reactivity to its corresponding homologous SARS-CoV-2-derived peptide. As expected, HLA differences between individuals meant that not all persons developed immunogenic responses to all 8 BCG-derived peptides. Nevertheless, all of the 20 individuals that were primed with BCG-derived peptides developed enhanced T cell reactivity to at least 7 of 8 SARS-CoV-2-derived peptides. These findings provide an in vitro mechanism that may account, in part, for the epidemiologic observation that BCG vaccination confers some protection from COVID-19.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
BCG Vaccine
/
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
/
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
/
Cross Reactions
/
SARS-CoV-2
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Immunol
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fimmu.2021.692729
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