Mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike protein impair epitope-specific CD4+ T cell recognition.
Nat Immunol
; 2022 Dec 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2284754
ABSTRACT
CD4+ T cells are essential for protection against viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. The sensitivity of CD4+ T cells to mutations in SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) is poorly understood. Here, we isolated 159 SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell clones from healthcare workers previously infected with wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (D614G) and defined 21 epitopes in spike, membrane and nucleoprotein. Lack of CD4+ T cell cross-reactivity between SARS-CoV-2 and endemic beta-coronaviruses suggested these responses arose from naïve rather than pre-existing cross-reactive coronavirus-specific T cells. Of the 17 epitopes located in the spike protein, 10 were mutated in VOCs and CD4+ T cell clone recognition of 7 of them was impaired, including 3 of the 4 epitopes mutated in omicron. Our results indicated that broad targeting of epitopes by CD4+ T cells likely limits evasion by current VOCs. However, continued genomic surveillance is vital to identify new mutations able to evade CD4+ T cell immunity.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Variants
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Allergy and Immunology
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S41590-022-01351-7
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