T Cell Receptor Sequences Amplified during Severe COVID-19 and Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Mimic SARS-CoV-2, Its Bacterial Co-Infections and Host Autoantigens.
Int J Mol Sci
; 24(2)2023 Jan 10.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2234984
ABSTRACT
Published hypervariable region V-beta T cell receptor (TCR) sequences were collected from people with severe COVID-19 characterized by having various autoimmune complications, including blood coagulopathies and cardiac autoimmunity, as well as from patients diagnosed with the Kawasaki disease (KD)-like multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). These were compared with comparable published v-beta TCR sequences from people diagnosed with KD and from healthy individuals. Since TCR V-beta sequences are supposed to be complementary to antigens that induce clonal expansion, it was surprising that only a quarter of the TCR sequences derived from severe COVID-19 and MIS-C patients mimicked SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Thirty percent of the KD-derived TCR mimicked coronaviruses other than SARS-CoV-2. In contrast, only three percent of the TCR sequences from healthy individuals and those diagnosed with autoimmune myocarditis displayed similarities to any coronavirus. In each disease, significant increases were found in the amount of TCRs from healthy individuals mimicking specific bacterial co-infections (especially Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcal and Streptococcal antigens) and host autoantigens targeted by autoimmune diseases (especially myosin, collagen, phospholipid-associated proteins, and blood coagulation proteins). Theoretical explanations for these surprising observations and implications to unravel the causes of autoimmune diseases are explored.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Autoimmune Diseases
/
Bacterial Infections
/
Connective Tissue Diseases
/
Coinfection
/
COVID-19
/
Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijms24021335
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