Impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the total CD4+ and CD8+ T cell reactivity in infected or vaccinated individuals

• DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100355
• Publication Date: 2021-07-02T08:45:15Z
• Authors: Alison Tarke; John Sidney; Nils Methot; Esther Dawen Yu; Yun Zhang; Jennifer M. Dan; Benjamin Goodwin; Paul Rubiro; Aaron Sutherland; Eric Wang; April Frazier; Sydney I. Ramirez; Stephen A. Rawlings; Davey M. Smith; Ricardo da Silva ...; Bjoern Peters; Richard H. Scheue...; Daniela Weiskopf; Shane Crotty; Alba Grifoni; Alessandro Sette
• Keywords: Adult; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Male; 0301 basic medicine; COVID-19 Vaccines; Coronaviruses; Immunology; T cells; Coronaviruses Vaccines; 610; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; Article; Vaccine Related; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; 80 and over; Humans; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomedical and Clinical Sciences; SARS-CoV-2; VOCs; COVID-19; CD8; vaccines; Middle Aged; Spike Glycoprotein; CD4; 3. Good health; Coronavirus; Infectious Diseases; Emerging Infectious Diseases; Good Health and Well Being; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus; Immunization; Female; Infection

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with evidence of antibody escape highlight the importance of addressing whether the total CD4+ and CD8+ T cell recognition is also affected. Here, we compare SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells against the B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, and CAL.20C lineages in COVID-19 convalescents and in recipients of the Moderna (mRNA-1273) or Pfizer/BioNTech (BNT162b2) COVID-19 vaccines. The total reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 variants is similar in terms of magnitude and frequency of response, with decreases in the 10%-22% range observed in some assay/VOC combinations. A total of 7% and 3% of previously identified CD4+ and CD8+ T cell epitopes, respectively, are affected by mutations in the various VOCs. Thus, the SARS-CoV-2 variants analyzed here do not significantly disrupt the total SARS-CoV-2 T cell reactivity; however, the decreases observed highlight the importance for active monitoring of T cell reactivity in the context of SARS-CoV-2 evolution.