Abstract |
SARS-CoV-2 infection takes a mild or clinically inapparent course in the majority of humans who contract this virus. After such individuals have cleared the virus, only the detection of SARS-CoV-2-specific immunological memory can reveal the exposure, and hopefully the establishment of immune protection. With most viral infections, the presence of specific serum antibodies has provided a reliable biomarker for the exposure to the virus of interest. SARS-CoV-2 infection, however, does not reliably induce a durable antibody response, especially in sub-clinically infected individuals. Consequently, it is plausible for a recently infected individual to yield a false negative result within only a few months after exposure. Immunodiagnostic attention has therefore shifted to studies of specific T cell memory to SARS-CoV-2. Most reports published so far agree that a T cell response is engaged during SARS-CoV-2 infection, but they also state that in 20-81% of SARS-CoV-2-unexposed individuals, T cells respond to SARS-CoV-2 antigens (mega peptide pools), allegedly due to T cell cross-reactivity with Common Cold coronaviruses (CCC), or other antigens. Here we show that, by introducing irrelevant mega peptide pools as negative controls to account for chance cross-reactivity, and by establishing the antigen dose-response characteristic of the T cells, one can clearly discern between cognate T cell memory induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection vs. cross-reactive T cell responses in individuals who have not been infected with SARS-CoV-2.
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Authors | Alexander A Lehmann, Greg A Kirchenbaum, Ting Zhang, Pedro A Reche, Paul V Lehmann |
Journal | Frontiers in immunology
(Front Immunol)
Vol. 12
Pg. 635942
( 2021)
ISSN: 1664-3224 [Electronic] Switzerland |
PMID | 34127926
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
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Copyright | Copyright © 2021 Lehmann, Kirchenbaum, Zhang, Reche and Lehmann. |
Chemical References |
- Antigens, Viral
- Biomarkers
- Cytokines
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
- Immunodominant Epitopes
- Peptides
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
- spike protein, SARS-CoV-2
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Topics |
- Antigens, Viral
(immunology)
- Biomarkers
- COVID-19
(immunology, metabolism, virology)
- Cross Reactions
(immunology)
- Cytokines
(metabolism)
- Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte
(immunology)
- Host-Pathogen Interactions
(immunology)
- Humans
- Immunodominant Epitopes
(immunology)
- Immunologic Memory
- Peptides
(immunology)
- Protein Binding
- SARS-CoV-2
(immunology)
- Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
(immunology)
- T-Lymphocytes
(immunology, metabolism)
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