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Bonifacius A, Tischer-Zimmermann S, Dragon AC, Gussarow D, Vogel A, Krettek U, Gödecke N, Yilmaz M, Kraft ARM, Hoeper MM, Pink I, Schmidt JJ, Li Y, Welte T, Maecker-Kolhoff B, Martens J, Berger MM, Lobenwein C, Stankov MV, Cornberg M, David S, Behrens GMN, Witzke O, Blasczyk R, Eiz-Vesper B. COVID-19 immune signatures reveal stable antiviral T cell function despite declining humoral responses. Immunity 2021; 54:340-354.e6. [PMID: 33567252 PMCID: PMC7871825 DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2021.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 01/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Cellular and humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is critical to control primary infection and correlates with severity of disease. The role of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity, its relationship to antibodies, and pre-existing immunity against endemic coronaviruses (huCoV), which has been hypothesized to be protective, were investigated in 82 healthy donors (HDs), 204 recovered (RCs), and 92 active COVID-19 patients (ACs). ACs had high amounts of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid and spike IgG but lymphopenia and overall reduced antiviral T cell responses due to the inflammatory milieu, expression of inhibitory molecules (PD-1, Tim-3) as well as effector caspase-3, -7, and -8 activity in T cells. SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell immunity conferred by polyfunctional, mainly interferon-γ-secreting CD4+ T cells remained stable throughout convalescence, whereas humoral responses declined. Immune responses toward huCoV in RCs with mild disease and strong cellular SARS-CoV-2 T cell reactivity imply a protective role of pre-existing immunity against huCoV.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agnes Bonifacius
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Sabine Tischer-Zimmermann
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Anna C Dragon
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Daniel Gussarow
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Alexander Vogel
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Ulrike Krettek
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Nina Gödecke
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Anke R M Kraft
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hannover-Braunschweig, Germany; Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), Hannover, Germany
| | - Marius M Hoeper
- Department of Pneumology, Hannover Medical School, member of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Hannover, Germany
| | - Isabell Pink
- Department of Pneumology, Hannover Medical School, member of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Hannover, Germany
| | - Julius J Schmidt
- Department of Kidney and Hypertension Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Yang Li
- Department Computational Biology for Individualised Medicine, Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Tobias Welte
- Department of Pneumology, Hannover Medical School, member of the German Centre for Lung Research (DZL), Hannover, Germany
| | - Britta Maecker-Kolhoff
- Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Jörg Martens
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Marc Moritz Berger
- Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Corinna Lobenwein
- Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Metodi V Stankov
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hannover-Braunschweig, Germany; Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Markus Cornberg
- Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endocrinology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hannover-Braunschweig, Germany; Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM), Hannover, Germany
| | - Sascha David
- Department of Kidney and Hypertension Diseases, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Georg M N Behrens
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), partner site Hannover-Braunschweig, Germany; Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Oliver Witzke
- Department of Infectious Diseases, West German Centre of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | - Rainer Blasczyk
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - Britta Eiz-Vesper
- Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Transplant Engineering, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany.
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