SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell memory with common TCRαβ motifs is established in unvaccinated children who seroconvert after infection
- Author(s)
- Rowntree, LC; Nguyen, THO; Kedzierski, L; Neeland, MR; Petersen, J; Crawford, JC; Allen, LF; Clemens, EB; Chua, B; McQuilten, HA; Minervina, AA; Pogorelyy, MV; Chaurasia, P; Tan, HX; Wheatley, AK; Jia, X; Amanat, F; Krammer, F; Allen, EK; Sonda, S; Flanagan, KL; Jumarang, J; Pannaraj, PS; Licciardi, PV; Kent, SJ; Bond, KA; Williamson, DA; Rossjohn, J; Thomas, PG; Tosif, S; Crawford, NW; van de Sandt, CE; Kedzierska, K;
- Journal Title
- Immunity
- Publication Type
- epub ahead of print
- Abstract
- As the establishment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-specific T cell memory in children remains largely unexplored, we recruited convalescent COVID-19 children and adults to define their circulating memory SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells prior to vaccination. We analyzed epitope-specific T cells directly ex vivo using seven HLA class I and class II tetramers presenting SARS-CoV-2 epitopes, together with Spike-specific B cells. Unvaccinated children who seroconverted had comparable Spike-specific but lower ORF1a- and N-specific memory T cell responses compared with adults. This agreed with our TCR sequencing data showing reduced clonal expansion in children. A strong stem cell memory phenotype and common T cell receptor motifs were detected within tetramer-specific T cells in seroconverted children. Conversely, children who did not seroconvert had tetramer-specific T cells of predominantly naive phenotypes and diverse TCRαβ repertoires. Our study demonstrates the generation of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell memory with common TCRαβ motifs in unvaccinated seroconverted children after their first virus encounter.
- Publisher
- Cell Press
- Keywords
- B cells; CD4(+) T cells; CD8(+) T cells; Covid-19; SARS-CoV-2; children; memory T cells; tetramer-specific
- Research Division(s)
- Infectious Diseases And Immune Defence
- PubMed ID
- 35750048
- Publisher's Version
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2022.06.003
- Open Access at Publisher's Site
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.immuni.2022.06.003- Terms of Use/Rights Notice
- Refer to copyright notice on published article.
Creation Date: 2022-07-04 08:57:03
Last Modified: 2022-07-04 09:12:38