posted on 2023-06-10, 00:58authored byLucie Loyal, Julian Braun, Larissa Henze, Beate Kruse, Manuela Dingeldey, Ulf Reimert, Florian KernFlorian Kern, Tatjana Schwarz, Maike Mangold, Clara Unger, Friederike Dörfler, Shirin Kadler, Jennifer Rosowski, Kübrah Gürcan, Zehra Uyar-Aydin, others
The functional relevance of pre-existing cross-immunity to SARS-CoV-2 is a subject of intense debate. Here, we show that human endemic coronavirus (HCoV)-reactive and SARS-CoV-2-cross-reactive CD4+ T cells are ubiquitous but decrease with age. We identified a universal immunodominant coronavirus-specific spike peptide (S816-830) and demonstrate that pre-existing spike- and S816-830-reactive T cells were recruited into immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and their frequency correlated with anti-SARS-CoV-2-S1-IgG antibodies. Spike-cross-reactive T cells were also activated after primary BNT162b2 COVID-19 mRNA vaccination displaying kinetics similar to secondary immune responses. Our results highlight the functional contribution of pre-existing spike-cross-reactive T cells in SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Cross-reactive immunity may account for the unexpectedly rapid induction of immunity following primary SARS-CoV-2 immunization and the high rate of asymptomatic/mild COVID-19 disease courses.
History
Publication status
Published
File Version
Published version
Journal
Science
ISSN
1095-9203
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science