Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Convalescent Adaptive Immunity is Highly Heterogenous after SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Balaji Pathakumari
ORCID logo ,
Paige K. Marty
,
Maleeha Shah
,
Virginia P. Van Keulen
,
Courtney L. Erskine
,
Matthew S. Block
,
Pedro Arias-Sanchez
,
Patricio Escalante
,
Tobias Peikert
*
Version 1 : Received: 8 October 2023 / Approved: 9 October 2023 / Online: 9 October 2023 (11:33:18 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Pathakumari, B.; Marty, P.K.; Shah, M.; Van Keulen, V.P.; Erskine, C.L.; Block, M.S.; Arias-Sanchez, P.; Escalante, P.; Peikert, T. Convalescent Adaptive Immunity Is Highly Heterogenous after SARS-CoV-2 Infection. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 7136. Pathakumari, B.; Marty, P.K.; Shah, M.; Van Keulen, V.P.; Erskine, C.L.; Block, M.S.; Arias-Sanchez, P.; Escalante, P.; Peikert, T. Convalescent Adaptive Immunity Is Highly Heterogenous after SARS-CoV-2 Infection. J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12, 7136.

Abstract

Optimal detection strategies for effective convalescent immunity after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination remain unclear. The objective of this study was to characterize convalescent immunity targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using a multiparametric approach. At the beginning of the pandemic, we recruited 30 COVID-19 unvaccinated convalescent donors and 7 unexposed asymptomatic controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from leukapheresis cones. The humoral immune response was assessed by measuring serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 subunit IgG semiquantitative ELISA and T cell immunity against S1 and S2 subunits were studied by IFN-γ Enzyme-Linked Immune absorbent Spot (ELISpot), flow cytometric (FC) activation-induced marker (AIM) assays and the assessment of cytotoxic CD8+ T-cell function (in the subset of HLA-A2 positive patients). No single immunoassay was sufficient in identifying anti-spike convalescent immunity among all patients. There was no consistent correlation between adaptive humoral and cellular anti-spike responses. Our data indicate that the magnitude of anti-spike convalescent humoral and cellular immunity is highly heterogeneous and highlights the need for using multiple assays to comprehensively measure SARS-CoV-2 convalescent immunity. These observations might have implications for COVID-19 surveillance, and optimal vaccination strategies for emerging variants. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal assessment of adaptive humoral and cellular immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in the context of emerging variants and unclear vaccination schedules.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2; convalescent immunity; T cell immunity; Heterogenous Immunity; multiparametric approach

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Immunology and Microbiology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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