Lucie Loyal, Karsten Jürchott, Ulf Reimer, Lil Meyer-Arndt, Larissa Henze, Norbert Mages, Jak Kostrzanowski, Bernhard Reus, Maike Mangold, Beate Kruse, Manuela Dingeldey, Birgit Sawitzki, Janine Michel, Marica Grossegesse, Karsten Schnatbaum, Holger Wenschuh, Andreas Nitsche, Nils Lachmann, Bernd Timmermann, Claudia Giesecke-Thiel, Julian Braun, Florian Kern, Andreas Thiel
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Immune evasion by escape mutations subverts immunity against SARS-CoV-2. A role of pan-coronavirus immunity for more durable protection is being discussed, but has remained understudied. We here investigated the effects of age, mutations, and homo-/heterologous vaccination regimens on the dominant pan-coronavirus-specific cellular and humoral epitope iCope after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination in detail. In older individuals, the quantitatively and qualitatively reduced iCope-reactive CD4+ T cell responses with narrow TCR repertoires could not be enhanced by vaccination and were further compromised by emerging spike mutations. In contrast, pan-coronavirus-reactive humoral immunity was affected only by mutations and not by age. Our results reveal a distinct deficiency of the dichotomous layer of pan-coronavirus immunity in the older, critical for long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
期刊介绍:
The European Journal of Immunology (EJI) is an official journal of EFIS. Established in 1971, EJI continues to serve the needs of the global immunology community covering basic, translational and clinical research, ranging from adaptive and innate immunity through to vaccines and immunotherapy, cancer, autoimmunity, allergy and more. Mechanistic insights and thought-provoking immunological findings are of interest, as are studies using the latest omics technologies. We offer fast track review for competitive situations, including recently scooped papers, format free submission, transparent and fair peer review and more as detailed in our policies.