Abstract
T cell immunity is crucial for control of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and has been studied widely on a quantitative level. However, the quality of responses, in particular of CD8 + T cells, has only been investigated marginally so far. Here, we isolate T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires specific for immunodominant SARS-CoV-2 epitopes restricted to common human Leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I molecules in convalescent individuals. SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 + T cells are detected up to 12 months after infection. TCR repertoires are diverse, with heterogeneous functional avidity and cytotoxicity toward virus-infected cells, as demonstrated for TCR-engineered T cells. High TCR functionality correlates with gene signatures that, remarkably, could be retrieved for each epitope:HLA combination analyzed. Overall, our data demonstrate that polyclonal and highly functional CD8 + TCRs-classic features of protective immunity-are recruited upon mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, providing tools to assess the quality of and potentially restore functional CD8 + T cell immunity.
Keywords: CD8(+) T cells; SARS-CoV-2 infection; T cell immunity; T cell receptor; TCR engineering; TCR identification; cytotoxic T cells; mild COVID-19; scRNA sequencing.
【저자키워드】 SARS-COV-2 infection, T cell immunity, Cytotoxic T cells, mild COVID-19, T cell receptor, CD8(+) T cells, TCR engineering, TCR identification, scRNA sequencing., 【초록키워드】 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus, Immunity, T cells, SARS-COV-2 infection, Sequencing, Infection, human leukocyte antigen, cytotoxicity, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, CD8, Antigen, Epitopes, T cell, protective immunity, Mild, HLA, respiratory, epitope, TCR, T cell receptor, Quantitative, Protective, Combination, leukocyte, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, infected cells, virus-infected cells, heterogeneous, convalescent individuals, mild SARS-CoV-2 infection, gene signature, immunodominant, TCRs, gene signatures, responses, feature, polyclonal, analyzed, recruited, investigated, functional, demonstrated, retrieved, SARS-CoV-2 epitope, 【제목키워드】 CD8,