Abstract
Germinal centers (GCs) elicit protective humoral immunity through a combination of antibody-secreting cells and memory B cells, following pathogen invasion or vaccination. However, the possibility of a GC response inducing protective immunity against reinfection following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection remains unknown. We found GC activity was consistent with seroconversion observed in recovered macaques and humans. Rechallenge with a different clade of virus resulted in significant reduction in replicating virus titers in respiratory tracts in macaques with high GC activity. However, diffuse alveolar damage and increased fibrotic tissue were observed in lungs of reinfected macaques. Our study highlights the importance of GCs developed during natural SARS-CoV-2 infection in managing viral loads in subsequent infections. However, their ability to alleviate lung damage remains to be determined. These results may improve understanding of SARS-CoV-2-induced immune responses, resulting in better coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis, treatment, and vaccine development.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; germinal center; lung damage; viral reinfection.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Germinal center, lung damage, viral reinfection., 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, Treatment, coronavirus disease, Vaccine development, coronavirus, vaccination, SARS-COV-2 infection, Infection, memory B cells, Diagnosis, lung, virus, Reinfection, Seroconversion, Viral load, protective immunity, humans, immune responses, clade, Diffuse alveolar damage, macaque, respiratory tract, antibody-secreting cell, macaques, Combination, acute respiratory syndrome, tissue, subsequent infections, replicating virus, pathogen invasion, gcs, protective humoral immunity, highlight, IMPROVE, resulting, elicit, reduction in, alleviate, Germinal, 【제목키워드】 protection, damage, Against, Germinal,