Abstract
Long-term memory T cells have not been well analyzed in individuals vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine although analysis of these T cells is necessary to evaluate vaccine efficacy. Here, investigate HLA-A*24:02-restricted CD8 + T cells specific for SARS-CoV-2-derived spike (S) epitopes in individuals immunized with the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine. T cells specific for the S-QI9 and S-NF9 immunodominant epitopes have higher ability to recognize epitopes than other epitope-specific T cell populations. This higher recognition of S-QI9-specific T cells is due to the high stability of the S-QI9 peptide for HLA-A*24:02, whereas that of S-NF9-specific T cells results from the high affinity of T cell receptor. T cells specific for S-QI9 and S-NF9 are detectable >30 weeks after the second vaccination, indicating that the vaccine induces long-term memory T cells specific for these epitopes. Because the S-QI9 epitope is highly conserved among SARS-CoV-2 variants, S-QI9-specific T cells may help prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 variants.
【초록키워드】 Efficacy, Vaccine, COVID-19 vaccine, peptide, CD8, variants, Epitopes, T cell, SARS-CoV-2 variants, HLA-A*24:02, epitope, T cell receptor, memory T cell, BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, Analysis, long-term memory, second vaccination, individual, help, high affinity, high stability, immunodominant epitope, populations, Prevent, immunized, analyzed, evaluate, conserved, detectable, recognize, induce, the vaccine, infection with SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, CD8+ T cell, BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, long-term memory, individual,