Project description:Clonal expansion is a hallmark of adaptive immunity, and appears to be driven by high antigen-specific receptor avidity as shown by research using murine in vivo models. In humans, however, the functionality of antigen-specific T cell clonotypes that are recruited into primary and recall immune responses remains surprisingly elusive. In this regard, the vaccination program during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represented a unique research opportunity by provision of highly standardized cohorts of healthy human individuals receiving immunizations against a previously unseen antigen. Here, we analyzed 30 HLA-typed individuals before, short-term and long-term after three mRNA vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2. We performed an in-depth characterization of the magnitude, phenotype, clonal composition and functionality of antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses by ELISPOT, flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing, including CITE seq of 130 surface antigens and 16 T cell epitope specificities. 89 T cell receptors (TCRs) covering three complete epitope-specific repertoires were re-expressed by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated orthotopic TCR replacement and tested for their avidity. TCR repertoires underwent continuous tailoring, with high TCR avidity being linked to both clonal persistence and expansion. However, epitope-specific repertoires also maintained diversity by concomitant contraction and new emergence of functional T cell clones over time. These data on the phenotype and clonal selection within human antigen-specific T cell responses instruct our understanding of human T cell biology and may guide the development of enhanced or novel vaccines.
Project description:Clonal expansion is a hallmark of adaptive immunity, and appears to be driven by high antigen-specific receptor avidity as shown by research using murine in vivo models. In humans, however, the functionality of antigen-specific T cell clonotypes that are recruited into primary and recall immune responses remains surprisingly elusive. In this regard, the vaccination program during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represented a unique research opportunity by provision of highly standardized cohorts of healthy human individuals receiving immunizations against a previously unseen antigen. Here, we analyzed 30 HLA-typed individuals before, short-term and long-term after three mRNA vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2. We performed an in-depth characterization of the magnitude, phenotype, clonal composition and functionality of antigen-specific CD8 T cell responses by ELISPOT, flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing, including CITE seq of 130 surface antigens and 16 T cell epitope specificities. 89 T cell receptors (TCRs) covering three complete epitope-specific repertoires were re-expressed by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated orthotopic TCR replacement and tested for their avidity. TCR repertoires underwent continuous tailoring, with high TCR avidity being linked to both clonal persistence and expansion. However, epitope-specific repertoires also maintained diversity by concomitant contraction and new emergence of functional T cell clones over time. These data on the phenotype and clonal selection within human antigen-specific T cell responses instruct our understanding of human T cell biology and may guide the development of enhanced or novel vaccines.
Project description:Effective presentation of antigens by HLA class I molecules to CD8+ T cells is required for viral elimination and generation of long-term immunological memory. In this study, we applied a single-cell, multi-omic technology to generate the first unified ex vivo characterization of the CD8+ T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 across 4 major HLA class I alleles. We found that HLA genotype conditions key features of epitope specificity, TCR a/b sequence diversity, and the utilization of pre-existing SARS-CoV-2 reactive memory T cell pools. Single-cell transcriptomics revealed functionally diverse T cell phenotypes of SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells, associated with both disease stage and epitope specificity. Our results show that HLA variations significantly influence the CD8+ T cell repertoire shape and utilization of immune recall upon SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Project description:The on-going COVID-19 pandemic requires a deeper understanding of the long-term antibody responses that persist following SARS-CoV-2 infection. To that end, we determined epitope-specific IgG antibody responses in COVID-19 convalescent sera collected at 5 months post-diagnosis and compared that to sera from naïve individuals. Each serum sample was reacted with a high-density peptide microarray representing the complete proteome of SARS-CoV-2 as 15 mer peptides with 11 amino acid overlap and homologs of spike glycoprotein, nucleoprotein, membrane protein, and envelope small membrane protein from related human coronaviruses. Binding signatures were compared between COVID-19 convalescent patients and naïve individuals using the web service tool EPIphany.
Project description:A recombinant SARS-CoV lacking the envelope (E) protein is attenuated in vivo. Here we report that E protein PDZ-binding motif (PBM), a domain involved in protein-protein interactions, is a major virulence determinant in vivo. Elimination of SARS-CoV E protein PBM by using reverse genetics led to attenuated viruses (SARS-CoV-mutPBM) and to a reduction in the deleterious exacerbate immune response triggered during infection with the parental virus (SARS-CoV-wt). Cellular protein syntenin bound E protein PBM during SARS-CoV infection. Syntenin activates p38 MAPK leading to overexpression of inflammatory cytokines, and we have shown that active p38 MAPK was reduced in lungs of mice infected with SARS-CoVs lacking E protein PBM (SARS-CoV-mutPBM) as compared with the parental virus (SARS-CoV-wt), leading to a decreased expression of inflammatory cytokines and to viral attenuation. Therefore, E protein PBM is a virulence factor that activates pathogenic immune response most likely by using syntenin as a mediator of p38 MAPK induced inflammation. Three biological replicates were independently hybridized (one channel per slide) for each sample type (SARS-CoV-wt, SARS-CoV-mutPBM, Mock). Slides were Sure Print G3 Agilent 8x60K Mouse (G4852A-028005)
Project description:We generated LNP-mRNAs specifically encoding wildtype (WT), B.1.351 and B.1.617 SARS-CoV-2 spikes, and systematically studied their immune responses. Single cell BCR-seq and TCR-seq unveiled repertoire diversity and clonal expansions in vaccinated animals.
Project description:For the assessment of host response dynamics to SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 infections in human airway epithelial cells at ambient temperature corresponding to the upper or lower respiratory tract. We performed a temporal transcriptome analysis on human airway epithelial cell (hAEC) cultures infected with SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, as well as uninfected hAEC cultures, incubated either at 33°C or 37°C. hAEC cultures were harvested at 24, 48 72, 96 hpi and processed for Bulk RNA Barcoding and sequencing (BRB-seq), which allows a rapid and sensitive genome-wide transcriptomic analysis in a highly multiplexed manner. Transcriptome data was obtained from a total of 7 biological donors for pairwise comparisons of SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-2 virus-infected to unexposed hAEC cultures at respective time points and temperatures.
Project description:Recent exposure to seasonal coronaviruses (sCoVs) may stimulate cross-reactive antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2. Previous studies have shown divergent results regarding protective or damaging immunity induced by prior exposure to sCoVs. It is still unknown whether pre-existing humoral immunity may play a role in the vaccine-induced neutralization and antibody responses. In this study, we collected 36 paired sera in healthy volunteers before and after immunization with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and analyzed the distribution and intensity of pre-existing antibody responses at the epitope level before vaccine immunization, as well as the relationship between pre-existing sCoVs immunity and vaccine-induced neutralization.
Project description:Recent exposure to seasonal coronaviruses (sCoVs) may stimulate cross-reactive antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2. Previous studies have shown divergent results regarding protective or damaging immunity induced by prior exposure to sCoVs. It is still unknown whether pre-existing humoral immunity may play a role in the vaccine-induced neutralization and antibody responses. In this study, we collected 36 paired sera in healthy volunteers before and after immunization with inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, and analyzed the distribution and intensity of pre-existing antibody responses at the epitope level before vaccine immunization, as well as the relationship between pre-existing sCoVs immunity and vaccine-induced neutralization.