Early induction of functional SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells associates with rapid viral clearance and mild disease in COVID-19 patients
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Abstract
Virus-specific humoral and cellular immunity act synergistically to protect the host from viral infection. We interrogate the dynamic changes of virological and immunological parameters in 12 patients with symptomatic acute SARS-CoV-2 infection from disease onset to convalescence or death. We quantify SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA in the respiratory tract in parallel with antibodies and circulating T cells specific for various structural (nucleoprotein [NP], membrane [M], ORF3a, and spike) and non-structural (ORF7/8, NSP7, and NSP13) proteins. Although rapid induction and quantity of humoral responses associate with an increase in disease severity, early induction of interferon (IFN)-γ-secreting SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells is present in patients with mild disease and accelerated viral clearance. These findings provide support for the prognostic value of early functional SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells with important implications in vaccine design and immune monitoring.
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CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses play important roles in the resolution of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19, including modulating disease severity in humans and reducing viral loads in non-human primates.
“Several lines of evidence suggest that CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses play important roles in the resolution of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19,33 including modulating disease severity in humans34,35 and reducing viral loads in non-human primates.36”
From Impact of SARS-CoV-2 variants on the total CD4+ and CD8+ T cell reactivity in infected or vaccinated individuals (2021) · cites this paper as [35]
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- Authors
- Tan, A. T., Linster, M., Tan, C. W., Le Bert, N., Chia, W. N., Kunasegaran, K., Zhuang, Y., Tham, C. Y. L., Chia, A., Smith, G. J. D., Young, B., Kalimuddin, S., Low, J. G. H., Lye, D., Wang, L.-F., & Bertoletti, A.
- Affiliations
- National University of Singapore (SG)
- Tan Tock Seng Hospital (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Bertoletti, Antonio
- ORCID
- Venue
- Cell Reports
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-02
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 108728
- ISSN
- 2211-1247 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7826084
- OpenAlex
- W3123967880
- Cited by
- 740
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 89 · 2024: 85 · 2023: 154 · 2022: 228 · 2021: 144 · 2020: 5
- FWCI
- 48.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Cell Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- National University of Singapore (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Medical Research Council (COVID19RF3-0060)
- National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › SARS-CoV-2 detection and testing
- Keywords
- SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells, interferon-gamma, viral clearance, disease severity, humoral immunity, antibody response, viral load, spike protein, nucleocapsid protein, non-structural proteins, prognostic factors, vaccine design, immune monitoring
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Acute-Phase Reaction, Adult, Aged, Antibodies, Viral, Antigens, Viral, Convalescence, Humans, Immunity, Cellular, Interferon-gamma, Longitudinal Studies, Middle Aged, T-Lymphocytes, Immunity, Humoral
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