SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell memory is sustained in COVID-19 convalescent patients for 10 months with successful development of stem cell-like memory T cells

  1. Jae Hyung Jung
  2. Min-Seok Rha
  3. Moa Sa
  4. Hee Kyoung Choi
  5. Ji Hoon Jeon
  6. Hyeri Seok
  7. Dae Won Park
  8. Su-Hyung Park
  9. Hye Won Jeong
  10. Won Suk Choi
  11. Eui-Cheol Shin

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Abstract

Memory T cells contribute to rapid viral clearance during re-infection, but the longevity and differentiation of SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cells remain unclear. Here we conduct ex vivo assays to evaluate SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cell responses in COVID-19 convalescent patients up to 317 days post-symptom onset (DPSO), and find that memory T cell responses are maintained during the study period regardless of the severity of COVID-19. In particular, we observe sustained polyfunctionality and proliferation capacity of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells. Among SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4 + and CD8 + T cells detected by activation-induced markers, the proportion of stem cell-like memory T (T SCM ) cells is increased, peaking at approximately 120 DPSO. Development of T SCM cells is confirmed by SARS-CoV-2-specific MHC-I multimer staining. Considering the self-renewal capacity and multipotency of T SCM cells, our data suggest that SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells are long-lasting after recovery from COVID-19, thus support the feasibility of effective vaccination programs as a measure for COVID-19 control.

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  1. Version published to 10.1038/s41467-021-24377-1
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.04.21252658: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: This study was reviewed and approved by the institutional review board of all participating institutions and conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
    Consent: Informed consent was obtained from all donors and patients.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Plates were washed with 0.05% Tween-PBS (Junsei Chemical) and incubated with 0.25 μg/mL biotinylated anti-human monoclonal IFN-γ antibody (clone 7-B6-1, Mabtech) for 2 hours at RT.
    anti-human monoclonal IFN-γ
    suggested: None
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    Multi-color flow cytometry was performed using an LSR II instrument (BD Biosciences) and the data analyzed in FlowJo software (FlowJo LLC).
    FlowJo
    suggested: (FlowJo, RRID:SCR_008520)
    Statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism version 9 for Windows (GraphPad Software).
    GraphPad Prism
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)
    GraphPad
    suggested: (GraphPad Prism, RRID:SCR_002798)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: Please consider improving the rainbow (“jet”) colormap(s) used on pages 24, 25, 26 and 23. At least one figure is not accessible to readers with colorblindness and/or is not true to the data, i.e. not perceptually uniform.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.04.21252658v2 on medRxiv
  4. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.04.21252658v1 on medRxiv