1区 · 医学
Article
作者: Peter, Andreas ; Kaiser, Philipp D ; Kowalewski, Daniel J ; Wacker, Marcel ; Walz, Juliane S ; Graf, Michael ; Märklin, Melanie ; Becker, Matthias ; Rabsteyn, Armin ; Preuß, Beate ; Schneiderhan-Marra, Nicole ; Lübke, Maren ; Salih, Helmut R ; Jäger, Elke ; Karbach, Julia ; Bauer, Jens ; Strengert, Monika ; Klein, Reinhild ; Kohlbacher, Oliver ; Maringer, Yacine ; Rachfalski, David ; Joos, Thomas O ; Fehr, Michael ; Rothbauer, Ulrich ; Rammensee, Hans-Georg ; Bilich, Tatjana ; Stevanović, Stefan ; Stos-Zweifel, Vlatka ; Rieth, Jonas ; Roerden, Malte ; Gruber, Lena-Christin ; Bakchoul, Tamam ; Hörber, Sebastian ; Junker, Daniel ; Mirakaj, Valbona ; Nelde, Annika ; Traenkle, Bjoern ; Krause, Gérard ; Templin, Markus F ; Gouttefangeas, Cécile ; Hagelstein, Ilona ; Heitmann, Jonas S
T cell immunity is central for the control of viral infections. To characterize T cell immunity, but also for the development of vaccines, identification of exact viral T cell epitopes is fundamental. Here we identify and characterize multiple dominant and subdominant SARS-CoV-2 HLA class I and HLA-DR peptides as potential T cell epitopes in COVID-19 convalescent and unexposed individuals. SARS-CoV-2-specific peptides enabled detection of post-infectious T cell immunity, even in seronegative convalescent individuals. Cross-reactive SARS-CoV-2 peptides revealed pre-existing T cell responses in 81% of unexposed individuals and validated similarity with common cold coronaviruses, providing a functional basis for heterologous immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Diversity of SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses was associated with mild symptoms of COVID-19, providing evidence that immunity requires recognition of multiple epitopes. Together, the proposed SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes enable identification of heterologous and post-infectious T cell immunity and facilitate development of diagnostic, preventive and therapeutic measures for COVID-19.