T Cell Responses in Pregnant Women Who Received mRNA-Based Vaccination to Prevent COVID-19 Revealed Unknown Exposure to the Natural Infection and Numerous SARS-CoV-2-Specific CD4- CD8- Double Negative T Cells and Regulatory T Cells

We studied T-cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 in 19 pregnant subjects at different gestational weeks who received three doses of mRNA-based vaccination to prevent COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 peptide pools were used for T-cell recognition studies: peptides were 15 amino acids long and had previously been defined in COVID-19-convalescent subjects. T-cell activation was evaluated with the AIM assay. Most subjects showed coordinated, spike-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses and the development of T cell memory. Non-spike-specific T cells in subjects who were not aware of previous COVID-19 infection suggested a prior undetected, asymptomatic infection. CD4- CD8- double negative (DN) T cells were numerous, of which a percentage was specific for SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides. Regulatory T cells (Treg), both spike- and non-spike-specific, were also greatly expanded. Two Treg populations were defined: a population differentiated from naïve T cells, and pTreg, reverting from pro-inflammatory T cells. The Treg cells expressed CCR6, suggesting homing to the endometrium and vaginal epithelial cells. The pregnant women responded to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. Asymptomatic COVID-19 was revealed by the T cell response to the non-spike peptides. The numerous DN T cells and Treg pointed our attention to new aspects of the adaptive immune response in vaccine recipients.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:25

Enthalten in:

International journal of molecular sciences - 25(2024), 4 vom: 07. Feb.

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Chambers, Christina D [VerfasserIn]
Song, Jaeyoon [VerfasserIn]
da Silva Antunes, Ricardo [VerfasserIn]
Sette, Alessandro [VerfasserIn]
Franco, Alessandra [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Antibodies, Viral
CD4- CD8- double negative (DN) T cells
COVID-19 Vaccines
Immune regulation
Journal Article
Natural COVID-19 infection
Peptides
Regulatory T cells
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in pregnancy

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 26.02.2024

Date Revised 27.02.2024

published: Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.3390/ijms25042031

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM368866904