What are the characteristics of protective immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in the first pandemic wave? We report the earliest in vivo immune responses available to date, spanning the time of incident asymptomatic & non-severe infection: medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
We identified a type 1 interferon (IFN) response common to other acute respiratory viruses, and a cell proliferation response that discriminated SARS-CoV-2 from other acute respiratory viruses.
Remarkably, these responses peaked by the time the virus was first detected, and in some preceded virus detection.
Cell proliferation was most evident in CD8 T cells and associated with rapid expansion of SARS-CoV-2 reactive TCRs.
We found an equally rapid increase in immunoglobulin transcripts, but circulating virus-specific antibodies lagged by 1-2 weeks.
Our data support a protective role for rapid induction of type 1 IFN and CD8 T cell responses. Identifying antigenic determinants of the earliest T cell responses in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection = priority to inform development of potential universal coronavirus vaccines.
Fantastic ongoing collaboration between @UCLInfectImm @blizard_inst @ImperialInfect, @maini_lab @JccmoonMoon @dr_manisty, @ThomasTreibel @BoytonRosemary @AineMcKnight @BennyChain @Daltmann10
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