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Research Article
Functional SARS-CoV-2-specific immune memory persists after mild COVID-19
Marion Pepper
Department of Immunology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7278-0147
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
The recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 virus is currently causing a global pandemic and cases continue to rise. The majority of infected individuals experience mildly symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but it is unknown whether this can induce persistent immune memory that might contribute to herd immunity. Thus, we performed a longitudinal assessment of individuals recovered from mildly symptomatic COVID-19 to determine if they develop and sustain immunological memory against the virus. We found that recovered individuals developed SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibody and neutralizing plasma, as well as virus-specific memory B and T cells that not only persisted, but in some cases increased numerically over three months following symptom onset. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2-specific memory lymphocytes exhibited characteristics associated with potent antiviral immunity: memory T cells secreted IFN-γ and expanded upon antigen re-encounter, while memory B cells expressed receptors capable of neutralizing virus when expressed as antibodies. These findings demonstrate that mild COVID-19 elicits memory lymphocytes that persist and display functional hallmarks associated with antiviral protective immunity.
Keywords
SARS-CoV-2, lymphocytes, immunology, IFN-γ
Figure 1
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Due to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. However, the manuscript can be downloaded and accessed as a PDF.
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- PepperSI200810.pdf
Supplementary Table 1
- FigS1.png
Extended Data Figure 1. Healthy controls do not have SARS-CoV-2 RBD or spike-specific antibodies.
- FigS2.png
Extended Data Figure 2. PBMC innate populations in CoV2+ and HC individuals are not different at Visit 1.
- FigS3.png
Extended Data Figure 3. Bulk PBMC T Cells return to immune quiescence by Visit 1.
- FigS4.png
Extended Data Figure 4. PBMC B Cell and antibody response at two memory time points.
- FigS5.png
Extended Data Figure 5. Detecting SARS-CoV-2 RBD-specific B cells in PBMCs.
- FigS6.png
Extended Data Figure 6. Bulk CD4 and CD8+ T cell cytokines expression.
- FigS7.png
Extended Data Figure 7. Generation of neutralizing antibodies by RBD-specific MBCs.
- TableS1.png
Study cohort characteristics
- TableS2.png
Amino acid sequence of monoclonal antibody variable regions.
Ahmed Tofik
commented on 25 August, 2020
Surprise! That is good news nice to hear Really appreciate it ihope Bonappetite for everyone's Thankyou!!!
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research Article
Functional SARS-CoV-2-specific immune memory persists after mild COVID-19
Marion Pepper
Department of Immunology, University of Washington School of Medicine
Corresponding Author
ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7278-0147
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 13 Aug, 2020
Community comments: 1
Metrics
Comments: 1
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
The recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 virus is currently causing a global pandemic and cases continue to rise. The majority of infected individuals experience mildly symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but it is unknown whether this can induce persistent immune memory that might contribute to herd immunity. Thus, we performed a longitudinal assessment of individuals recovered from mildly symptomatic COVID-19 to determine if they develop and sustain immunological memory against the virus. We found that recovered individuals developed SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibody and neutralizing plasma, as well as virus-specific memory B and T cells that not only persisted, but in some cases increased numerically over three months following symptom onset. Furthermore, the SARS-CoV-2-specific memory lymphocytes exhibited characteristics associated with potent antiviral immunity: memory T cells secreted IFN-γ and expanded upon antigen re-encounter, while memory B cells expressed receptors capable of neutralizing virus when expressed as antibodies. These findings demonstrate that mild COVID-19 elicits memory lymphocytes that persist and display functional hallmarks associated with antiviral protective immunity.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Due to technical limitations, full-text HTML conversion of this manuscript could not be completed. However, the manuscript can be downloaded and accessed as a PDF.
Ahmed Tofik
commented on 25 August, 2020
Surprise! That is good news nice to hear Really appreciate it ihope Bonappetite for everyone's Thankyou!!!