SARS-CoV-2 infection induces robust germinal center CD4 T follicular helper cell responses in rhesus macaques

Autor: Pamela Kozlowsk, Justin C Smith, Brian A. Schmidt, Rebecca L. Sammak, Dennis J. Hartigan-O'Connor, JoAnn Yee, Stephen J. McSorley, John Morrison, Jennifer Watanabe, Jodie Usachenko, Joseph Dutra, Smita S. Iyer, Alessandro Sette, Ramya Immareddy, Graham Simmons, J. Rachel Reader, Katherine J. Olstad, Nancy Nguyen, Nam K. Tran, Jesse D. Deere, Sergej Franz, Kourtney D. Weaver, Timothy D. Carroll, Daniela Weiskopf, Zhong-Min Ma, Yashavanth Shaan Lakshmanappa, Koen K. A. Van Rompay, Mars Stone, Jamin Roh, Christopher J. Miller, Sonny R. Elizaldi, Michael P. Busch
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Popis: CD4 T follicular helper (Tfh) cells are important for the generation of durable and specific humoral protection against viral infections. The degree to which SARS-CoV-2 infection generates Tfh cells and stimulates the germinal center response is an important question as we investigate vaccine options for the current pandemic. Here we report that SARS-CoV-2 infection resulted in transient accumulation of pro-inflammatory monocytes and proliferating Tfh cells with a Th1 profile in peripheral blood. CD4 helper cell responses were skewed predominantly toward a Th1 response in blood, lung, and lymph nodes. We observed the generation of germinal center Tfh cells specific for the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins, and a corresponding early appearance of antiviral serum IgG antibodies. Our data suggest that a vaccine promoting Th1-type Tfh responses that target the S protein may lead to protective immunity.
Databáze: OpenAIRE