Adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 persist in the pharyngeal lymphoid tissue of children

Autor: Qin Xu, Pedro Milanez-Almeida, Andrew J. Martins, Andrea J. Radtke, Kenneth B. Hoehn, Cihan Oguz, Jinguo Chen, Can Liu, Juanjie Tang, Gabrielle Grubbs, Sydney Stein, Sabrina Ramelli, Juraj Kabat, Hengameh Behzadpour, Maria Karkanitsa, Jacquelyn Spathies, Heather Kalish, Lela Kardava, Martha Kirby, Foo Cheung, Silvia Preite, Patrick C. Duncker, Moses M. Kitakule, Nahir Romero, Diego Preciado, Lyuba Gitman, Galina Koroleva, Grace Smith, Arthur Shaffer, Ian T. McBain, Peter J. McGuire, Stefania Pittaluga, Ronald N. Germain, Richard Apps, Daniella M. Schwartz, Kaitlyn Sadtler, Susan Moir, Daniel S. Chertow, Steven H. Kleinstein, Surender Khurana, John S. Tsang, Pamela Mudd, Pamela L. Schwartzberg, Kalpana Manthiram
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature immunology. 24(1)
ISSN: 1529-2916
Popis: Most studies of adaptive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection focus on peripheral blood, which may not fully reflect immune responses at the site of infection. Using samples from 110 children undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic, we identified 24 samples with evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, including neutralizing antibodies in serum and SARS-CoV-2-specific germinal center and memory B cells in the tonsils and adenoids. Single-cell B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing indicated virus-specific BCRs were class-switched and somatically hypermutated, with overlapping clones in the two tissues. Expanded T cell clonotypes were found in tonsils, adenoids and blood post-COVID-19, some with CDR3 sequences identical to previously reported SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cell receptors (TCRs). Pharyngeal tissues from COVID-19-convalescent children showed persistent expansion of germinal center and antiviral lymphocyte populations associated with interferon (IFN)-γ-type responses, particularly in the adenoids, and viral RNA in both tissues. Our results provide evidence for persistent tissue-specific immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract of children after infection.
Databáze: OpenAIRE