SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination elicits a robust and persistent T follicular helper cell response in humans
Authors:
- Mudd, Philip A.
- Minervina, Anastasia A.
- Pogorelyy, Mikhail V.
- Turner, Jackson S.
- Kim, Wooseob
- Kalaidina, Elizaveta
- Petersen, Jan
- Schmitz, Aaron J.
- Lei, Tingting
- Haile, Alem
- Kirk, Allison M.
- Mettelman, Robert C.
- Crawford, Jeremy Chase
- Nguyen, Thi H.O.
- Rowntree, Louise C.
- Rosati, Elisa
- Richards, Katherine A.
- Sant, Andrea J.
- Klebert, Michael K.
- Suessen, Teresa
- Middleton, William D.
- Wolf, Joshua
- Teefey, Sharlene A.
- O’Halloran, Jane A.
- Presti, Rachel M.
- Kedzierska, Katherine
- Rossjohn, Jamie
- Thomas, Paul G.
- Ellebedy, Ali H.
- Estepp, Jeremie H.
- Schultz-Cherry, Stacey
- McGargill, Maureen A.
- Gaur, Aditya
- Hoffman, James
- Mori, Motomi
- Tang, Li
- Tuomanen, Elaine
- Webby, Richard
- Hayden, Randall T.
- Hakim, Hana
- Hijano, Diego R.
- Allison, Kim J.
- Allen, E. Kaitlynn
- Bajracharya, Resha
- Awad, Walid
- Van de Velde, Lee-Ann
- Clark, Brandi L.
- Wilson, Taylor L.
- Souquette, Aisha
- Castellaw, Ashley
- Dallas, Ronald H.
- Gowen, Ashleigh
- Fabrizio, Thomas P.
- Lin, Chun-Yang
- Brice, David C.
- Cherry, Sean
- Roubidoux, Ericka Kirkpatrick
- Cortez, Valerie
- Freiden, Pamela
- Wohlgemuth, Nicholas
- Whitt, Kendall
Details:
Cell, Volume 185, Issue 4, 2022-02-17
Article Link: Click here
SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines induce robust anti-spike (S) antibody and CD4+ T cell responses. It is not yet clear whether vaccine-induced follicular helper CD4+ T (TFH) cell responses contribute to this outstanding immunogenicity. Using fine-needle aspiration of draining axillary lymph nodes from individuals who received the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine, we evaluated the T cell receptor sequences and phenotype of lymph node TFH. Mining of the responding TFH T cell receptor repertoire revealed a strikingly immunodominant HLA-DPB1∗04-restricted response to S167–180 in individuals with this allele, which is among the most common HLA alleles in humans. Paired blood and lymph node specimens show that while circulating S-specific TFH cells peak one week after the second immunization, S-specific TFH persist at nearly constant frequencies for at least six months. Collectively, our results underscore the key role that robust TFH cell responses play in establishing long-term immunity by this efficacious human vaccine.