Neutralizing antibody and CD8+ T cell responses following BA.4/5 bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccination in adults with and without prior exposure to SARS-CoV-2

oleh: Alexander P. Underwood, Alexander P. Underwood, Christina Sølund, Christina Sølund, Kivin Jacobsen, Alekxander Binderup, Alekxander Binderup, Carlota Fernandez-Antunez, Carlota Fernandez-Antunez, Lotte S. Mikkelsen, Lotte S. Mikkelsen, Dilek Inekci, Signe Lysemose Villadsen, Signe Lysemose Villadsen, Jose A. S. Castruita, Mette Pinholt, Ulrik Fahnøe, Ulrik Fahnøe, Santseharay Ramirez, Santseharay Ramirez, Liselotte Brix, Nina Weis, Nina Weis, Jens Bukh, Jens Bukh

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-03-01

Deskripsi

As severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants continue to emerge, it is important to characterize immune responses against variants which can inform on protection efficacies following booster vaccination. In this study, neutralizing breadth and antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses were analyzed in both infection-naïve and infection-experienced individuals following administration of a booster bivalent Wuhan-Hu-1+BA.4/5 Comirnaty® mRNA vaccine. Significantly higher neutralizing titers were found after this vaccination compared to the pre-third booster vaccination time point. Further, neutralizing breadth to omicron variants, including BA.1, BA.2, BA.5, BQ.1 and XBB.1, was found to be boosted following bivalent vaccination. SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8+ T cells were identified, but with no evidence that frequencies were increased following booster vaccinations. Spike protein-specific CD8+ T cells were the only responses detected after vaccination and non-spike-specific CD8+ T cells were only detected after infection. Both spike-specific and non-spike-specific CD8+ T cells were found at much lower frequencies than CD8+ T cells specific to cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and influenza (Flu). Taken together, these results show that the bivalent Wuhan-Hu-1+BA.4/5 Comirnaty® mRNA vaccine boosted the breadth of neutralization to newer SARS-CoV-2 variants and that vaccination is able to induce spike protein-specific CD8+ T cell responses, which are maintained longitudinally.