Frontiers in Immunology (Jan 2022)

Exosomes Recovered From the Plasma of COVID-19 Patients Expose SARS-CoV-2 Spike-Derived Fragments and Contribute to the Adaptive Immune Response

  • Elisa Pesce,
  • Nicola Manfrini,
  • Nicola Manfrini,
  • Chiara Cordiglieri,
  • Spartaco Santi,
  • Spartaco Santi,
  • Alessandra Bandera,
  • Alessandra Bandera,
  • Alessandra Bandera,
  • Andrea Gobbini,
  • Paola Gruarin,
  • Andrea Favalli,
  • Mauro Bombaci,
  • Alessandro Cuomo,
  • Federica Collino,
  • Federica Collino,
  • Giulia Cricrì,
  • Giulia Cricrì,
  • Riccardo Ungaro,
  • Andrea Lombardi,
  • Andrea Lombardi,
  • Davide Mangioni,
  • Antonio Muscatello,
  • Stefano Aliberti,
  • Stefano Aliberti,
  • Francesco Blasi,
  • Francesco Blasi,
  • Andrea Gori,
  • Andrea Gori,
  • Andrea Gori,
  • Sergio Abrignani,
  • Sergio Abrignani,
  • Raffaele De Francesco,
  • Raffaele De Francesco,
  • Stefano Biffo,
  • Stefano Biffo,
  • Renata Grifantini

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.785941
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12

Abstract

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by beta-coronavirus severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that has rapidly spread across the globe starting from February 2020. It is well established that during viral infection, extracellular vesicles become delivery/presenting vectors of viral material. However, studies regarding extracellular vesicle function in COVID-19 pathology are still scanty. Here, we performed a comparative study on exosomes recovered from the plasma of either MILD or SEVERE COVID-19 patients. We show that although both types of vesicles efficiently display SARS-CoV-2 spike-derived peptides and carry immunomodulatory molecules, only those of MILD patients are capable of efficiently regulating antigen-specific CD4+ T-cell responses. Accordingly, by mass spectrometry, we show that the proteome of exosomes of MILD patients correlates with a proper functioning of the immune system, while that of SEVERE patients is associated with increased and chronic inflammation. Overall, we show that exosomes recovered from the plasma of COVID-19 patients possess SARS-CoV-2-derived protein material, have an active role in enhancing the immune response, and possess a cargo that reflects the pathological state of patients in the acute phase of the disease.

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