SARS-CoV-2 infection induces robust mucosal antibody responses in the upper respiratory tract
Alba Escalera,
Amaya Rojo-Fernandez,
Alexander Rombauts,
Gabriela Abelenda-Alonso,
Jordi Carratalà,
Adolfo García-Sastre,
Teresa Aydillo
Affiliations
Alba Escalera
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Amaya Rojo-Fernandez
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Alexander Rombauts
Department of Infectious Diseases, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), University of Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain
Gabriela Abelenda-Alonso
Department of Infectious Diseases, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), University of Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain; Center for Biomedical Research in Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC), Carlos III Health Institute (ISCII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Jordi Carratalà
Department of Infectious Diseases, Bellvitge University Hospital, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), University of Barcelona, L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, 08908 Barcelona, Spain; Center for Biomedical Research in Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC), Carlos III Health Institute (ISCII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Adolfo García-Sastre
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Department of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; The Icahn Genomics Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Corresponding author
Teresa Aydillo
Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Global Health and Emerging Pathogens Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA; Corresponding author
Summary: Despite multiple research efforts to characterize coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in humans, there is no clear data on the specific role of mucosal immunity on COVID-19 disease. Here, we longitudinally profile the antibody response against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and seasonal HCoV-OC43 S proteins in serum and nasopharyngeal swabs from COVID-19 patients. Results showed that specific antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43 S proteins can be detected in the upper respiratory tract. We found that COVID-19 patients mounted a robust mucosal antibody response against SARS-CoV-2 S with specific secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), IgA, IgG, and IgM antibody subtypes detected in the nasal swabs. Additionally, COVID-19 patients showed IgG, IgA, and sIgA responses against HCoV-OC43 S in the local mucosa, whereas no specific IgM was detected. Interestingly, mucosal antibody titers against SARS-CoV-2 peaked at day 7, whereas HCoV-OC43 titers peaked earlier at day 3 post-recruitment, suggesting an immune memory recall to conserved epitopes of beta-HCoVs in the upper respiratory tract.
