SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell longevity correlates with Th17-like phenotype
Kazutaka Terahara,
Takashi Sato,
Yu Adachi,
Keisuke Tonouchi,
Taishi Onodera,
Saya Moriyama,
Lin Sun,
Tomohiro Takano,
Ayae Nishiyama,
Ai Kawana-Tachikawa,
Tetsuro Matano,
Takayuki Matsumura,
Masaharu Shinkai,
Masanori Isogawa,
Yoshimasa Takahashi
Affiliations
Kazutaka Terahara
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Takashi Sato
Tokyo Shinagawa Hospital; Tokyo, 140-8522, Japan
Yu Adachi
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Keisuke Tonouchi
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan; Department of Life Science and Medical Bioscience, Waseda University, Tokyo, 162-8480, Japan
Taishi Onodera
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Saya Moriyama
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Lin Sun
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Tomohiro Takano
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Ayae Nishiyama
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Ai Kawana-Tachikawa
AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan
Tetsuro Matano
AIDS Research Center, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, 162-8640, Japan
Takayuki Matsumura
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan
Masaharu Shinkai
Tokyo Shinagawa Hospital; Tokyo, 140-8522, Japan
Masanori Isogawa
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan; Corresponding author
Yoshimasa Takahashi
Research Center for Drug and Vaccine Development, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo 162-8640, Japan; Corresponding author
Summary: Determinants of memory T cell longevity following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection remain unknown. In addition, phenotypes associated with memory T cell longevity, antibody titers, and disease severity are incompletely understood. Here, we longitudinally analyzed SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell and antibody responses of a unique cohort with similar numbers of mild, moderate, and severe coronavirus disease 2019 cases. The half-lives of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were longer than those of antibody titers and showed no clear correlation with disease severity. When CD4+ T cells were divided into Th1-, Th2-, Th17-, and Tfh-like subsets, the Th17-like subset showed a longer half-life than other subsets, indicating that Th17-like cells are most closely correlated with T cell longevity. In contrast, Th2- and Tfh-like T cells were more closely correlated with antibody titers than other subsets. These results suggest that distinct CD4+ T cell subsets are associated with longevity and antibody responses.
