SARS-CoV-2-Specific T Cell Responses in Patients with COVID-19 and Unexposed Individuals

Min-Seok Rha; A Reum Kim; Eui-Cheol Shin

doi:10.4110/in.2021.21.e2

SARS-CoV-2-Specific T Cell Responses in Patients with COVID-19 and Unexposed Individuals

Immune Netw. 2021 Feb 17;21(1):e2. doi: 10.4110/in.2021.21.e2. eCollection 2021 Feb.

Authors

Min-Seok Rha¹, A Reum Kim¹, Eui-Cheol Shin^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea.
² The Center for Epidemic Preparedness, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 34141, Korea.

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing pandemic disease. In the current review, we describe SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell responses in acute and convalescent COVID-19 patients. We also discuss the relationships between COVID-19 severity and SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses and summarize recent reports regarding SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells in SARS-CoV-2-unexposed individuals. These T cells may be cross-reactive cells primed by previous infection with human common-cold coronaviruses. Finally, we outline SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses in the context of vaccination. A better understanding of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses is needed to develop effective vaccines and therapeutics.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; T cell.

Publication types

Review