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Rise in broadly cross-reactive adaptive immunity against human β-coronaviruses in MERS-recovered patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors :
Kim SH
Kim Y
Jeon S
Park U
Kang JI
Jeon K
Kim HR
Oh S
Rhee JY
Choi JP
Park WB
Park SW
Yang JS
Lee JY
Kang J
Shin HS
Kim Y
Kim S
Kim YS
Lim DG
Cho NH
Source :
Science advances [Sci Adv] 2024 Mar; Vol. 10 (9), pp. eadk6425. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Feb 28.
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

To develop a universal coronavirus (CoV) vaccine, long-term immunity against multiple CoVs, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, and future CoV strains, is crucial. Following the 2015 Korean MERS outbreak, we conducted a long-term follow-up study and found that although neutralizing antibodies and memory T cells against MERS-CoV declined over 5 years, some recovered patients exhibited increased antibody levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. This likely resulted from cross-reactive immunity induced by SARS-CoV-2 vaccines or infections. A significant correlation in antibody responses across various CoVs indicates shared immunogenic epitopes. Two epitopes-the spike protein's stem helix and intracellular domain-were highly immunogenic after MERS-CoV infection and after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination or infection. In addition, memory T cell responses, especially polyfunctional CD4 <superscript>+</superscript> T cells, were enhanced during the pandemic, correlating significantly with MERS-CoV spike-specific antibodies and neutralizing activity. Therefore, incorporating these cross-reactive and immunogenic epitopes into pan-CoV vaccine formulations may facilitate effective vaccine development.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2375-2548
Volume :
10
Issue :
9
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Science advances
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
38416834
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adk6425