학술논문
Individual HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 Genotypes Are No Major Factors Which Determine COVID-19 Severity
Document Type
article
Author
Johannes Schetelig; Falk Heidenreich; Henning Baldauf; Sarah Trost; Bose Falk; Christian Hoßbach; Ruben Real; Axel Roers; Dirk Lindemann; Alexander Dalpke; Martin Kolditz; Katja de With; Martin Bornhäuser; Ezio E. Bonifacio; Elke Rücker-Braun; Vinzenz Lange; Jan Markert; Ralf Barth; Jan A. Hofmann; Jürgen Sauter; Stefanie N. Bernas; Alexander H. Schmidt
Source
Frontiers in Immunology, Vol 12 (2021)
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
1664-3224
Abstract
HLA molecules are key restrictive elements to present intracellular antigens at the crossroads of an effective T-cell response against SARS-CoV-2. To determine the impact of the HLA genotype on the severity of SARS-CoV-2 courses, we investigated data from 6,919 infected individuals. HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 allotypes grouped into HLA supertypes by functional or predicted structural similarities of the peptide-binding grooves did not predict COVID-19 severity. Further, we did not observe a heterozygote advantage or a benefit from HLA diplotypes with more divergent physicochemical peptide-binding properties. Finally, numbers of in silico predicted viral T-cell epitopes did not correlate with the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infections. These findings suggest that the HLA genotype is no major factor determining COVID-19 severity. Moreover, our data suggest that the spike glycoprotein alone may allow for abundant T-cell epitopes to mount robust T-cell responses not limited by the HLA genotype.