학술논문
Adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 persist in the pharyngeal lymphoid tissue of children
Document Type
Original Paper
Author
Xu, Qin; Milanez-Almeida, Pedro; Martins, Andrew J.; Radtke, Andrea J.; Hoehn, Kenneth B.; Oguz, Cihan; Chen, Jinguo; Liu, Can; Tang, Juanjie; Grubbs, Gabrielle; Stein, Sydney; Ramelli, Sabrina; Kabat, Juraj; Behzadpour, Hengameh; Karkanitsa, Maria; Spathies, Jacquelyn; Kalish, Heather; Kardava, Lela; Kirby, Martha; Cheung, Foo; Preite, Silvia; Duncker, Patrick C.; Kitakule, Moses M.; Romero, Nahir; Preciado, Diego; Gitman, Lyuba; Koroleva, Galina; Smith, Grace; Shaffer, Arthur; McBain, Ian T.; McGuire, Peter J.; Pittaluga, Stefania; Germain, Ronald N.; Apps, Richard; Schwartz, Daniella M.; Sadtler, Kaitlyn; Moir, Susan; Chertow, Daniel S.; Kleinstein, Steven H.; Khurana, Surender; Tsang, John S.; Mudd, Pamela; Schwartzberg, Pamela L.; Manthiram, Kalpana
Source
Nature Immunology. 24(1):186-199
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
1529-2908
1529-2916
1529-2916
Abstract
Most studies of adaptive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 infection focus on peripheral blood, which may not fully reflect immune responses at the site of infection. Using samples from 110 children undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic, we identified 24 samples with evidence of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection, including neutralizing antibodies in serum and SARS-CoV-2-specific germinal center and memory B cells in the tonsils and adenoids. Single-cell B cell receptor (BCR) sequencing indicated virus-specific BCRs were class-switched and somatically hypermutated, with overlapping clones in the two tissues. Expanded T cell clonotypes were found in tonsils, adenoids and blood post-COVID-19, some with CDR3 sequences identical to previously reported SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cell receptors (TCRs). Pharyngeal tissues from COVID-19-convalescent children showed persistent expansion of germinal center and antiviral lymphocyte populations associated with interferon (IFN)-γ-type responses, particularly in the adenoids, and viral RNA in both tissues. Our results provide evidence for persistent tissue-specific immunity to SARS-CoV-2 in the upper respiratory tract of children after infection.
Manthiram and colleagues analyze the peripheral blood, tonsils and adenoids in children undergoing tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy and find evidence of continued tissue-specific immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and viral RNA persistence weeks to months after acute infection.
Manthiram and colleagues analyze the peripheral blood, tonsils and adenoids in children undergoing tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy and find evidence of continued tissue-specific immunity to SARS-CoV-2 and viral RNA persistence weeks to months after acute infection.