Omicron infection-associated T- and B-cell immunity in antigen-naive and triple-COVID-19-vaccinated individuals

Frontiers in Immunology

Immunology

Metodi V. Stankov¹  Gema Morillas Ramos¹  Laura Hetzel¹  Anne Cossmann¹  Georg M. N. Behrens²  Ralf Lichtinghagen³  Ivan Odak⁴  Christiane Ritter⁴  Stefanie Willenzon⁴  Miriam Köhler⁴  Michaela Friedrichsen⁴  Swantje I. Hammerschmidt⁴  Anika Janssen⁴  Anja Schimrock⁴  Günter Bernhardt⁴  Joana Barros-Martins⁴  Inga Ravens⁴  Berislav Bošnjak⁴  Jasmin Ristenpart⁴  Reinhold Förster⁵ 

[1] Department for Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;Department for Rheumatology and Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany;Centre for Individualized Infection Medicine (CiiM), Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;Department of Clinical Chemistry, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;Institute of Immunology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hannover-Braunschweig, Hannover, Germany;Cluster of Excellence RESIST (EXC 2155), Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany;

关键词: SARS-CoV-2;    COVID-19;    Omicron variants;    Omicron infection;    breakthrough infection;    heterologous vaccination;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fimmu.2023.1166589

 received in 2023-02-15, accepted in 2023-04-06,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Since early 2022, various Omicron variants have dominated the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in most countries. All Omicron variants are B-cell immune escape variants, and antibodies induced by first-generation COVID-19 vaccines or by infection with earlier SARS-CoV-2 variants largely fail to protect individuals from Omicron infection. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Omicron infections in triple-vaccinated and in antigen-naive individuals. We show that Omicron breakthrough infections occurring 2–3.5 months after the third vaccination restore B-cell and T-cell immune responses to levels similar to or higher than those measured 14 days after the third vaccination, including the induction of Omicron-neutralizing antibodies. Antibody responses in breakthrough infection derived mostly from cross-reacting B cells, initially induced by vaccination, whereas Omicron infections in antigen-naive individuals primarily generated B cells binding to the Omicron but not the Wuhan spike protein. Although antigen-naive individuals mounted considerable T-cell responses after infection, B-cell responses were low, and neutralizing antibodies were frequently below the limit of detection. In summary, the detection of Omicron-associated B-cell responses in primed and in antigen-naive individuals supports the application of Omicron-adapted COVID-19 vaccines, but calls into question their suitability if they also contain/encode antigens of the original Wuhan virus.

【 授权许可】

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Copyright © 2023 Barros-Martins, Hammerschmidt, Morillas Ramos, Cossmann, Hetzel, Odak, Köhler, Stankov, Ritter, Friedrichsen, Ravens, Schimrock, Ristenpart, Janssen, Willenzon, Bernhardt, Lichtinghagen, Bošnjak, Behrens and Förster