Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus immune responses: the role played by V gamma 9V delta 2 T cells.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV) strain. Analyses of T cell repertoires in health care workers who survived SARS-CoV infection during the 2003 outbreak revealed that their effector memory V gamma 9V delta 2 T cell populations were selectively expanded ~3 months after the onset of disease. No such expansion of their alpha beta T cell pools was detected. The expansion of the V gamma 9V delta 2 T cell population was associated with higher anti-SARS-CoV immunoglobulin G titers. In addition, in vitro experiments demonstrated that stimulated V gamma 9V delta 2 T cells display an interferon- gamma -dependent anti-SARS-CoV activity and are able to directly kill SARS-CoV-infected target cells. These findings are compatible with the possibility that V gamma 9V delta 2 T cells play a protective role during SARS.
Unit of Cellular Immunology, National Institute for Infectious Diseases Lazzaro Spallanzani, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico, Rome, Italy. poccia@inmi.it
Fabrizio
F
Poccia
Chiara
C
Agrati
Concetta
C
Castilletti
Licia
L
Bordi
Cristiana
C
Gioia
Douglas
D
Horejsh
Giuseppe
G
Ippolito
Paul K S
PK
Chan
David S C
DS
Hui
Joseph J Y
JJ
Sung
Maria Rosaria
MR
Capobianchi
Miroslav
M
Malkovsky
D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008297:Male; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000032:analysis*; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta