title: Memory T cell responses targeting the SARS coronavirus persist up to 11 years post-infection.
abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a highly contagious infectious disease which first emerged in late 2002, caused by a then novel human coronavirus, SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The virus is believed to have originated from bats and transmitted to human through intermediate animals such as civet cats. The re-emergence of SARS-CoV remains a valid concern due to the continual persistence of zoonotic SARS-CoVs and SARS-like CoVs (SL-CoVs) in bat reservoirs. In this study, the screening for the presence of SARS-specific T cells in a cohort of three SARS-recovered individuals at 9 and 11 years post-infection was carried out, and all memory T cell responses detected target the SARS-CoV structural proteins. Two CD8(+) T cell responses targeting the SARS-CoV membrane (M) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins were characterized by determining their HLA restriction and minimal T cell epitope regions. Furthermore, these responses were found to persist up to 11 years post-infection. An absence of cross-reactivity of these CD8(+) T cell responses against the newly-emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was also demonstrated. The knowledge of the persistence of SARS-specific celullar immunity targeting the viral structural proteins in SARS-recovered individuals is important in the design and development of SARS vaccines, which are currently unavailable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System (NUHS), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Oi-Wing
authors.initials: OW
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.affiliation: Program Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chia
authors.affiliation: Program Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore.
authors.forename: Anthony T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System (NUHS), National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Ramesh S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Jadi
authors.affiliation: Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hoe Nam
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.affiliation: Program Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore; Viral Hepatitis Laboratory, Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Agency of Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertoletti
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System (NUHS), National University of Singapore, Singapore; Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), Singapore. Electronic address: Yee_Joo_TAN@NUHS.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Yee-Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D000086862:Coronavirus M Proteins; D000086462:Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins; D003429:Cross Reactions; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000086862:Coronavirus M Proteins; D000086462:Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; C000706237:M protein, SARS-CoV; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D014763:Viral Matrix Proteins
keywords: Epitope; Immunity; SARS-CoV; T cell