SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 T cells from people with long COVID establish and maintain effector phenotype and key TCR signatures over 2 years.

Long COVID occurs in a small but important minority of patients following COVID-19, reducing quality of life and contributing to healthcare burden. Although research into underlying mechanisms is evolving, immunity is understudied. SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses are of key importance for viral clearance and COVID-19 recovery.

Robust and prototypical immune responses toward influenza vaccines in the high-risk group of Indigenous Australians.

Morbidity and mortality rates from seasonal and pandemic influenza occur disproportionately in high-risk groups, including Indigenous people globally. Although vaccination against influenza is recommended for those most at risk, studies on immune responses elicited by seasonal vaccines in Indigenous populations are largely missing, with no data available for Indigenous Australians and only one report published on antibody responses in Indigenous Canadians. We recruited 78 Indigenous and 84 non-Indigenous Australians vaccinated with the quadrivalent influenza vaccine into the Looking into InFluenza T cell immunity - Vaccination cohort study and collected blood to define baseline, early (day 7), and memory (day 28) immune responses.

Immune cellular networks underlying recovery from influenza virus infection in acute hospitalized patients.

How innate and adaptive immune responses work in concert to resolve influenza disease is yet to be fully investigated in one single study. Here, we utilize longitudinal samples from patients hospitalized with acute influenza to understand these immune responses. We report the dynamics of 18 important immune parameters, related to clinical, genetic and virological factors, in influenza patients across different severity levels.

What have we learnt so far from COVID-19?

While COVID-19 shows us the enormous power of modern molecular medicine, it also reminds us of the basic contradictions and limitations of the human condition. As it is highly likely we will experience further such events through the twenty-first century, we should regard COVID-19 as a training run for something that could be much worse, and organize our governance, global interactions, institutions and practices accordingly.

Suboptimal SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 T cell response associated with the prominent HLA-A*02:01 phenotype.

An improved understanding of human T cell-mediated immunity in COVID-19 is important for optimizing therapeutic and vaccine strategies. Experience with influenza shows that infection primes CD8 T cell memory to peptides presented by common HLA types like HLA-A2, which enhances recovery and diminishes clinical severity upon reinfection. Stimulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells from COVID-19 convalescent patients with overlapping peptides from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) led to the clonal expansion of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 and CD4 T cells in vitro, with CD4 T cells being robust.

The Origin of COVID-19 and Why It Matters.

The COVID-19 pandemic is among the deadliest infectious diseases to have emerged in recent history. As with all past pandemics, the specific mechanism of its emergence in humans remains unknown. Nevertheless, a large body of virologic, epidemiologic, veterinary, and ecologic data establishes that the new virus, SARS-CoV-2, evolved directly or indirectly from a β-coronavirus in the sarbecovirus (SARS-like virus) group that naturally infect bats and pangolins in Asia and Southeast Asia.

Human γδ T-cell receptor repertoire is shaped by influenza viruses, age and tissue compartmentalisation.

Background: Although γδ T cells comprise up to 10% of human peripheral blood T cells, questions remain regarding their role in disease states and T-cell receptor (TCR) clonal expansions. We dissected anti-viral functions of human γδ T cells towards influenza viruses and defined influenza-reactive γδ TCRs in the context of γδ-TCRs across the human lifespan.

Methods: We performed Cr-killing assay and single-cell time-lapse live video microscopy to define mechanisms underlying γδ T-cell-mediated killing of influenza-infected targets.

Recalling the Future: Immunological Memory Toward Unpredictable Influenza Viruses.

Persistent and durable immunological memory forms the basis of any successful vaccination protocol. Generation of pre-existing memory B cell and T cell pools is thus the key for maintaining protective immunity to seasonal, pandemic and avian influenza viruses. Long-lived antibody secreting cells (ASCs) are responsible for maintaining antibody levels in peripheral blood.

CD4 T help promotes influenza virus-specific CD8 T cell memory by limiting metabolic dysfunction.

There is continued interest in developing novel vaccine strategies that induce establish optimal CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) memory for pathogens like the influenza A viruses (IAVs), where the recall of IAV-specific T cell immunity is able to protect against serologically distinct IAV infection. While it is well established that CD4 T cell help is required for optimal CTL responses and the establishment of memory, when and how CD4 T cell help contributes to determining the ideal memory phenotype remains unclear. We assessed the quality of IAV-specific CD8 T cell memory established in the presence or absence of a concurrent CD4 T cell response.

Potential killers exposed: tracking endogenous influenza-specific CD8 T cells.

Current influenza A virus (IAV) vaccines stimulate antibody responses that are directed against variable regions of the virus, and are therefore ineffective against divergent strains. As CD8 T cells target the highly conserved, internal IAV proteins, they have the potential to increase heterosubtypic immunity. Early T-cell priming events influence lasting memory, which is required for long-term protection.

Influenza.

Influenza is an infectious respiratory disease that, in humans, is caused by influenza A and influenza B viruses. Typically characterized by annual seasonal epidemics, sporadic pandemic outbreaks involve influenza A virus strains of zoonotic origin. The WHO estimates that annual epidemics of influenza result in ~1 billion infections, 3–5 million cases of severe illness and 300,000–500,000 deaths.

Age-Related Decline in Primary CD8 T Cell Responses Is Associated with the Development of Senescence in Virtual Memory CD8 T Cells.

Age-associated decreases in primary CD8 T cell responses occur, in part, due to direct effects on naive CD8 T cells to reduce intrinsic functionality, but the precise nature of this defect remains undefined. Aging also causes accumulation of antigen-naive but semi-differentiated "virtual memory" (T) cells, but their contribution to age-related functional decline is unclear. Here, we show that T cells are poorly proliferative in aged mice and humans, despite being highly proliferative in young individuals, while conventional naive T cells (T cells) retain proliferative capacity in both aged mice and humans.

Clonally diverse CD38HLA-DRCD8 T cells persist during fatal H7N9 disease.

Severe influenza A virus (IAV) infection is associated with immune dysfunction. Here, we show circulating CD8 T-cell profiles from patients hospitalized with avian H7N9, seasonal IAV, and influenza vaccinees. Patient survival reflects an early, transient prevalence of highly activated CD38HLA-DRPD-1 CD8 T cells, whereas the prolonged persistence of this set is found in ultimately fatal cases.

Extrinsically derived TNF is primarily responsible for limiting antiviral CD8+ T cell response magnitude.

TNF is a pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by both lymphoid and non-lymphoid cells. As a consequence of the widespread expression of its receptors (TNFR1 and 2), TNF plays a role in many important biological processes. In the context of influenza A virus (IAV) infection, TNF has variably been implicated in mediating immunopathology as well as suppression of the immune response.

Human mucosal-associated invariant T cells contribute to antiviral influenza immunity via IL-18-dependent activation.

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are innate-like T lymphocytes known to elicit potent immunity to a broad range of bacteria, mainly via the rapid production of inflammatory cytokines. Whether MAIT cells contribute to antiviral immunity is less clear. Here we asked whether MAIT cells produce cytokines/chemokines during severe human influenza virus infection.

Competition within the virus-specific CD4 T-cell pool limits the T follicular helper response after influenza infection.

CD4 T follicular helper cells (TFH) are critical in the generation of potent and long-lived B-cell responses after viral infection. However, the factors that dictate the generation and maintenance of these cells are not fully understood. Here we use adoptive transfer of OTII T-cell receptor transgenic CD4 T cells, followed by infection with recombinant influenza A virus (IAV), as a means of identifying and tracking virus-specific CD4(+) T-cell responses.

Molecular basis for universal HLA-A*0201-restricted CD8+ T-cell immunity against influenza viruses.

Memory CD8(+)T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for antigenic peptides derived from internal viral proteins confer broad protection against distinct strains of influenza A virus (IAV). However, immune efficacy can be undermined by the emergence of escape mutants. To determine how T-cell receptor (TCR) composition relates to IAV epitope variability, we used ex vivo peptide-HLA tetramer enrichment and single-cell multiplex analysis to compare TCRs targeted to the largely conserved HLA-A*0201-M158and the hypervariable HLA-B*3501-NP418antigens.

Heightened self-reactivity associated with selective survival, but not expansion, of naïve virus-specific CD8+ T cells in aged mice.

In advanced age, decreased CD8(+) cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses to novel pathogens and cancer is paralleled by a decline in the number and function of naïve CTL precursors (CTLp). Although the age-related fall in CD8(+) T-cell numbers is well established, neither the underlying mechanisms nor the extent of variation for different epitope specificities have been defined. Furthermore, naïve CD8(+) T cells expressing high levels of CD44 accumulate with age, but it is unknown whether this accumulation reflects their preferential survival or an age-dependent driver of CD8(+) T-cell proliferation.

Inactivated Influenza Vaccine That Provides Rapid, Innate-Immune-System-Mediated Protection and Subsequent Long-Term Adaptive Immunity.

Unlabelled: The continual threat to global health posed by influenza has led to increased efforts to improve the effectiveness of influenza vaccines for use in epidemics and pandemics. We show in this study that formulation of a low dose of inactivated detergent-split influenza vaccine with a Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) agonist-based lipopeptide adjuvant (R4Pam2Cys) provides (i) immediate, antigen-independent immunity mediated by the innate immune system and (ii) significant enhancement of antigen-dependent immunity which exhibits an increased breadth of effector function. Intranasal administration of mice with vaccine formulated with R4Pam2Cys but not vaccine alone provides protection against both homologous and serologically distinct (heterologous) viral strains within a day of administration.

Sizing up the key determinants of the CD8(+) T cell response.

Naive CD8(+) T cells give rise to cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), which promote the effective eradication of viruses and tumours. Although the past decades have seen enormous advances in cellular immunology, a precise understanding of the key elements that determine the specificity and magnitude of primary CTL responses has been lacking. However, recent technological advances have allowed us to more accurately identify, characterize and quantitate key determinants that define the specificity and magnitude of CD8(+) T cell-mediated immunity.

Recovery from severe H7N9 disease is associated with diverse response mechanisms dominated by CD8⁺ T cells.

The avian origin A/H7N9 influenza virus causes high admission rates (>99%) and mortality (>30%), with ultimately favourable outcomes ranging from rapid recovery to prolonged hospitalization. Using a multicolour assay for monitoring adaptive and innate immunity, here we dissect the kinetic emergence of different effector mechanisms across the spectrum of H7N9 disease and recovery. We find that a diversity of response mechanisms contribute to resolution and survival.

Helping themselves: optimal virus-specific CD4 T cell responses require help via CD4 T cell licensing of dendritic cells.

Although CD4(+) T cell help (Th) is critical for inducing optimal B cell and CD8(+) T cell responses, it remains unclear whether induction of CD4(+) Th responses postinfection are also dependent on CD4(+) T cell help. In this study, we show that activation of adoptively transferred Th cells during primary influenza A virus (IAV) infection enhances both the magnitude and functional breadth of endogenous primary IAV-specific CD4(+) T cell responses. This enhancement was dependent on CD154-CD40-dependent dendritic cell licensing and resulted in a greater recall capacity of IAV-specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T memory responses after heterologous IAV infection.

CD154+ CD4+ T-cell dependence for effective memory influenza virus-specific CD8+ T-cell responses.

CD40-CD154 (CD40 ligand) interactions are essential for the efficient priming of CD8(+) cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses. This is typically via CD4(+)CD154(+) T-cell-dependent 'licensing' of CD40(+) dendritic cells (DCs); however, DCs infected with influenza A virus (IAV) upregulate CD154 expression, thus enabling efficient CTL priming in the absence of CD4(+) T activation. Therefore, it is unclear whether CD4 T cells and DCs have redundant or unique roles in the priming of primary and secondary CTL responses after infection.

The influenza virus-specific CTL immunodominance hierarchy in mice is determined by the relative frequency of high-avidity T cells.

Virus-specific CTL responses typically fall into reproducible hierarchies with particular epitopes eliciting either immunodominant or subdominant responses after viral challenge. The recently acquired capacity to directly enumerate naive CTL precursors (CTLps) in both mice and humans has implicated CTLp frequency as a key predictor of immune response magnitude after Ag challenge. However, recent studies have indicated that naive CTLp frequencies do not necessarily predict the size of the Ag-driven response, indicating an important role for differential CTLp recruitment and/or expansion.