Julia T Castro, Patrick Azevedo, Marcílio J Fumagalli, Natalia S Hojo-Souza, Natalia Salazar, Gregório G Almeida, Livia I Oliveira, Lídia Faustino, Lis R Antonelli, Tomas G Marçal, Marconi Augusto, Bruno Valiate, Alex Fiorini, Bruna Rattis, Simone G Ramos, Mariela Piccin, Osvaldo Campos Nonato, Luciana Benevides, Rubens Magalhães, Bruno Cassaro, Gabriela Burle, Daniel Doro, Jorge Kalil, Edson Durigon, Andrés Salazar, Otávia Caballero, Helton Santiago, Alexandre Machado, João S Silva, Flávio da Fonseca, Ana Paula Fernandes, Santuza R Teixeira, Ricardo T Gazzinelli
Both T cells and B cells have been shown to be generated after infection with SARS-CoV-2 yet protocols or experimental models to study one or the other are less common. Here, we generate a chimeric protein (SpiN) that comprises the receptor binding domain (RBD) from Spike (S) and the nucleocapsid (N) antigens from SARS-CoV-2. Memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells specific for SpiN could be detected in the blood of both individuals vaccinated with Coronavac SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and COVID-19 convalescent donors. In mice, SpiN elicited a strong IFN-γ response by T cells and high levels of antibodies to the inactivated virus, but not detectable neutralizing antibodies (nAbs)...
August 17, 2022: Nature Communications