COVID-T: A functional platform to monitor SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses in vaccinated individuals and COVID-19 recovered patients

MANSELLE COCCO, MONTANA; VEIGAS, FLORENCIA; BACH, CAMILA A.; BLIDNER, ADA G.; CAGNONI, ALEJANDO J.; DALOTTO MORENO, TOMÁS; HOCKL, PABLO F.; MAHMOUD, YAMIL; SCHEIDEGGER, MARCO; SIRINO, ALICIA; TORRES, NICOLAS; WIERSBA, VALERIA; RABINOVICH, GABRIEL A.

MEDICINA (BUENOS AIRES)

MEDICINA (BUENOS AIRES)

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2021

0025-7680

The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2, the caus- ative agent of the emergent pandemic disease COVID-19, requires the urgent commitment of the immunology community to understand the adaptive immune response developed by COVID-19 convalescent patients and individuals vaccinated with different strategies and schemes, with the ultimate goal of implementing and optimizing health care and prevention policies. Currently, assessment of SARS-CoV-2-specific immunity is mainly focused on the measurement of the antibody titers and analysis of their neutralizing capacity. However, a considerable proportion of individuals lack humoral responses or show a progressive decline of SARS-CoV-2-specific neutral- izing antibodies. In order to study the cellular response of convalescent patients and vaccinated individuals, we have developed the ?COVID-T Platform?, an optimized strategy to study SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell responses. This platform allows assessment of the nature, magnitude and persistence of antigen-specific T-cell immunity in COVID-19-convalescent patients and vaccinated individuals. Moreover, it gives the opportunity to study cellular responses against emerging coronavirus variants and to identify individuals with cross-reactive immunity againstseasonal coronaviruses.