Prolonged Omicron-specific B cell maturation alleviates immune imprinting induced by SARS-CoV-2 inactivated vaccine.

ABSTRACT: SARS-CoV-2 ancestral strain-induced immune imprinting poses great challenges to updating vaccines for new variants. Studies showed that repeated Omicron exposures could override immune imprinting induced by inactivated vaccines but not mRNA vaccines, a disparity yet to be understood. Here, we analyzed the immune imprinting alleviation in inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) cohorts after a long-term period following breakthrough infections (BTI). We observed in CoronaVac-vaccinated individuals who experienced BA.5/BF.7 BTI, the proportion of Omicron-specific memory B cells (MBCs) substantially increased after an extended period post-Omicron BTI, with their antibodies displaying enhanced somatic hypermutation and neutralizing potency. Consequently, the neutralizing antibody epitope distribution

SUBMITTER: Yisimayi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11486138 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature