Structural insights into protection against a SARS-CoV-2 spike variant by T cell receptor diversity.

ABSTRACT: T cells play a crucial role in combatting SARS-CoV-2 and forming long-term memory responses to this coronavirus. The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants that can evade T cell immunity has raised concerns about vaccine efficacy and the risk of reinfection. Some SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes elicit clonally restricted CD8⁺ T cell responses characterized by T cell receptors (TCRs) that lack structural diversity. Mutations in such epitopes can lead to loss of recognition by most T cells specific for that epitope, facilitating viral escape. Here, we studied an HLA-A2-restricted spike protein epitope (RLQ) that elicits CD8⁺ T cell responses in COVID-19 convalescent patients characterized by highly diverse TCRs. We previously reported the structure of an RLQ-specific TCR (RLQ3) wi

SUBMITTER: Wu D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9934920 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature