Expansion of tissue-resident CD8+ T cells and CD4+ Th17 cells in the nasal mucosa following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination

Ssemaganda, A.; Nguyen, H. M.; Nuhu, F.; Jahan, N.; Card, C. M.; Kiazyk, S.; Severini, G.; Keynan, Y.; Su, R.-C.; Ji, H.; Abrenica, B.; McLaren, P. J.; Ball, B.; Bullard, J.; Van Caeseele, P.; Stein, D.; McKinnon, L.

doi:10.1101/2021.05.07.442971

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.05.07.442971

Expansion of tissue-resident CD8+ T cells and CD4+ Th17 cells in the nasal mucosa following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination

Ssemaganda, A.·Nguyen, H. M.·Nuhu, F.·Jahan, N.·Card, C. M.·Kiazyk, S.·Severini, G.·Keynan, Y.·Su, R.-C.·Ji, H.·Abrenica, B.·McLaren, P. J.·Ball, B.·Bullard, J.·Van Caeseele, P.·Stein, D.·McKinnon, L.

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Abstract

Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have shown high efficacy in clinical trials, yet a full immunologic characterization of these vaccines, particularly within the upper respiratory tract, remains lacking. We enumerated and phenotyped T cells in nasal mucosa and blood before and after vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (n =21). Tissue-resident memory (Trm) CD8+ T cells expressing CD69+CD103+ expanded [~]12 days following the first and second doses, by 0.31 and 0.43 log10 cells per swab respectively (p=0.058 and p=0.009 in adjusted linear mixed models). CD69+CD103+CD8+ T cells in the blood decreased post-vaccination. Similar increases in nasal CD8+CD69+CD103-T cells were observed, particularly following the second dose. CD4+ Th17 cells were also increased in abundance following both doses. Following stimulation with SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides, CD8+ T cells increased expression of CD107a and CD154. These data suggest that nasal T cells may be induced and contribute to the protective immunity afforded by this vaccine.

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Ssemaganda, A., Nguyen, H. M., Nuhu, F., Jahan, N., Card, C. M., Kiazyk, S., Severini, G., Keynan, Y., Su, R.-C., Ji, H., Abrenica, B., McLaren, P. J., Ball, B., Bullard, J., Van Caeseele, P., Stein, D., McKinnon, L.. 2021-05-09. Expansion of tissue-resident CD8+ T cells and CD4+ Th17 cells in the nasal mucosa following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.07.442971

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