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Publication Abstract from PubMed

The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant has raised concerns of escape from vaccine-induced immunity. A number of studies have demonstrated a reduction in antibody-mediated neutralization of the Omicron variant in vaccinated individuals. Preliminary observations have suggested that T cells are less likely to be affected by changes in Omicron. However, the complexity of human leukocyte antigen genetics and its impact upon immunodominant T cell epitope selection suggests that the maintenance of T cell immunity may not be universal. In this study, we describe the impact that changes in Omicron BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3 have on recognition by spike-specific T cells. These T cells constitute the immunodominant CD8(+) T cell response in HLA-A*29:02(+) COVID-19 convalescent and vaccinated individuals; however, they fail to recognize the Omicron-encoded sequence. These observations demonstrate that in addition to evasion of antibody-mediated immunity, changes in Omicron variants can also lead to evasion of recognition by immunodominant T cell responses.

Ablation of CD8(+) T cell recognition of an immunodominant epitope in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants BA.1, BA.2 and BA.3.,Swaminathan S, Lineburg KE, Panikkar A, Raju J, Murdolo LD, Szeto C, Crooks P, Le Texier L, Rehan S, Dewar-Oldis MJ, Barnard PJ, Ambalathingal GR, Neller MA, Short KR, Gras S, Khanna R, Smith C Nat Commun. 2022 Oct 27;13(1):6387. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-34180-1. PMID:36302758^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.