tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Eur J Immunol
. 2025 Jul;55(7):e51888.
doi: 10.1002/eji.202551888. Aging and Viral Evolution Impair Immunity Against Dominant Pan-Coronavirus-Reactive T Cell Epitope
Lucie Loyal[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Karsten Jürchott[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ulf Reimer[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Lil Meyer-Arndt[SUP] 1 2 4 5 [/SUP], Larissa Henze[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Norbert Mages[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jak Kostrzanowski[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP], Bernhard Reus[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Maike Mangold[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Beate Kruse[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Manuela Dingeldey[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Birgit Sawitzki[SUP] 2 9 [/SUP], Janine Michel[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Marica Grossegesse[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Karsten Schnatbaum[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Holger Wenschuh[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Andreas Nitsche[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Nils Lachmann[SUP] 11 12 [/SUP], Bernd Timmermann[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Claudia Giesecke-Thiel[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Julian Braun[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Florian Kern[SUP] 3 8 [/SUP], Andreas Thiel[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Immune evasion by escape mutations subverts immunity against SARS-CoV-2. A role of pan-coronavirus immunity for more durable protection is being discussed, but has remained understudied. We here investigated the effects of age, mutations, and homo-/heterologous vaccination regimens on the dominant pan-coronavirus-specific cellular and humoral epitope iCope after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination in detail. In older individuals, the quantitatively and qualitatively reduced iCope-reactive CD4[SUP]+[/SUP] T cell responses with narrow TCR repertoires could not be enhanced by vaccination and were further compromised by emerging spike mutations. In contrast, pan-coronavirus-reactive humoral immunity was affected only by mutations and not by age. Our results reveal a distinct deficiency of the dichotomous layer of pan-coronavirus immunity in the older, critical for long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Keywords: SARS‐CoV‐2; T cells; aging; cross reactivity; pan‐coronavirus.
. 2025 Jul;55(7):e51888.
doi: 10.1002/eji.202551888. Aging and Viral Evolution Impair Immunity Against Dominant Pan-Coronavirus-Reactive T Cell Epitope
Lucie Loyal[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Karsten Jürchott[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Ulf Reimer[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Lil Meyer-Arndt[SUP] 1 2 4 5 [/SUP], Larissa Henze[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Norbert Mages[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Jak Kostrzanowski[SUP] 7 8 [/SUP], Bernhard Reus[SUP] 7 [/SUP], Maike Mangold[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Beate Kruse[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Manuela Dingeldey[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Birgit Sawitzki[SUP] 2 9 [/SUP], Janine Michel[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Marica Grossegesse[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Karsten Schnatbaum[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Holger Wenschuh[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Andreas Nitsche[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Nils Lachmann[SUP] 11 12 [/SUP], Bernd Timmermann[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Claudia Giesecke-Thiel[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Julian Braun[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP], Florian Kern[SUP] 3 8 [/SUP], Andreas Thiel[SUP] 1 2 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 40726062
- PMCID: PMC12304627
- DOI: 10.1002/eji.202551888
Immune evasion by escape mutations subverts immunity against SARS-CoV-2. A role of pan-coronavirus immunity for more durable protection is being discussed, but has remained understudied. We here investigated the effects of age, mutations, and homo-/heterologous vaccination regimens on the dominant pan-coronavirus-specific cellular and humoral epitope iCope after SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination in detail. In older individuals, the quantitatively and qualitatively reduced iCope-reactive CD4[SUP]+[/SUP] T cell responses with narrow TCR repertoires could not be enhanced by vaccination and were further compromised by emerging spike mutations. In contrast, pan-coronavirus-reactive humoral immunity was affected only by mutations and not by age. Our results reveal a distinct deficiency of the dichotomous layer of pan-coronavirus immunity in the older, critical for long-term protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Keywords: SARS‐CoV‐2; T cells; aging; cross reactivity; pan‐coronavirus.