Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families
Abstract Identification of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection typically relies on serology, yet T-cells play a key role in the adaptive immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated in parallel the SARS-CoV-2-specific as well as endemic human coronavirus-specific humoral and cross-reactive ce...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07739-3 |
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| author | Alex Dulovic Armin Rabsteyn Jonathan Remppis Irene K. E. Gentzcke Julia Mueller Nadja Tuecks Matthias Becker Daniel Junker Philipp D. Kaiser Bjoern Traenkle Ulrich Rothbauer Juliane S. Walz Andreas Peter Sebastian Hörber Tina Ganzenmueller Thomas Iftner Maximilian Stich Burkhard Tönshoff Philipp Henneke Roland Elling Klaus-Michael Debatin Ales Janda Nicole Schneiderhan-Marra Axel R. Franz Peter Lang Hanna Renk |
| author_facet | Alex Dulovic Armin Rabsteyn Jonathan Remppis Irene K. E. Gentzcke Julia Mueller Nadja Tuecks Matthias Becker Daniel Junker Philipp D. Kaiser Bjoern Traenkle Ulrich Rothbauer Juliane S. Walz Andreas Peter Sebastian Hörber Tina Ganzenmueller Thomas Iftner Maximilian Stich Burkhard Tönshoff Philipp Henneke Roland Elling Klaus-Michael Debatin Ales Janda Nicole Schneiderhan-Marra Axel R. Franz Peter Lang Hanna Renk |
| author_sort | Alex Dulovic |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Identification of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection typically relies on serology, yet T-cells play a key role in the adaptive immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated in parallel the SARS-CoV-2-specific as well as endemic human coronavirus-specific humoral and cross-reactive cellular responses in children and adults. We analyzed clinical data and blood samples from a family cohort of 96 children and 144 adults at 3–4 and 11–12 months after their first contact with SARS-CoV-2. Humoral response was assessed by a multiplex immunoassay with high sensitivity and specificity (MULTICOV-AB). Cellular responses were analyzed by IFN-γ ELISPOT using four different established epitope compositions (ECs) to discriminate between SARS-CoV-2 specific and HCoV cross-reactive T-cell responses. While the majority of adults had a combined serological and T-cell response, relatively more children had a T-cell response alone rather than a combined response. The magnitude of the T-cell response correlated with symptoms and the humoral response. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly boosted the endemic coronavirus-specific cellular response. Overall, our data suggest discordant humoral and cellular responses, reflecting either abortive infection, cellular sensitization with rapid viral clearance or rapid antibody waning or a combination of these phenomena. Restricting epidemiologic analysis to SARS-CoV-2 serological data may underestimate rates of infection with or at least exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in children. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8d2f8abb7f9e480d8368e169beab1df4 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-8d2f8abb7f9e480d8368e169beab1df42025-08-20T03:05:23ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-07-0115111310.1038/s41598-025-07739-3Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed familiesAlex Dulovic0Armin Rabsteyn1Jonathan Remppis2Irene K. E. Gentzcke3Julia Mueller4Nadja Tuecks5Matthias Becker6Daniel Junker7Philipp D. Kaiser8Bjoern Traenkle9Ulrich Rothbauer10Juliane S. Walz11Andreas Peter12Sebastian Hörber13Tina Ganzenmueller14Thomas Iftner15Maximilian Stich16Burkhard Tönshoff17Philipp Henneke18Roland Elling19Klaus-Michael Debatin20Ales Janda21Nicole Schneiderhan-Marra22Axel R. Franz23Peter Lang24Hanna Renk25NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of TübingenGerman Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Partner Site TübingenDepartment of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Children’s Hospital TübingenDepartment of Neuropediatrics, General Pediatrics, Diabetology, Endocrinology and Social Pediatrics, University Children’s Hospital TübingenDepartment of Neuropediatrics, General Pediatrics, Diabetology, Endocrinology and Social Pediatrics, University Children’s Hospital TübingenDepartment of Neuropediatrics, General Pediatrics, Diabetology, Endocrinology and Social Pediatrics, University Children’s Hospital TübingenNMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of TübingenNMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of TübingenNMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of TübingenNMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of TübingenPharmaceutical Biotechnology, University of TübingenGerman Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Partner Site TübingenInstitute for Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, University Hospital TübingenInstitute for Clinical Chemistry and Pathobiochemistry, University Hospital TübingenInstitute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases, University Hospital TübingenInstitute for Medical Virology and Epidemiology of Viral Diseases, University Hospital TübingenHeidelberg University, Medical Faculty, Departement of Pediatrics I, , University Children‘s Hospital HeidelbergHeidelberg University, Medical Faculty, Departement of Pediatrics I, , University Children‘s Hospital HeidelbergCenter for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center Freiburg, University of FreiburgCenter for Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Medical Center Freiburg, University of FreiburgDepartment of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm UniversityDepartment of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ulm University Medical Center, Ulm UniversityNMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of TübingenCenter for Pediatric Clinical Studies, University Hospital TübingenGerman Cancer Consortium (DKTK) and German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Partner Site TübingenDepartment of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, University Children’s Hospital TübingenAbstract Identification of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection typically relies on serology, yet T-cells play a key role in the adaptive immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated in parallel the SARS-CoV-2-specific as well as endemic human coronavirus-specific humoral and cross-reactive cellular responses in children and adults. We analyzed clinical data and blood samples from a family cohort of 96 children and 144 adults at 3–4 and 11–12 months after their first contact with SARS-CoV-2. Humoral response was assessed by a multiplex immunoassay with high sensitivity and specificity (MULTICOV-AB). Cellular responses were analyzed by IFN-γ ELISPOT using four different established epitope compositions (ECs) to discriminate between SARS-CoV-2 specific and HCoV cross-reactive T-cell responses. While the majority of adults had a combined serological and T-cell response, relatively more children had a T-cell response alone rather than a combined response. The magnitude of the T-cell response correlated with symptoms and the humoral response. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly boosted the endemic coronavirus-specific cellular response. Overall, our data suggest discordant humoral and cellular responses, reflecting either abortive infection, cellular sensitization with rapid viral clearance or rapid antibody waning or a combination of these phenomena. Restricting epidemiologic analysis to SARS-CoV-2 serological data may underestimate rates of infection with or at least exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in children.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07739-3 |
| spellingShingle | Alex Dulovic Armin Rabsteyn Jonathan Remppis Irene K. E. Gentzcke Julia Mueller Nadja Tuecks Matthias Becker Daniel Junker Philipp D. Kaiser Bjoern Traenkle Ulrich Rothbauer Juliane S. Walz Andreas Peter Sebastian Hörber Tina Ganzenmueller Thomas Iftner Maximilian Stich Burkhard Tönshoff Philipp Henneke Roland Elling Klaus-Michael Debatin Ales Janda Nicole Schneiderhan-Marra Axel R. Franz Peter Lang Hanna Renk Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families Scientific Reports |
| title | Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families |
| title_full | Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families |
| title_fullStr | Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families |
| title_full_unstemmed | Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families |
| title_short | Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families |
| title_sort | longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in sars cov 2 exposed families |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-07739-3 |
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