Recent studies have shown that vaccinated individuals harbor T cells that can cross-recognize SARS-CoV-2 and endemic human common cold coronaviruses. However, it is still unknown whether CD4⁺ T cells from vaccinated individuals recognize peptides from bat coronaviruses that may have the potential of causing future pandemics. In this study, we identified a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein epitope (S_815-827) that is conserved in coronaviruses from different genera and subgenera, including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, multiple bat coronaviruses, and a feline coronavirus. Our results showed that S_815-827 was recognized by 42% of vaccinated participants in our study who received the Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) or Moderna (mRNA-1273) COVID-19 vaccines. Using T cell expansion and T cell receptor sequencing assays, we demonstrated that S_815-827-reactive CD4⁺ T cells from the majority of responders cross-recognized homologous peptides from at least 6 other diverse coronaviruses. Our results support the hypothesis that the current mRNA vaccines elicit T cell responses that can cross-recognize bat coronaviruses and thus might induce some protection against potential zoonotic outbreaks. Furthermore, our data provide important insights that inform the development of T cell–based pan-coronavirus vaccine strategies.

中文翻译：

---

来自 COVID-19 mRNA 疫苗接种者的 CD4+ T 细胞识别多种冠状病毒中存在的保守表位


最近的研究表明，接种疫苗的个体体内含有可以交叉识别 SARS-CoV-2 和地方性人类普通感冒冠状病毒的 T 细胞。然而，目前尚不清楚来自接种疫苗的个体的 CD4 ⁺ T 细胞是否识别来自蝙蝠冠状病毒的肽，这些肽可能有可能引起未来的大流行。在这项研究中，我们鉴定了一个 SARS-CoV-2 刺突蛋白表位 (S _815-827 )，该表位在不同属和亚属的冠状病毒中保守，包括 SARS-CoV、MERS-CoV、多种蝙蝠冠状病毒和猫冠状病毒。我们的结果显示，在我们的研究中，接受 Pfizer-BioNTech (BNT162b2) 或 Moderna (mRNA-1273) COVID-19 疫苗的接种参与者中有 42% 认识到 S _815-827 。使用 T 细胞扩增和 T 细胞受体测序测定，我们证明来自大多数应答者的 S _815-827反应性 CD4 ⁺ T 细胞交叉识别来自至少 6 种其他不同冠状病毒的同源肽。我们的结果支持这样的假设，即当前的 mRNA 疫苗引发 T 细胞反应，可以交叉识别蝙蝠冠状病毒，从而可能诱导一些针对潜在人畜共患疾病爆发的保护。此外，我们的数据提供了重要的见解，可为基于 T 细胞的泛冠状病毒疫苗策略的开发提供信息。