Swadling, Leo;
Maini, Mala K;
(2023)
Can T Cells Abort SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viral Infections?
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
, 24
(5)
, Article 4371. 10.3390/ijms24054371.
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Abstract
Despite the highly infectious nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, it is clear that some individuals with potential exposure, or even experimental challenge with the virus, resist developing a detectable infection. While a proportion of seronegative individuals will have completely avoided exposure to the virus, a growing body of evidence suggests a subset of individuals are exposed, but mediate rapid viral clearance before the infection is detected by PCR or seroconversion. This type of "abortive" infection likely represents a dead-end in transmission and precludes the possibility for development of disease. It is, therefore, a desirable outcome on exposure and a setting in which highly effective immunity can be studied. Here, we describe how early sampling of a new pandemic virus using sensitive immunoassays and a novel transcriptomic signature can identify abortive infections. Despite the challenges in identifying abortive infections, we highlight diverse lines of evidence supporting their occurrence. In particular, expansion of virus-specific T cells in seronegative individuals suggests abortive infections occur not only after exposure to SARS-CoV-2, but for other coronaviridae, and diverse viral infections of global health importance (e.g., HIV, HCV, HBV). We discuss unanswered questions related to abortive infection, such as: 'Are we just missing antibodies? Are T cells an epiphenomenon? What is the influence of the dose of viral inoculum?' Finally, we argue for a refinement of the current paradigm that T cells are only involved in clearing established infection; instead, we emphasise the importance of considering their role in terminating early viral replication by studying abortive infections.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Can T Cells Abort SARS-CoV-2 and Other Viral Infections? |
| Location: | Switzerland |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3390/ijms24054371 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24054371 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | SARS-CoV-2, T cell, abortive infection, adaptive immunity, seronegative, Humans, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, T-Lymphocytes, Antibodies, Viral |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Infection and Immunity |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10167127 |
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