Distinct antibody and memory B cell responses in SARS-CoV-2 naïve and recovered individuals following mRNA vaccination

By R. Goel, S. Apostolidis, Mark M. Painter, D. Mathew, A. Pattekar, O. Kuthuru, S. Gouma, Philip D. Hicks, Wenzhao Meng, Aaron M. Rosenfeld and 21 more. Science immunology, 2021

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Novel mRNA vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 have been authorized for emergency use. Despite their efficacy in clinical trials, data on mRNA vaccine-induced immune responses are mostly limited to serological analyses. Here, we interrogated antibody and antigen-specific memory B cells over time in 33 SARS-CoV-2 naïve and 11 SARS-CoV-2 recovered subjects. SARS-CoV-2 naïve individuals required both vaccine doses for optimal increases in antibodies, particularly for neutralizing titers against the B.1.351 variant. Memory B cells specific for full-length spike protein and the spike receptor binding domain (RBD) were also efficiently primed by mRNA vaccination and detectable in all SARS-CoV-2 naive subjects after the second vaccine dose, though the memory B cell response declined slightly with age. In SARS-CoV-2 recovered individuals, antibody and memory B cell responses were significantly boosted after the first vaccine dose; however, there was no increase in circulating antibodies, neutralizing titers, or antigen-specific memory B cells after the second dose. This robust boosting after the first vaccine dose strongly correlated with levels of pre-existing memory B cells in recovered individuals, identifying a key role for memory B cells in mounting recall responses to SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Together, our data demonstrated robust serological and cellular priming by mRNA vaccines and revealed distinct responses based on prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure, whereby COVID-19 recovered subjects may only require a single vaccine dose to achieve peak antibody and memory B cell responses. These findings also highlight the utility of defining cellular responses in addition to serologies and may inform SARS-CoV-2 vaccine distribution in a resource-limited setting. Key differences in both antibody and memory B cell responses to mRNA vaccination were identified based on prior SARS-CoV-2 exposure.

Subfields: Infectious Diseases

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/87517be402c2766399624143f15cd9006fb3291b

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In Infectious Diseases

  1. Alessandro Sette
  2. E. Wherry

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