Understanding the T cell immune response in SARS coronavirus infection

Janice Oh, Hsueh-Ling; Ken-En Gan, Samuel; Bertoletti, Antonio; Tan, Yee-Joo

Besides the S glycoprotein, persistently high levels of anti-N protein antibodies and T cell responses were also found in the SARS-recovered individuals 2 years post-infection. 28, 29 For other coronaviruses, some protective effects were found to be conferred through N-specific CD8 1 T cells. 30, 31 Using a similar approach of HLA peptide binding prediction algorithm with validation from T2-cell binding assay, Tsao T cell immune response in SARS coronavirus infection HLJ Oh et al 2 et al. identified several HLA-A*02:01 restricted epitopes in the N protein (peptide N223-231, N227-235 and N317-325) and showed that they could induce specific CTL responses in transgenic mice immunized with N proteins or peptides with CpG ODN. 22 In addition, peptide N317-325 was able to stimulate the recall of CD8 1 T cell response in PBMCs of recovered SARS patients.