Cell‐mediated immunity to SARS‐CoV‐2

Wang, Xiaolin; Gui, Jingang

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) viruses spread unscrupulously virtually every corner on the planet in a very quick speed leading to an unprecedented world pandemic of COVID‐19 claiming a great many of people’s life. Paramount importance has been given to the studies on the virus itself including genomic variation and viron structure, as well as cell entry pathway and tissue residence. Other than that, to learn the main characteristic of host immunity responding to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection is an eminent task for restraining virus and controlling disease progress. Beside antibody production in response to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, host cellular immunity plays an indispensable role in impeding virus replication and expansion at various stages of COVID‐19 disease. In this review, we summarized the recent knowledge regarding the aberrant regulation and dysfunction of multiple immune cells during SARS‐CoV‐2 infection. This includes the dysregulation of immune cell number, Th polarity, cytokine storm they implicated with, as well as cell function exhaustion after chronic virus stimulation. Notwithstanding that many obstacles remain to be overcome, studies on immunotherapy for COVID‐19 treatment based on the known features of host immunity in response to SARS‐CoV‐2 infection offer us tangible benefits and hope for making this SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic under control.