Protective immune trajectories in early viral containment of non-pneumonic SARS-CoV-2 infection

Kami Pekayvaz*, Alexander Leunig, Rainer Kaiser, Markus Joppich, Sophia Brambs, Aleksandar Janjic, Oliver Popp, Daniel Nixdorf, Valeria Fumagalli, Nora Schmidt, Vivien Polewka, Afra Anjum, Viktoria Knottenberg, Luke Eivers, Lucas E. Wange, Christoph Gold, Marieluise Kirchner, Maximilian Muenchhoff, Johannes C. Hellmuth, Clemens SchererRaquel Rubio-Acero, Tabea Eser, Flora Deák, Kerstin Puchinger, Niklas Kuhl, Andreas Linder, Kathrin Saar, Lukas Tomas, Christian Schulz, Andreas Wieser, Wolfgang Enard, Inge Kroidl, Christof Geldmacher, Michael von Bergwelt-Baildon, Oliver T. Keppler, Mathias Munschauer, Matteo Iannacone, Ralf Zimmer, Philipp Mertins, Norbert Hubner, Michael Hoelscher, Steffen Massberg, Konstantin Stark*, Leo Nicolai*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

The antiviral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection can limit viral spread and prevent development of pneumonic COVID-19. However, the protective immunological response associated with successful viral containment in the upper airways remains unclear. Here, we combine a multi-omics approach with longitudinal sampling to reveal temporally resolved protective immune signatures in non-pneumonic and ambulatory SARS-CoV-2 infected patients and associate specific immune trajectories with upper airway viral containment. We see a distinct systemic rather than local immune state associated with viral containment, characterized by interferon stimulated gene (ISG) upregulation across circulating immune cell subsets in non-pneumonic SARS-CoV2 infection. We report reduced cytotoxic potential of Natural Killer (NK) and T cells, and an immune-modulatory monocyte phenotype associated with protective immunity in COVID-19. Together, we show protective immune trajectories in SARS-CoV2 infection, which have important implications for patient prognosis and the development of immunomodulatory therapies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number1018
JournalNature Communications
Volume13
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2022
Externally publishedYes

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