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Review
. 2024 Mar 2;12(3):564.
doi: 10.3390/biomedicines12030564.

The Influence of Cross-Reactive T Cells in COVID-19

Peter J Eggenhuizen  1 , Joshua D Ooi  1
Affiliations
Review

The Influence of Cross-Reactive T Cells in COVID-19

Peter J Eggenhuizen et al. Biomedicines. .

Abstract

Memory T cells form from the adaptive immune response to historic infections or vaccinations. Some memory T cells have the potential to recognise unrelated pathogens like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and generate cross-reactive immune responses. Notably, such T cell cross-reactivity has been observed between SARS-CoV-2 and other human coronaviruses. T cell cross-reactivity has also been observed between SARS-CoV-2 variants from unrelated microbes and unrelated vaccinations against influenza A, tuberculosis and measles, mumps and rubella. Extensive research and debate is underway to understand the mechanism and role of T cell cross-reactivity and how it relates to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes. Here, we review the evidence for the ability of pre-existing memory T cells to cross-react with SARS-CoV-2. We discuss the latest findings on the impact of T cell cross-reactivity and the extent to which it can cross-protect from COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; Cross-reactive immunity; SARS-CoV-2; T cell; heterologous immunity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanism of TCR-dependent T cell cross-reactivity with SARS-CoV-2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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