• Jennifer A Juno, Hyon-Xhi Tan, Wen Shi Lee, Arnold Reynaldi, Hannah G Kelly, Kathleen Wragg, Robyn Esterbauer, Helen E Kent, C Jane Batten, Francesca L Mordant, Nicholas A Gherardin, Phillip Pymm, Melanie H Dietrich, Nichollas E Scott, Wai-Hong Tham, Dale I Godfrey, Kanta Subbarao, Miles P Davenport, Stephen J Kent, and Adam K Wheatley.
• Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
• Nat. Med. 2020 Sep 1; 26 (9): 1428-1434.

AbstractThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has dramatically expedited global vaccine development efforts1-3, most targeting the viral 'spike' glycoprotein (S). S localizes on the virion surface and mediates recognition of cellular receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)4-6. Eliciting neutralizing antibodies that block S-ACE2 interaction7-9, or indirectly prevent membrane fusion10, constitute an attractive modality for vaccine-elicited protection11. However, although prototypic S-based vaccines show promise in animal models12-14, the immunogenic properties of S in humans are poorly resolved. In this study, we characterized humoral and circulating follicular helper T cell (cTFH) immunity against spike in recovered patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We found that S-specific antibodies, memory B cells and cTFH are consistently elicited after SARS-CoV-2 infection, demarking robust humoral immunity and positively associated with plasma neutralizing activity. Comparatively low frequencies of B cells or cTFH specific for the receptor binding domain of S were elicited. Notably, the phenotype of S-specific cTFH differentiated subjects with potent neutralizing responses, providing a potential biomarker of potency for S-based vaccines entering the clinic. Overall, although patients who recovered from COVID-19 displayed multiple hallmarks of effective immune recognition of S, the wide spectrum of neutralizing activity observed suggests that vaccines might require strategies to selectively target the most potent neutralizing epitopes.

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