A scientific team has discovered new immune responses that help explain the infection of some people, despite their contact with the virus Corona VirusAvoid how to get and become infected with COVID-19.
Using single-cell sequencing, researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger,l’University College (UCL) I’imperial college From London, he studied immune responses to infection by SARS-CoV-2 in adults voluntary none.
Not all participants exposed to the virus developed COVID-19 infection, allowing the team to uncover unique immune responses associated with resistance to viral infection and persistent disease.
The results were published on Wednesday in natureprovide “the most comprehensive timeline” to date of how the body responds to exposure SARS-CoV-2 or any infectious disease, according to the authors.
he a job It is part of the international Human Cell Atlas initiative, which is mapping all cell types in the human body to transform understanding of health and disease.
The researchers set out to capture immune responses directly from exposure, the Wellcome Trust Sanger Foundation said in a statement institute.
For this purpose, the virus was given to 36 healthy adult volunteers with no history of coronavirus infection SARS-CoV-2 intranasally. The researchers conducted detailed monitoring of the blood and nasal lining, tracking the entire infection, as well as the activity of immune cells before infection in 16 volunteers.
The teams then used single-cell sequencing to create a dataset of more than 600,000 individual cells. In all participants, the team discovered previously unreported responses related to immediate detection of the virus. This included activation of specialized mucosal immune cells in the blood and a decrease in the number of inflammatory white blood cells that normally engulf and destroy pathogens.
Individuals who cleared the virus did not immediately show a typical generalized immune response, but instead developed unprecedented subtle innate immune responses.
The researchers note that high levels of activity of a gene called HLA-DQA2 before exposure also helped people prevent infection for a long time. In contrast, the six individuals who were persistently infected SARSThe coronavirus showed a rapid immune response in the blood, but a slower immune response in the nose, which allowed the virus to establish itself there.
The researchers also identified common patterns among the cell’s receptors T They are activated, which recognize and attach to virus-infected cells. This provides insight into immune cell communications and the potential for developing cell-targeted therapies T Not only against Covid, but also against other diseases.
Rick LindeboomHe, who currently works at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, notes that this was an “incredibly unique opportunity” to see what immune responses look like when faced with a new pathogen, in an environment where factors such as time of infection and comorbidities are important.
Para Marco Nicoli, from l’UCLThere is now a much greater understanding of the full range of immune responses, which can provide a basis for developing potential treatments and vaccines that mimic these natural protective responses.
Sarah TeachmanThe lead author of the study and co-founder of the Human Cell Atlas adds that as this map is built, it will be possible to better identify the cells necessary to fight infection and understand different people who respond to the virus. Corona Virus In different ways.
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