%0 Journal Article
%A Dulovic, Alex
%A Rabsteyn, Armin
%A Remppis, Jonathan
%A Gentzcke, Irene K E
%A Mueller, Julia
%A Tuecks, Nadja
%A Becker, Matthias
%A Junker, Daniel
%A Kaiser, Philipp D
%A Traenkle, Bjoern
%A Rothbauer, Ulrich
%A Walz, Juliane S
%A Peter, Andreas
%A Hörber, Sebastian
%A Ganzenmueller, Tina
%A Iftner, Thomas
%A Stich, Maximilian
%A Tönshoff, Burkhard
%A Henneke, Philipp
%A Elling, Roland
%A Debatin, Klaus-Michael
%A Janda, Ales
%A Schneiderhan-Marra, Nicole
%A Franz, Axel R
%A Lang, Peter
%A Renk, Hanna
%T Longitudinal analysis of humoral and cellular immunity in SARS-CoV-2 exposed families.
%J Scientific reports
%V 15
%N 1
%@ 2045-2322
%C [London]
%I Springer Nature
%M DKFZ-2025-01450
%P 26041
%D 2025
%X Identification of previous SARS-CoV-2 infection typically relies on serology, yet T-cells play a key role in the adaptive immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Here, we investigated in parallel the SARS-CoV-2-specific as well as endemic human coronavirus-specific humoral and cross-reactive cellular responses in children and adults. We analyzed clinical data and blood samples from a family cohort of 96 children and 144 adults at 3-4 and 11-12 months after their first contact with SARS-CoV-2. Humoral response was assessed by a multiplex immunoassay with high sensitivity and specificity (MULTICOV-AB). Cellular responses were analyzed by IFN-γ ELISPOT using four different established epitope compositions (ECs) to discriminate between SARS-CoV-2 specific and HCoV cross-reactive T-cell responses. While the majority of adults had a combined serological and T-cell response, relatively more children had a T-cell response alone rather than a combined response. The magnitude of the T-cell response correlated with symptoms and the humoral response. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 infection significantly boosted the endemic coronavirus-specific cellular response. Overall, our data suggest discordant humoral and cellular responses, reflecting either abortive infection, cellular sensitization with rapid viral clearance or rapid antibody waning or a combination of these phenomena. Restricting epidemiologic analysis to SARS-CoV-2 serological data may underestimate rates of infection with or at least exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in children.
%K Humans
%K COVID-19: immunology
%K Immunity, Humoral
%K SARS-CoV-2: immunology
%K Adult
%K Immunity, Cellular
%K Male
%K Female
%K Child
%K Longitudinal Studies
%K Antibodies, Viral: blood
%K Antibodies, Viral: immunology
%K Middle Aged
%K Child, Preschool
%K T-Lymphocytes: immunology
%K Adolescent
%K Young Adult
%K Infant
%K Cross Reactions
%K Antibodies, Viral (NLM Chemicals)
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%$ pmid:40681584
%2 pmc:PMC12274566
%R 10.1038/s41598-025-07739-3
%U https://inrepo02.dkfz.de/record/303003