A comparative analysis of TCR immune repertoire in COVID-19 patients

Xiao Zhu; Enze Ma; Ke Ning; Xiangyan Feng; Wei Quan; Fei Wang; Chaoqun Zhu; Yuanjun Ma; Yucui Dong; Qinghua Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.humimm.2024.110795

A comparative analysis of TCR immune repertoire in COVID-19 patients

Hum Immunol. 2024 Apr 5:110795. doi: 10.1016/j.humimm.2024.110795. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiao Zhu¹, Enze Ma², Ke Ning², Xiangyan Feng³, Wei Quan⁴, Fei Wang⁴, Chaoqun Zhu⁴, Yuanjun Ma⁴, Yucui Dong⁵, Qinghua Jiang⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Computer and Control Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai, Shandong, China; Lead Contact. Electronic address: xzhu@ytu.edu.cn.
² School of Computer Science and Information Engineering, Harbin Normal University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
³ Department of Hematology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Yantai, Shandong, China. Electronic address: fengxiangyan2014@163.com.
⁴ School of Computer and Control Engineering, Yantai University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
⁵ Department of Immunology, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, Shandong, China.
⁶ School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. Electronic address: qhjiang@hit.edu.cn.

PMID: 38582657
DOI: 10.1016/j.humimm.2024.110795

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has merged as a global health threat since its outbreak in December 2019. Despite widespread recognition, there has been a paucity of studies focusing on the T cell receptor (TCR) bias in adaptive immunity induced by SARS-CoV-2. This research conducted a comparative analysis of the TCR immune repertoire to identify notable αβ TCR bias sequences associated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus antigen. The present study encompassed 73 symptomatic COVID-19 patients, categorized as moderate/mild or severe/critical, along with 9 healthy controls. Our findings revealed specific TCR chains prominently utilized by moderate and severe patients, identified as TRAV30-J34-TRBV3-1-J2-7 and TRAV12-3-J6-TRBV28-J1-1, respectively. Additionally, our research explored critical TCR preferences in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of COVID-19 patients at various disease stages. Indeed, monitoring the dynamics of immune repertoire changes in COVID-19 patients could serve as a crucial biomarker for predicting disease progression and recovery. Furthermore, the study explored TCR bias in both peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and BALF. The most common αβ VJ pair observed in BALF was TRAV12-3-J18-TRBV7-6-J2-7. In addition, a comparative analysis with the VDJdb database indicated that the HLA-A*02:01 allele exhibited the widest distribution and highest frequency in COVID-19 patients across different periods. This comprehensive examination provided a global characterization of the TCR immune repertoire in COVID-19 patients, contributing significantly to our understanding of TCR bias induced by SARS-CoV-2.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; T cell receptor; TCR bias; TCR immune repertoire.