Proteins from SARS-CoV-2 reduce T cell proliferation: A mirror image of sepsis

José Avendaño-Ortiz; Roberto Lozano-Rodríguez; Alejandro Martín-Quirós; Charbel Maroun-Eid; Verónica Terrón; Jaime Valentín; Karla Montalbán-Hernández; Fátima Ruiz de la Bastida; Miguel A García-Garrido; Carolina Cubillos-Zapata; Álvaro Del Balzo-Castillo; Luis A Aguirre; Eduardo López-Collazo

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05635

Proteins from SARS-CoV-2 reduce T cell proliferation: A mirror image of sepsis

Heliyon. 2020 Dec;6(12):e05635. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05635. Epub 2020 Nov 30.

Authors

José Avendaño-Ortiz^{1

2}, Roberto Lozano-Rodríguez^{1

2}, Alejandro Martín-Quirós³, Charbel Maroun-Eid¹, Verónica Terrón^{1

2}, Jaime Valentín^{1

2}, Karla Montalbán-Hernández^{1

2}, Fátima Ruiz de la Bastida^{1

2}, Miguel A García-Garrido^{1

3}, Carolina Cubillos-Zapata^{1

4}, Álvaro Del Balzo-Castillo^{1

3}, Luis A Aguirre^{1

2}, Eduardo López-Collazo^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ The Innate Immune Response Group, IdiPAZ, La Paz University Hospital, Paseo de la Castellana 261, Madrid, 28046, Spain.
² Tumor Immunology Laboratory, IdiPAZ, La Paz University Hospital, Paseo de la Castellana 261, Madrid, 28046, Spain.
³ Emergency Department and Emergent Pathology Research Group, IdiPAZ La Paz University Hospital, Paseo de la Castellana 261, Madrid, 28046, Spain.
⁴ CIBER of Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES), Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

Increased cytokine levels, acute phase reactants and immune checkpoint expression changes have been described in patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Here, we have reported a monocyte polarization towards a low HLA-DR and high PD-L1 expression after long exposure to proteins from SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, CD86 expression was also reduced over SARS-CoV-2 proteins exposure. Additionally, T-cells proliferation was significantly reduced after stimulation with these proteins. Eventually, patients with long-term SARS-CoV-2 infection also exhibited a significant blockade of T-cells proliferation.

Keywords: COVID19; Immune checkpoints; Immunology; Infectious disease; Inflammation; PD-L1/PD-1; Pathology; Sepsis; T cell exhaustion; T cell proliferation; Virology.