Understanding adaptive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is a major requisite for the development of effective vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. CD4+ T cells play an integral role in this process primarily by generating antiviral cytokines and providing help to antibody-producing B cells. To empower detailed studies of SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell responses in mouse models, we comprehensively mapped I-Ab-restricted epitopes for the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of the BA.1 variant of concern via IFNγ ELISpot assay. This was followed by the generation of corresponding peptide:MHCII tetramer reagents to directly stain epitope-specific T cells. Using this rigorous validation strategy, we identified 6 immunogenic epitopes in spike and 3 in nucleocapsid, all of which are conserved in the ancestral Wuhan strain. We also validated a previously identified epitope from Wuhan that is absent in BA.1. These epitopes and tetramers will be invaluable tools for SARS-CoV-2 antigen-specific CD4+ T cell studies in mice.
CITATION STYLE
Bricio-Moreno, L., Barreto de Albuquerque, J., Neary, J. M., Nguyen, T., Kuhn, L. F., Yeung, Y. P., … Moon, J. J. (2024). Identification of mouse CD4+ T cell epitopes in SARS-CoV-2 BA.1 spike and nucleocapsid for use in peptide:MHCII tetramers. Frontiers in Immunology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2024.1329846
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