Authors
Nguyen Thi Thu Hong, Barbara Kronsteiner, Tran Tan Thanh, Martha Zewdie, Mohammad Ali, Nguyen To Anh, Lam Anh Nguyet, Nguyen Thanh Dung, Le Mau Toan, Juthathip Mongkolsapaya, Chee Wah Tan, Nguyen Thanh Truong, Le Kim Thanh, Le Nguyen Truc Nhu, Cao Thu Thuy, Nguyen Van Vinh Chau, Guy Thwaites, Paul Klenerman, Susanna J Dunachie, Le Van Tan, for SEACOVARIANTS Consortium
Published in
Clinical and experimental immunology. Oct 30, 2026. Epub Oct 30, 2026.
Abstract
Widespread SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination have reshaped global immunity to coronaviruses. Whether this immunity extends to animal sarbecoviruses with spillover potential remains unknown. We assessed cross-reactive memory T-cell responses to spike proteins from five relevant human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2)-dependent sarbecoviruses and MERS-CoV in healthcare workers in the UK and Vietnam. Limited SARS-CoV-2 specific or cross-reactive responses were seen in pre-pandemic samples. However, in samples collected from vaccinated donors at 3-24 months after booster vaccination, cross-reactive T-cell responses across the hACE2-dependent sarbecoviruses were detected. There was a strong correlation between the magnitude of responses and the level of viral sequence identity. This relationship was reproduced across cohorts in the UK and Vietnam. These findings indicate that post-pandemic populations possess measurable cellular immunity to genetically related sarbecoviruses and suggest that the degree of T-cell cross-recognition can be predicted from the spike protein sequence conservation. Such data provide an immunological framework for assessing vulnerability to future sarbecovirus spillover.
PMID:
42958951
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 30 Oct 2026.
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