Expansion of cytotoxic tissue-resident CD8+ T cells and CCR6+CD161+ CD4+ T cells in the nasal mucosa following mRNA COVID-19 vaccination

Aloysious Ssemaganda, Huong Mai Nguyen, Faisal Nuhu, Naima Jahan, Catherine M. Card, Sandra Kiazyk, Giulia Severini, Yoav Keynan, Ruey-Chyi Su, Hezhao Ji, Bernard Abrenica, Paul J. McLaren, T. Blake Ball, Jared Bullard, Paul Van Caeseele, Derek Stein and Lyle R. McKinnon ()
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Aloysious Ssemaganda: University of Manitoba
Huong Mai Nguyen: University of Manitoba
Faisal Nuhu: University of Manitoba
Naima Jahan: University of Manitoba
Catherine M. Card: University of Manitoba
Sandra Kiazyk: University of Manitoba
Giulia Severini: University of Manitoba
Yoav Keynan: University of Manitoba
Ruey-Chyi Su: University of Manitoba
Hezhao Ji: University of Manitoba
Bernard Abrenica: National Microbiology Laboratory, Public Health Agency of Canada
Paul J. McLaren: University of Manitoba
T. Blake Ball: University of Manitoba
Jared Bullard: University of Manitoba
Paul Van Caeseele: University of Manitoba
Derek Stein: University of Manitoba
Lyle R. McKinnon: University of Manitoba

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have shown high efficacy in clinical trials, yet a full immunologic characterization of these vaccines, particularly within the human upper respiratory tract, is less well known. Here, we enumerate and phenotype T cells in nasal mucosa and blood using flow cytometry before and after vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (n = 21). Tissue-resident memory (Trm) CD8+ T cells expressing CD69+CD103+ increase in number ~12 days following the first and second doses, by 0.31 and 0.43 log10 cells per swab respectively (p = 0.058 and p = 0.009 in adjusted linear mixed models). CD69+CD103+CD8+ T cells in the blood decrease post-vaccination. Similar increases in nasal CD8+CD69+CD103− T cells are observed, particularly following the second dose. CD4+ cells co-expressing CCR6 and CD161 are also increased in abundance following both doses. Stimulation of nasal CD8+ T cells with SARS-CoV-2 spike peptides elevates expression of CD107a at 2- and 6-months (p = 0.0096) post second vaccine dose, with a subset of donors also expressing increased cytokines. These data suggest that nasal T cells may be induced and contribute to the protective immunity afforded by this vaccine.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30913-4

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