Article Ad26.COV2.S priming provided a solid immunological base for mRNA-based COVID-19 booster vaccination

Author(s):
Geers, D.; Sablerolles, R.S.G.; Baarle, D.V.; Kootstra, N.A.; Rietdijk, W.J.R.; Schmitz, K.S.; Gommers, L.; Bogers, S.; Nieuwkoop, N.J.; Dijk, L.L.A. van; Haren, E. van; Lafeber, M.; Dalm, V.A.S.H.; Goorhuis, A.; Postma, D.F.; Visser, L.G. (0000-0002-3600-9782); Huckriede, A.L.W.; Sette, A.; Grifoni, A.; Swart, R.L. de; Koopmans, M.P.G.; Kuy, P.H.M. van der; GeurtsvanKessel, C.H.; Vries, R.D. de; SWITCH Res Grp
Published
2023
Publication type
Article / Letter to editor

Abstract

The emergence of novel SARS-CoV-2 variants led to the recommendation of booster vaccinations after Ad26.COV2.S priming. It was previously shown that heterologous booster vaccination induces high antibody levels, but how heterolo-gous boosters affect other functional aspects of the immune response remained unknown. Here, we performed immunological profiling of Ad26.COV2.S-primed individuals before and after homologous or heterologous (mRNA-1273 or BNT162b2) booster. Booster vaccinations increased functional antibodies target-ing ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and emerging variants. Especially heterologous booster vaccinations induced high levels of functional antibodies. In contrast, T-cell re-sponses were similar in magnitude following homologous or heterologous booster vaccination and retained cross-reactivity towards variants. Booster vaccination led to a minimal expansion of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell clones and no increase in the breadth of the T-cell repertoire. In conclusion, we show that Ad26.COV2.S priming vaccination provided a solid immunological base for heterologous boosting, increasing humoral and cellular responses targeting emerging variants of concern.

Date issued
2023-01-20
Language
English
Publisher
CELL PRESS
Is part of
iScience (2023), No. 1
hdl
1887/3640450
doi
10.1016/j.isci.2022.105753
URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004222020260?via%3Dihub