UK Variant and Immune Evasion
The B.1.1.7 variant contains the E484K mutation which renders resistance
to serologic responses in infected individuals8.To
determine if this VOC evaded T-cell immunity, we analyzed 19
infected/recovered patients and 18 vaccinated individuals for CD4+/CD8+
T-cell responses against B.1.1.7 variant Spike protein. As shown in
Figure 3, there is no significant reduction in CD4+/CD8+ T-cell
responses to the variant B.1.1.7 Spike peptides as compared to the
original Wuhan Spike peptides (mean of infected patients: 0.23%
original to 0.18% variant; mean of vaccinated individuals: 0.16%
original to 0.14% variant). Five of 20 infected patients and 6 of 18
vaccinated individuals had no detectable CD8+ T-cells against the
original or variant Spike peptides (data not shown). The other 15
infected and 12 vaccinated individuals demonstrated nearly identical
CD8+ responses to the original Wuhan Spike and variant Spike (Figure
3B). When the individual T-cell responses to the original and variant
spikes were compared, those with higher CD4+ T-cell immunity tend to
lose some reactivity to the variant peptide, but not at a significant
level (Figure 3C and 3D). In summary, T-cell memory induced by
SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination establishes effective immune
response against the B.1.1.7 variant. This would suggest protective
immunity against B.1.1.7 infection and possibly other
VOC13.