"The study results confirm that the level of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in blood samples does not always correlate with the T-cell response. "This discovery allows a rapid and large-scale expansion of studies to track T-cell activity across the world, while not requiring specialised or expensive equipment," said Professor Antonio Bertoletti from Duke-NUS' EID programme, the study's corresponding author. Working with different blood samples from more than 200 people, the researchers desmonstrated that the CRA test was as sensitive as existing methods used to find and measure T-cell activity. In response to these fragments, the T cells released chemical signals called cytokines, which are much easier to detect and measure than T cells, and are already being tracked to monitor T-cell activity for the diagnosis of diseases such as tuberculosis.īuilding on that, the team showed that the test, called Cytokine Release Assay (CRA), can reliably identify and quantify specific T cells present in the blood of people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19, or have recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection. They then introduced small fragments of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein directly into the blood samples. "Our research offers a feasible approach that can overcome the current limitations faced in detecting spike-specific T-cell responses, and will help better evaluate the protective role played by T cells in our immune system."įor the study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, scientists took blood samples from volunteers who were vaccinated against COVID-19, or who had been infected and then recovered from the disease. "T cells play a vital role alongside antibodies in protecting people against COVID-19, but they are much harder to detect and measure," said Dr Anthony Tanoto Tan, Senior Research Fellow with Duke-NUS' Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme and first author of the study. This method is a further boost to scientists who seek to routinely monitor and assess SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses in vaccinated or convalescent individuals, as well as to test and verify the effectiveness of vaccines. A growing body of data now demonstrates the importance of both T cells and antibodies in the coordinated immune response against SARS-CoV-2.
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