Authors: Rebecca J. Cox & Karl A. Brokstad Nature Reviews Immunology volume 20, pages581–582 (2020) Recent reports that antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 are not maintained in the serum following recovery from the virus have caused alarm. However, the absence of specific antibodies in the serum does not necessarily mean an absence of immune memory. Here, we discuss our current understanding of the […]
Authors: By Dr. Liji Thomas, MD The disease course of COVID-19 is diverse, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal respiratory failure. Emory University scientists have been working to uncover the immunological reasons behind this heterogeneity. A recent study on B cells, published on the preprint server medRxiv* in April 2020, shows that extrafollicular B cells could be a marker […]
Authors: Gemma E Hartley 1, Emily S J Edwards 1, Pei M Aui 1, Nirupama Varese 1 2, Stephanie Stojanovic 3, James McMahon 4 5, Anton Y Peleg 4 6, Irene Boo 7, Heidi E Drummer 7 8 9, P Mark Hogarth 1 10 11, Robyn E O’Hehir 1 2 3, Menno C van Zelm 12 2 Abstract Lasting immunity following SARS-CoV-2 infection is questioned because serum antibodies decline in convalescence. However, functional immunity is mediated by long-lived memory T and B (Bmem) cells. Therefore, we generated fluorescently-labeled […]
Authors: Beth Daley, Editor and General Manager To get the upper hand on the coronavirus, we first need to understand how our immune system reacts to it. Understanding this will lead to better treatments, effective vaccines and knowing how near we are to herd immunity – and if it’s even achievable. Every day, new research […]
Authors: References: Immunological memory to SARS-CoV-2 assessed for up to 8 months after infection. Dan JM, Mateus J, Kato Y, Hastie KM, Yu ED, Faliti CE, Grifoni A, Ramirez SI, Haupt S, Frazier A, Nakao C, Rayaprolu V, Rawlings SA, Peters B, Krammer F, Simon V, Saphire EO, Smith DM, Weiskopf D, Sette A, Crotty S. Science. 2021 […]
Authors: Pablo F Cañete 1, Carola G Vinuesa 2 Abstract Understanding which arms of the immune response are responsible for protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection is key to predicting long-term immunity and to inform vaccine design. Two studies in this issue of Cell collectively suggest that, although SARS-CoV-2 infection may blunt long-lived antibody responses, immune memory might still be […]
Authors: Sarah C.P. Williams A study of antibody-producing B cells from patients who recovered from COVID-19 reveals a new cross-reactive antibody and what makes some B cells more effective at neutralizing the virus. Inside the body of a person with COVID-19, the immune system’s B cells are engaged in a full-scale battle with the SARS-CoV-2 […]
Authors: Isaak Quast1 and David Tarlinton1,∗ Immunological memory is a mechanism to protect us against reinfection. Antibodies produced by B cells are integral to this defense strategy and underlie virtually all vaccine success. Here, we explain how B cell memory is generated by infection and vaccination, what influences its efficacy and its persistence, and how characterizing these […]
Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), sometimes less precisely called immune enhancement or disease enhancement, is a phenomenon in which binding of a virus to suboptimal antibodies enhances its entry into hostcells, followed by its replication.[1][2] ADE may cause enhanced respiratory disease and acute lung injury after respiratory virus infection (ERD) with symptoms of monocytic infiltration and an excess of eosinophils in respiratory tract.[3] ADE along with type 2 T helper cell-dependent […]
Dr. Marty Makary, a professor at John Hopkins School of Medicine, during an appearance on The Vince Coglianese Show, said individuals formerly infected with COVID-19 are seven times more likely then vaccinated people to fight off the virus. “It appears that natural immunity is better against the Delta variant. When you get infected with COVID, […]