SARS-CoV-2 infection induces long-lived bone marrow plasma cells in humans

 Jackson S. Turner1 , Wooseob Kim1 , Elizaveta Kalaidina2 , Charles W. Goss3 2 , Adriana M. Rauseo4 , Aaron J. Schmitz1 , Lena Hansen1,5 , Alem Haile6 , Michael K. Klebert6 3 , Iskra Pusic7 , Jane A. O’Halloran4 , Rachel M. Presti4 , Ali H. Ellebedy1,8#

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-132821/v1

PDF: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-132821/v1.pdf

Summary 

Infection or vaccination induces a population of long-lived bone marrow plasma cells (BMPCs) that are a persistent and essential source of protective antibodies. Whether this population is induced in patients infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unknown. Recent reports  have suggested that SARS-CoV-2 convalescent patients experience a rapid decay in their antigen-specific serum antibodies, raising concerns that humoral immunity against this virus may be short-lived 6 . Here we show that in patients  who experienced mild infections (n=73), serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) antibodies indeed decline rapidly in the first 3 to 4 months after infection.  However, this is followed by a more stable phase between 4- and 8-months after  infection with a slower serum anti-S antibody decay rate. The level of serum  antibodies correlated with the frequency of S-specific long-lived BMPCs obtained  from 18 SARS-CoV-2 convalescent patients 7 to 8 months after infection. S specific BMPCs were not detected in aspirates from 11 healthy subjects with no  history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Comparable frequencies of BMPCs specific to  contemporary influenza virus antigens or tetanus and diphtheria vaccine antigens  were present in aspirates in both groups. Circulating memory B cells (MBCs)  directed against the S protein were detected in the SARS-CoV-2 convalescent  patients but not in uninfected controls, whereas both groups had MBCs against6 influenza virus hemagglutinin. Overall, we show that robust antigen specific long lived BMPCs and MBCs are induced after mild SARS-CoV-2 infection of humans.

https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-132821/v1