SARS-CoV-2 human T cell epitopes: Adaptive immune response against COVID-19

Over the past year, numerous studies in the peer reviewed and preprint literature have reported on the virological, epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. To date, 25 studies have investigated and identified SARS-CoV-2-derived T cell epitopes in humans. Here, we review these recent studies, how they were performed, and their findings. We review how epitopes identified throughout the SARS-CoV2 proteome reveal significant correlation between number of epitopes defined and size of the antigen provenance. We also report additional analysis of SARS-CoV-2 human CD4 and CD8 T cell epitope data compiled from these studies, identifying 1,400 different reported SARS-CoV-2 epitopes and revealing discrete immunodominant regions of the virus and epitopes that are more prevalently recognized. This remarkable breadth of epitope repertoire has implications for vaccine design, cross-reactivity, and immune escape by SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Automated summary

This review summarizes recent studies on SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes, highlighting the significant correlation between epitope number and antigen size. It also presents an analysis of 1,400 different reported SARS-CoV-2 epitopes and identifies discrete immunodominant regions of the virus and more prevalently recognized epitopes.