Characterizing the cellular and molecular variabilities of peripheral immune cells in healthy recipients of BBIBP-CorV inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine by single-cell RNA sequencing

Over 3 billion doses of inactivated vaccines for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have been administered globally. However, our understanding of the immune cell functional transcription and T cell receptor (TCR)/B cell receptor (BCR) repertoire dynamics following inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccination remains poorly understood. Here, we performed single-cell RNA and TCR/BCR sequencing on peripheral blood mononuclear cells at four time points after immunization with the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BBIBP-CorV. Our analysis revealed an enrichment of monocytes, central memory CD4(+) T cells, type 2 helper T cells and memory B cells following vaccination. Single-cell TCR-seq and RNA-seq comminating analysis identified a clonal expansion of CD4(+) T cells (but not CD8(+) T cells) following a booster vaccination that corresponded to a decrease in the TCR diversity of central memory CD4(+) T cells and type 2 helper T cells. Importantly, these TCR repertoire changes and CD4(+) T cell differentiation were correlated with the biased VJ gene usage of BCR and the antibody-producing function of B cells post-vaccination. Finally, we compared the functional transcription and repertoire dynamics in immune cells elicited by vaccination and SARS-CoV-2 infection to explore the immune responses under different stimuli. Our data provide novel molecular and cellular evidence for the CD4(+) T cell-dependent antibody response induced by inactivated vaccine BBIBP-CorV. This information is urgently needed to develop new prevention and control strategies for SARS-CoV-2 infection. (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04871932).

Automated summary

We investigated the immune cell functional transcription and T cell receptor/B cell receptor repertoire dynamics after immunization with the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BBIBP-CorV through single-cell RNA and TCR/BCR sequencing. Our analysis revealed increased abundance of monocytes, central memory CD4(+) T cells, type 2 helper T cells, and memory B cells following vaccination. We observed clonal expansion of CD4(+) T cells, correlated with decreased TCR diversity, and biased VJ gene usage of BCR. These findings provide molecular and cellular evidence for the CD4(+) T cell-dependent antibody response induced by the BBIBP-CorV vaccine.