Human NK cell responses to the SARS-CoV-2 Spike269-277 peptide YLQPRTFLL

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells act as the first line of defense against virus infections. The effector functions of human NK cells are controlled by inhibitory and activating receptors, including NKG2A and NKG2C, which recognize peptides presented by HLA-E. Recent studies have suggested that the SARS-CoV-2 Spike269-277 peptide YLQPRTFLL may modulate NK cell activity. Here, we show that the YLQPRTFLL peptide is poorly presented by HLA-E. Functional interrogation further revealed that loading of target cells with YLQPRTFLL did not affect the effector functions of NKG2A+ nor NKG2C+ NK cells. Our findings thus indicate that the Spike269-277 peptide YLQPRTFLL has a limited influence on human NK cell responses.