Impact of Memory T Cells on SARS-COV-2 Vaccine Response in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients faced an elevated mortality rate from SARS-CoV-2 infection, ranging between 10-40%. The SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines are important tools in preventing severe disease, yet their efficacy in the post-transplant setting remains unclear, especially in patients subjected to myeloablative chemotherapy and immunosuppression. We evaluated the humoral and adaptive immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination series in 42 HSCT recipients and 5 healthy controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear nuclear cells and serum were prospectively collected before and after each dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. Post-vaccination responses were assessed by measuring anti-spike IgG and nucleocapsid titers, and antigen specific T cell activity, before and after vaccination. In order to examine mechanisms behind a lack of response, pre-and post-vaccine samples were selected based on humoral and cellular responses for single-cell RNA sequencing with TCR and BCR sequencing. Our observations revealed that while all participants eventually mounted a humoral response, transplant recipients had defects in memory T cell populations that were associated with an absence of T cell response, some of which could be detected pre-vaccination.