Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2

Anu Goenka; Alice Halliday; Michaela Gregorova; Emily J Milodowski; Amy Thomas; Maia Kavanagh Williamson; Holly E Baum; Elizabeth H Oliver; Anna E Long; Lea Knezevic; Kapil Gupta; Natalie D Di Bartolo; Imre Berger; Ash M Toye; Jolanta Bernatoniene; Mick Bailey; Kathleen M Gillespie; Andrew D Davidson; Linda Wooldridge; Laura Rivino; Adam Finn

doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327

Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2

Anu Goenka^*, Alice Halliday, Michaela Gregorova, Emily J Milodowski, Amy Thomas, Maia Kavanagh Williamson, Holly E Baum, Elizabeth H Oliver, Anna E Long, Lea Knezevic, Kapil Gupta, Natalie D Di Bartolo, Imre Berger, Ash M Toye, Jolanta Bernatoniene, Mick Bailey, Kathleen M Gillespie, Andrew D Davidson, Linda Wooldridge, Laura RivinoAdam Finn

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

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Abstract

Severe COVID-19 appears rare in children. This is unexpected, especially in young infants, who are vulnerable to severe disease caused by other respiratory viruses. We evaluate convalescent immune responses in 4 infants under 3 months old with confirmed COVID-19 who presented with mild febrile illness, alongside their parents, and adult controls recovered from confirmed COVID-19. Although not statistically significant, compared to seropositive adults, infants have high serum levels of IgG and IgA to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with a corresponding functional ability to block SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry. Infants also exhibit robust saliva anti-spike IgG and IgA responses. Spike-specific IFN-γ production by infant peripheral blood mononuclear cells appears restrained, but the frequency of spike-specific IFN-γ- and/or TNF-α-producing T cells is comparable between infants and adults. On principal-component analysis, infant immune responses appear distinct from their parents. Robust functional antibody responses alongside restrained IFN-γ production may help protect infants from severe COVID-19.

Original language	English
Article number	100327
Number of pages	13
Journal	Cell Reports Medicine
Volume	2
Issue number	7
Early online date	9 Jun 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327
Publication status	Published - 20 Jul 2021

Research Groups and Themes

BrisSynBio
Bristol BioDesign Institute
Covid19

Keywords

synthetic biology
immunity
COVID-19
antibody
infant
T cell

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Goenka, A., Halliday, A., Gregorova, M., Milodowski, E. J., Thomas, A., Kavanagh Williamson, M., Baum, H. E., Oliver, E. H., Long, A. E., Knezevic, L., Gupta, K., Di Bartolo, N. D., Berger, I., Toye, A. M., Bernatoniene, J., Bailey, M., Gillespie, K. M., Davidson, A. D., Wooldridge, L., ... Finn, A. (2021). Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2. Cell Reports Medicine, 2(7), Article 100327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327

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title = "Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2",

abstract = "Severe COVID-19 appears rare in children. This is unexpected, especially in young infants, who are vulnerable to severe disease caused by other respiratory viruses. We evaluate convalescent immune responses in 4 infants under 3 months old with confirmed COVID-19 who presented with mild febrile illness, alongside their parents, and adult controls recovered from confirmed COVID-19. Although not statistically significant, compared to seropositive adults, infants have high serum levels of IgG and IgA to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with a corresponding functional ability to block SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry. Infants also exhibit robust saliva anti-spike IgG and IgA responses. Spike-specific IFN-γ production by infant peripheral blood mononuclear cells appears restrained, but the frequency of spike-specific IFN-γ- and/or TNF-α-producing T cells is comparable between infants and adults. On principal-component analysis, infant immune responses appear distinct from their parents. Robust functional antibody responses alongside restrained IFN-γ production may help protect infants from severe COVID-19.",

keywords = "synthetic biology, immunity, COVID-19, antibody, infant, T cell",

author = "Anu Goenka and Alice Halliday and Michaela Gregorova and Milodowski, {Emily J} and Amy Thomas and {Kavanagh Williamson}, Maia and Baum, {Holly E} and Oliver, {Elizabeth H} and Long, {Anna E} and Lea Knezevic and Kapil Gupta and {Di Bartolo}, {Natalie D} and Imre Berger and Toye, {Ash M} and Jolanta Bernatoniene and Mick Bailey and Gillespie, {Kathleen M} and Davidson, {Andrew D} and Linda Wooldridge and Laura Rivino and Adam Finn",

year = "2021",

month = jul,

day = "20",

doi = "10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327",

language = "English",

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journal = "Cell Reports Medicine",

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Goenka, A , Halliday, A, Gregorova, M, Milodowski, EJ , Thomas, A, Kavanagh Williamson, M, Baum, HE, Oliver, EH, Long, AE, Knezevic, L, Gupta, K, Di Bartolo, ND, Berger, I , Toye, AM, Bernatoniene, J, Bailey, M , Gillespie, KM , Davidson, AD , Wooldridge, L , Rivino, L & Finn, A 2021, 'Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2', Cell Reports Medicine, vol. 2, no. 7, 100327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327

TY - JOUR

T1 - Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2

AU - Goenka, Anu

AU - Halliday, Alice

AU - Gregorova, Michaela

AU - Milodowski, Emily J

AU - Thomas, Amy

AU - Kavanagh Williamson, Maia

AU - Baum, Holly E

AU - Oliver, Elizabeth H

AU - Long, Anna E

AU - Knezevic, Lea

AU - Gupta, Kapil

AU - Di Bartolo, Natalie D

AU - Berger, Imre

AU - Toye, Ash M

AU - Bernatoniene, Jolanta

AU - Bailey, Mick

AU - Gillespie, Kathleen M

AU - Davidson, Andrew D

AU - Wooldridge, Linda

AU - Rivino, Laura

AU - Finn, Adam

PY - 2021/7/20

Y1 - 2021/7/20

N2 - Severe COVID-19 appears rare in children. This is unexpected, especially in young infants, who are vulnerable to severe disease caused by other respiratory viruses. We evaluate convalescent immune responses in 4 infants under 3 months old with confirmed COVID-19 who presented with mild febrile illness, alongside their parents, and adult controls recovered from confirmed COVID-19. Although not statistically significant, compared to seropositive adults, infants have high serum levels of IgG and IgA to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with a corresponding functional ability to block SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry. Infants also exhibit robust saliva anti-spike IgG and IgA responses. Spike-specific IFN-γ production by infant peripheral blood mononuclear cells appears restrained, but the frequency of spike-specific IFN-γ- and/or TNF-α-producing T cells is comparable between infants and adults. On principal-component analysis, infant immune responses appear distinct from their parents. Robust functional antibody responses alongside restrained IFN-γ production may help protect infants from severe COVID-19.

AB - Severe COVID-19 appears rare in children. This is unexpected, especially in young infants, who are vulnerable to severe disease caused by other respiratory viruses. We evaluate convalescent immune responses in 4 infants under 3 months old with confirmed COVID-19 who presented with mild febrile illness, alongside their parents, and adult controls recovered from confirmed COVID-19. Although not statistically significant, compared to seropositive adults, infants have high serum levels of IgG and IgA to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, with a corresponding functional ability to block SARS-CoV-2 cellular entry. Infants also exhibit robust saliva anti-spike IgG and IgA responses. Spike-specific IFN-γ production by infant peripheral blood mononuclear cells appears restrained, but the frequency of spike-specific IFN-γ- and/or TNF-α-producing T cells is comparable between infants and adults. On principal-component analysis, infant immune responses appear distinct from their parents. Robust functional antibody responses alongside restrained IFN-γ production may help protect infants from severe COVID-19.

KW - synthetic biology

KW - immunity

KW - COVID-19

KW - antibody

KW - infant

KW - T cell

U2 - 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327

DO - 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100327

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 34124701

SN - 2666-3791

VL - 2

JO - Cell Reports Medicine

JF - Cell Reports Medicine

IS - 7

M1 - 100327

ER -

Young infants exhibit robust functional antibody responses and restrained IFN-γ production to SARS-CoV-2

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