Date: December 5 (Mon.), 2022 17:00-18:30
Place: Main lecture room, Web Hybrid (Zoom)
Speaker: Dr. Brian Laidlaw
Washington University in St. Louis

Title: SARS-CoV-2 booster vaccination rescues attenuated IgG1 memory B cell response in patients with primary antibody deficiency syndromes

Summary
CoV-2 vaccines have proven effective in eliciting an immune response capable of providing protective immunity in healthy individuals. However, whether SARS-CoV-2 vaccination induces a long-lived immune response in immunocompromised individuals is poorly understood. Primary antibody deficiency (PAD) syndromes are among the most common immunodeficiency disorders in adults and are characterized by an impaired ability to mount robust antibody responses following infection or vaccination. Here, we present data from a prospective study in which we analyzed the B and T cell response in PAD patients following SARS-COV-2 vaccination. Unexpectedly, individuals with PAD syndromes mounted a SARS-CoV-2 specific B and CD4+ T cell response that was comparable in magnitude to healthy individuals. Many individuals with PAD syndromes displayed reduced IgG1+ and CD11c+ memory B cell responses following the primary vaccination series. However, the IgG1 class-switching defect was largely rescued following mRNA booster vaccination. Boosting also elicited an increase in the SARS-CoV-2-specific B and T cell response and the development of Omicron-specific memory B cells in COVID-19-naïve PAD patients. Together, these data indicate that SARS-CoV-2 vaccines elicit memory B and T cells in PAD patients that may contribute to long-term protective immunity.