Integrated Immunopeptidomics and Proteomics Study Reveals Imbalanced Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses to SARS-Cov-2 Infection

Abstract

We present an integrated immunopeptidomics and proteomics study of SARS-Cov-2 infection to comprehensively decipher the changes in host cells in response to viral infection. Our results indicated that innate immune response in Calu-3 cells was initiated by TLR3, followed by activation of interferon signaling pathway. Host cells also present viral antigens to the cell surface through both Class I and Class II MHC system for recognition by adaptive immune system. SARS-Cov-2 infection led to the disruption of antigen presentation as demonstrated by higher level of HLA proteins from the flow-through of MHC immunoprecipitation. Glycosylation analysis of HLA proteins from the elution and flow-through of immunoprecipitation revealed that the synthesis and degradation of HLA protein was affected by SARS-Cov-2 infection. This study provided many useful information to study the host response to SARS-Cov-2 infection and would be helpful for the development of therapeutics and vaccine for Covid-19 and future pandemic.

HLA-I and HLA-II Peptidomes of SARS-CoV-2: A Review

“…A more recent study reported that the changes in host cells in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection were comprehensively interpreted by integrated immunopeptidomics and proteomics [ 69 ]. This study revealed that the initial innate immune response of Calu-3 cells was via TLR3, and then interferon signaling pathway activation.…”