Identification of Potential SARS-CoV-2 CD8 T Cell Escape Mutants.
Syed Faraz Ahmed, Muhammad Saqib Sohail, Ahmed Abdul Quadeer, Matthew R McKay
Author Information
Syed Faraz Ahmed: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. ORCID
Muhammad Saqib Sohail: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China. ORCID
Ahmed Abdul Quadeer: Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong SAR, China. ORCID
Matthew R McKay: Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia. ORCID
Memory SARS-CoV-2-specific CD8 T cell responses induced upon infection or COVID-19 vaccination have been important for protecting against severe COVID-19 disease while being largely robust against variants of concern (VOCs) observed so far. However, T cell immunity may be weakened by genetic mutations in future SARS-CoV-2 variants that lead to widespread T cell escape. The capacity for SARS-CoV-2 mutations to escape memory T cell responses requires comprehensive experimental investigation, though this is prohibited by the large number of SARS-CoV-2 mutations that have been observed. To guide targeted experimental studies, here we provide a screened list of potential SARS-CoV-2 T cell escape mutants. These mutants are identified as candidates for T cell escape as they lie within CD8 T cell epitopes that are commonly targeted in individuals and are predicted to abrogate HLA-peptide binding.
