Researchers from HSE studied the effectiveness of the T-cell reaction to various strains of SARS-COV-2. The work of scientists is published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
Coronavirus mutations allow its new strains to more efficiently leave the antibodies produced by man. However, it is still not fully known whether SARS-COV-2 has become more efficiently avoiding one of their main mechanisms for the protection of the body – T-cells. The development of T-cell immune response is largely determined by genetic factors – in particular, by numerous variants of genes of the main complex of human histocompatibility (human leukocyte antigens, HLA), each of which corresponds to a molecule that recognizes a certain set of virus proteins. The set of these molecules in humans and determines the effectiveness of T-cell immunity.
The scientists of the Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology HSE estimated the power of the interaction of HLA molecules and peptides of coronavirus strains – “alpha”, “beta”, “gamma”, “Delta”, “Epsilon”, “Dzeta”, “This”, “Theta “,” Yota “,” Kappa “and” Lambda “- and amounted to their atlas. The researchers allocated those options that the virus recognizes the most. Media of such options for HLA genes can be a risk group when infected with a mutant strain of the virus, students emphasize.