{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"medRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T08:12:50Z","timestamp":1768551170675,"version":"3.49.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,8]]},"group-title":"Infectious Diseases (except HIV\/AIDS)","reference-count":24,"publisher":"openRxiv","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>A proper description of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 will be critical for the assessment of protection elicited after both infection and vaccination. Uncoupled T and B cell responses have been described in acute and convalescent patients and exposed individuals. We assessed the potential usefulness of whole blood stimulation assays to identify functional cellular immune responses to SARS-CoV-2. Blood from COVID-19 recovered individuals (5 months after infection) and negative subjects was stimulated for 24 hours with HLA predicted peptide \u201cmegapools\u201d of the Spike and Nucleoprotein, or the mixture of them. After stimulation, cytokines were quantified using a beads-based multiplex assay. Interleukin-2 and IFN-\u03b3 were found to be specific biomarkers of SARS-CoV-2 cellular response. Using the Spike and Nucleoprotein mixture, 91.3% of COVID-19 recovered individuals presented an IL-2 stimulation index over the cut-off, while 82.6% showed IFN-\u03b3. All the negative individuals presented an IL-2 response under the cut-off, while 5.3% of these subjects presented positive IFN-\u03b3 stimulation indexes. Moreover, IL-2 production correlated with IgG levels for Spike 1, RBD, and Nucleocapsid. In conclusion, we demonstrate the potential of whole blood stimulation assays and the quantification of IL-2 and IFN-\u03b3 for the analysis of SARS-CoV-2 functional cellular responses.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1101\/2021.01.04.20248897","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,1,9]],"date-time":"2021-01-09T16:58:07Z","timestamp":1610211487000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["IL-2 and IFN-\u03b3 are biomarkers of SARS-CoV-2 specific cellular response in whole blood stimulation assays"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Bego\u00f1a","family":"P\u00e9rez-Cabezas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ricardo","family":"Ribeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"In\u00eas","family":"Costa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Sofia","family":"Esteves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ana Rafaela","family":"Teixeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Teresa","family":"Reis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ricardo","family":"Monteiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Alexandre","family":"Afonso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Vitor","family":"Pinheiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Maria Isabel","family":"Antunes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Luc\u00edlia Ara\u00fajo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Jo\u00e3o Niza","family":"Ribeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Anabela","family":"Cordeiro-da-Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Nuno","family":"Santar\u00e9m","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0391-2622","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joana","family":"Tavares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2021010909150532000_2021.01.04.20248897v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciimmunol.aat1482"},{"key":"2021010909150532000_2021.01.04.20248897v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/sciimmunol.abd6160"},{"issue":"7833","key":"2021010909150532000_2021.01.04.20248897v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"270","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2598-9","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells in healthy donors and patients with COVID-19","volume":"587","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"3","key":"2021010909150532000_2021.01.04.20248897v1.4","first-page":"436","article-title":"Functional analysis via standardized whole-blood stimulation systems defines the boundaries of a healthy immune response to complex stimuli","volume":"40","year":"2017","journal-title":"Immunity"},{"key":"2021010909150532000_2021.01.04.20248897v1.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gallais, F. , et al. 2020. 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