SHARE ON: |
| |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
The emergence of coronavirus variants has provoked concern about their impact on the effectiveness of vaccines, and whether people who were previously infected might be more susceptible to reinfection.
But in welcome news, a new study on Tuesday showed that a key player in the immune response, called the killer T cell, remained mostly unaffected.
The finding is encouraging because although these white blood cells are not a first line defense against infection, they can help prevent severe disease.
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins University analyzed blood samples from 30 people who had contracted and recovered from COVID-19 prior to the emergence of variants.
They published their findings in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, an Oxford University Press journal.
The team wanted to know whether these cells, known by their technical name CD8+ T cells, could still recognize three variants of SARS-CoV-2: B.1.1.7, first found in Britain, B.1.351, identified in South Africa, and B.1.1.248, first seen in Brazil.
What makes each of these variants unique is the mutations they carry, especially in a region of the virus spike protein, structures that stud its surface and allow it to invade cells.
It has already been shown that mutations to this region of the spike protein make some variants less recognizable to neutralizing antibodies -- infection fighting proteins produced by the immune systems B cells.
This seems to be particularly true, for instance, of B.1.351, according to research on the impact of current generation COVID-19 vaccines.
Neutralizing antibodies are custom-made to fit an antigen, or a specific structure of a pathogen.
In the case of the coronavirus, this is the spike protein, which the antibodies bind to, preventing the virus from infecting cells.
Killer T cells, on the other hand, look for telltale signs of cells that have already been infected with pathogens they have previously encountered, and then kill those cells.
In the new study, the researchers found that the killer T cell responses remained largely intact and could recognize virtually all mutations in the variants studied.
The researchers noted that larger studies are needed to confirm the results, but said that it nevertheless demonstrated that killer T cells are less susceptible to mutations in the coronavirus than neutralizing antibodies are.
Antibodies are still important to prevent infection in the first place -- and the reduced efficacy of vaccines to the variants seems to be evidence of this.
But a killer T cell response that kicks in later and aids in clearing off the disease, helps explain why the vaccines seem to be able to prevent severe disease and hospitalization, even though their efficacy at stopping infection by variants is reduced.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
11 am |
| -17 ℃ |
| LIGHT SNOW |
WIND: SSE 21 KM/H
GUSTING TO 40 KM/H |
|
|
|
12 pm |
| -16 ℃ |
| LIGHT SNOW |
WIND: SSE 21 KM/H
GUSTING TO 39 KM/H |
|
|
 |
1 pm |
| -15 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 21 KM/H
GUSTING TO 33 KM/H |
|
|
|
2 pm |
| -14 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: S 20 KM/H
GUSTING TO 29 KM/H |
|
|
|
3 pm |
| -13 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 19 KM/H
GUSTING TO 30 KM/H |
|
|
|
4 pm |
| -13 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 17 KM/H
GUSTING TO 30 KM/H |
|
|
 |
5 pm |
| -14 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 14 KM/H
GUSTING TO 29 KM/H |
|
|
|
6 pm |
| -15 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 14 KM/H
GUSTING TO 29 KM/H |
|
|
|
|
TODAY |
HIGH OF -13 ℃
LOW OF -20 ℃ |
| LIGHT SNOW |
|
|
|
MONDAY |
HIGH OF -8 ℃
LOW OF -15 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
|
TUESDAY |
HIGH OF -2 ℃
LOW OF -12 ℃ |
| LIGHT SNOW |
|
|
|
WEDNESDAY |
HIGH OF -12 ℃
LOW OF -18 ℃ |
| SNOW |
|
|
|
THURSDAY |
HIGH OF -14 ℃
LOW OF -28 ℃ |
| SNOW |
|
|
|
FRIDAY |
HIGH OF -25 ℃
LOW OF -31 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
|
SATURDAY |
HIGH OF -11 ℃
LOW OF -21 ℃ |
| LIGHT SNOW |
|
|
|
SUNDAY |
HIGH OF -19 ℃
LOW OF -25 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
| Zwilling Christmas Sale – Gifts for Home Chefs! |
| |
| Celebrate the holidays with Zwilling! Save on premium knives, cookware, and kitchen accessories—perfect gifts for aspiring chefs. |
| |
| Holiday deals won’t last—shop Zwilling Christmas savings! |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
KELSEA BALLERINI
YEAH BOY
11:11 AM |
|
 |
RACHAEL FAHIM
DARTS IN THE DARK
11:07 AM |
|
 |
SUGARLAND
THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD
11:04 AM |
|
 |
RYAN GRIFFIN
GOD WILLIN
11:01 AM |
|
 |
CHASE WRIGHT
THE TRUTH
10:58 AM |
|
 |
BRANTLEY GILBERT
OVER WHEN WE ARE SOBER
10:55 AM |
|
 |
EASTON CORBIN
BABY BE MY LOVE SONG
10:52 AM |
|
 |
LUKE BRYAN
SOUTHERN AND SLOW
10:49 AM |
|
 |
JAYLEE GANDY
DOWN THE ROAD
10:43 AM |
|
 |
RYAN HURD
THIS PARTY SUCKS
10:40 AM |
|
|
