PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Syed Faraz Ahmed
AU  - Ahmed Abdul Quadeer
AU  - Matthew R. McKay
TI  - SARS-CoV-2 T cell responses are expected to remain robust against Omicron
AID  - 10.1101/2021.12.12.472315
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.12.12.472315
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/12/14/2021.12.12.472315.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/12/14/2021.12.12.472315.full
AB  - Omicron, the most recent SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VOC), harbours multiple mutations in the spike protein that were not observed in previous VOCs. Initial studies suggest Omicron to substantially reduce the neutralizing capability of antibodies induced from vaccines and previous infection. However, its effect on T cell responses remains to be determined. Here, we assess the effect of Omicron mutations on known T cell epitopes and report data suggesting T cell responses to remain broadly robust against this new variant.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have filed for patent protection for various applications of SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes.