Skip to main content
. 2021 May 21;2(6):100312. doi: 10.1016/j.xcrm.2021.100312

Table 1.

Summary of immunological studies reporting SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes targeted in individuals recovered from COVID-19 (as of April 20, 2021)

No. Studya Geography (Country) Total Individuals Gender (Female/Male) Median Age (Range) Disease Severityb (Asymptomatic or Mild) Disease Severityb (Moderate or Severe) Blood Collection Time (Days)c Initial Peptide Selection Procedured Proteins Total Peptides Tested T cell Assay Total Distinct Epitopes Identified
1 Saini et al.14 Denmark 18 6/12 43.5 (29–82) 7 11 As close as possible to the first positive test NetMHCpan-4.1 all 2,204 multimer qualitative binding 122
2 Kared et al.15 Baltimore/ Washington, USA 30 12/18 42.5 (19–77) N/A N/A 27–62 after symptom resolution Grifoni et al.;16 Prachar et al.17 all 408 multimer qualitative binding 46
3 Schulien et al.18 Germany 26 14/12 32.5 (24–56) 26 0 24 (14–70) after symptom onset ANN-4.0, SARS-CoV epitopes16 S, N, M, ORF1ab, ORF3a 66 multimer qualitative binding 37
4 Poran et al.19 N/A 3 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A HLAthena all 23 multimer qualitative binding 11
5 Shomuradova et al.20 Moscow, Russia 31 16/15 35 (17–59) 21 10 33 (17–49) after positive test/after disease onset NetMHCpan-4.0 and identity with SARS-CoV > 60% S 13 multimer qualitative binding 10
6 Nielsen et al.21 Denmark 203 92/111 47 (21–79) 17 186 44 (14–129) after symptom onset N/A S, N, M 9 multimer qualitative binding 9
7 Chour et al.22 USA 2 0/2 50 (30–70) 0 2 6.5 (2–13) post symptom onset NetMHC-4.0 S 96 multimer qualitative binding 6
8 Sekine et al.23 Sweden 66 14/41 51 40 26 53.5 (IQR: 45.5–61) after symptom onset NetMHCpan-4.1 all 13 multimer qualitative binding 4
9 Nguyen et al.24 Melbourne, Australia 7 1/6 32 (19–74) 6 1 90 (5–145) after disease onset overlapping peptide pools and 5 N-specific immunogenic peptides25,18,26,27 S, N, M N/A ICS IFN-γ release; multimer qualitative binding 3
10 Rha et al.28 South Korea 37 18/19 46 (21–83) 23 14 46 (19–125) after symptom onset N/A S, N, M 8 multimer qualitative binding 2
11 Ferretti et al.26 New Jersey/Louisiana, USA 78 55/23 19.5 (0–80) 55 23 49 (11–111) post diagnosis identification of 20-mer peptides by TScan screen29 followed by NetMHC-4.0 all ~240 Single-allele ELISA IFN-γ; multimer qualitative bindinge 28
12 Nelde et al.30 Germany 116 55/61 44 (18–75) 36 80 37.7 (19–52) after positive test SYFPEITHI-1.0, NetMHCpan-4.0 all 120 ICS IFN-γ release; ELISPOT IFN-γ release 47
13 Hu et al.31 Chongqing, China 37 16/21 47 (20–67) 34 3 N/A NetMHCpan-4.0, SARS-CoV epitopes32,16 S, N 78 ELISPOT IFN-γ release 15
14 Habel et al.25 Melbourne, Australia 18 10/8 54 (22–76) 11 7 47 (36–102) after disease onset NetCTLpan, NetMHCpan S, N, M, ORF1ab 14 ICS IFN-γ release 14
15 Lineburg et al.33 Queensland, Australia 37 23/14 51 (20–75) 7 5 62 (46–124) after positive test overlapping peptide pools followed by peptide matrix analysis all N/A ICS IFN-γ release 4
16 Lee et al.34 New South Wales, Australia 2 N/A N/A 0 2 30–60 after symptom resolution Network analysis35 followed by NetMHCpan-4.1 and NetMHCIIpan-4.0 S, N 2 ICS IFN-γ release 2
17 Tarke et al.36 San Diego, USA 99 58/41 41 (19–91) 90 9 67 (3–184) after symptom onset NetMHCpan-4.0 all 7,525 AIM assay37 803
18 Peng et al.27 UK 42 16/26 57 (20–95) 28 14 42 (30–62) after symptom onset 15- to 18-mer peptides overlapping by 10 residues, SARS-CoV epitopes32 all except ORF1 450 ELISPOT IFN-γ release 46f
a

Studies reporting precise epitopes along with the cognate HLA information.

b

Definition of disease severity varies among studies.

c

IQR, interquartile range.

d

NetCTLpan,38 NetMHC-4.0,39 NetMHCpan,40 NetMHCpan-4.0,41 NetMHCpan-4.1,42 SYFPEITHI-1.0,43 ANN-4.0,44 and HLAthena.45

e

Six (of 28) epitopes were identified using multimer qualitative binding.

f

Only two (of 46) epitopes that were reported as precise epitopes with the cognate HLA information were considered.