Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40774254›Full record

ArticleCell2025

Highly conserved Betacoronavirus sequences are broadly recognized by human T cells.

Tertuliano Alves Pereira Neto, Christian Zmasek, Liliana Avalos, John Sidney, Raphael Trevizani, Elizabeth Phillips, Simon Mallal, April Frazier, Gene S Tan, Richard H Scheuermann and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cell, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Comprehensive mapping of human CD4Cell reports. Medicine · 2026
    Article
  4. Decoding the human CD4Cell reports. Medicine · 2026
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Tertuliano Alves Pereira NetoCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Christian ZmasekDepartment of Informatics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Liliana AvalosCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
John SidneyCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Raphael TrevizaniCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Elizabeth PhillipsInstitute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia.
Simon MallalInstitute for Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia.
April FrazierCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Gene S TanDepartment of Genomic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Richard H ScheuermannDepartment of Informatics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Department of Genomic Medicine and Infectious Diseases, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Division of Intramural Research, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20894, USA.
Alessandro SetteCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Alba GrifoniCenter for Vaccine Innovation, La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Electronic address: agrifoni@lji.org.

Funding

The Development and Evaluation of Pan-Coronavirus VaccinesP01AI168347 · NIAID · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI Michael S Diamond · 2022 to 2026
$15.9M
THE IDENTIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF EPITOPES CONSERVED IN VIRAL PATHOGEN FAMILIES WITH PANDEMIC POTENTIAL75N93024C00056 · NIAID · LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY · PI FABRITZKY, BRANDON · 2024 to 2025
$2.1M
NIAID NIH HHS 75N93024C00056NIAID NIH HHS P01 AI168347
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical need for vaccine strategies capable of addressing emerging viral threats. Betacoronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and SARS-CoV-2, present significant pandemic risks due to their zoonotic potential and genetic diversity. T cell-mediated immunity has demonstrated durable responses and strong cross-reactivity, offering a promising avenue for achieving broad immunity within a viral family. In this study, we combined comprehensive epitope mapping with sequence conservation analyses to identify conserved T cell epitope regions (CTERs), which constitute 12% of the complete SARS-CoV-2 proteome. We showed that SARS-CoV-2 CTER-specific T cells cross-reactively recognize sequences from multiple Betacoronavirus subgenera. Importantly, incorporating CTERs from non-spike proteins significantly enhanced T cell cross-reactivity potential and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) coverage compared with T cells targeting only spike proteins. Our findings lay the groundwork for a multi-antigen vaccine strategy that includes non-spike proteins to expand cross-reactive immunity across a broader spectrum of Betacoronaviruses.

Indexed as

Epitopes, T-LymphocyteSARS-CoV-2T-LymphocytesAmino Acid SequenceConserved SequenceCOVID-19Cross ReactionsEpitope MappingHLA AntigensHumansMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronavirusSpike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusEpitopes, T-LymphocyteHLA AntigensSpike Glycoprotein, CoronavirusBetacoronavirusepitopesimmunogenic regionspandemic preparednessSARS-CoV-2sequence conservationT cellsvaccine

Identifiers

PMID40774254
PMCPMC12392877

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.