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Updated: Oct 2, 2025

Contact-Free Co-Culture Model for the Study of Innate Immune Cell Activation During Respiratory Virus Infection
Published on: February 28, 2021
Protective immune trajectories in early viral containment of non-pneumonic SARS-CoV-2 infection
Kami Pekayvaz1,2, Alexander Leunig3,4, Rainer Kaiser3,4
1Department of Medicine I, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany. kami.pekayvaz@med.uni-muenchen.de.
Abstract:
The antiviral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection can limit viral spread and prevent development of pneumonic COVID-19. However, the protective immunological response associated with successful viral containment in the upper airways remains unclear. Here, we combine a multi-omics approach with longitudinal sampling to reveal temporally resolved protective immune signatures in non-pneumonic and ambulatory SARS-CoV-2 infected patients and associate specific immune trajectories with upper airway viral containment. We see a distinct systemic rather than local immune state associated with viral containment, characterized by interferon stimulated gene (ISG) upregulation across circulating immune cell subsets in non-pneumonic SARS-CoV2 infection. We report reduced cytotoxic potential of Natural Killer (NK) and T cells, and an immune-modulatory monocyte phenotype associated with protective immunity in COVID-19. Together, we show protective immune trajectories in SARS-CoV2 infection, which have important implications for patient prognosis and the development of immunomodulatory therapies.
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