TNFα-producing CD4+ T cells dominate the SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell response in COVID-19 outpatients and are associated with durable antibodies. van der Ploeg et al.

Plasma proteins and transcriptomic signatures at time of SARS-CoV-2 infection associated with SARS-CoV-2 specific T cell response measured in convalescence. In this analysis, we sought to identify early, infection-induced determinants of SARS-CoV-2-specific IFNγ-IL21-TNFɑ+ CD4+ T cells and ICOS+ circulating T follicular helper cells, as these cells were associated with durable neutralizing antibody titers. We performed whole blood RNA sequencing and plasma proteomics by Olink at the time of infection, and correlated these measurements with the SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4+ T cell response 28 days post-enrollment. Supplemental Table 2 shows correlations between plasma proteins, whole blood transcriptomic modules, and SARS-COV-2 specific IFNγ-IL21-TNFɑ+ CD4+ T cells. Supplemental Table 3 shows correlations between plasma proteins, whole blood transcriptomic modules, and activated ICOS+ cTfh cells measured.