ArticleJournal of translational medicine2026
HLA-E-restricted SARS-CoV-2 epitopes drive CD8
Article in Journal of translational medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- IFNλ4 Gene Variants Are Associated with CD8Biomolecules · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman leukocyte antigen-E (HLA-E) is a non-polymorphic, non-classical HLA class Ib molecule that presents signal peptides from classical HLA class Ia molecules to natural killer (NK) cell receptors. Emerging evidence suggests that HLA-E also presents viral peptides to CD8+ T cells, potentially influencing the control of viral infections. However, CD8+ T cell responses to viral epitopes presented by HLA-E remain largely unexplored.
objectiveThis study investigates the potential of SARS-CoV-2-derived peptides presented by HLA-E to elicit CD8+ T cell responses and to identify T cell-mediated immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infection.
methodsWe describe seven peptides from SARS-CoV-2 that display substantial conservation among the predominant strains from December 2021 to February 2025. These peptides fit within the HLA-E pocket and elicit HLA-E-restricted CD8+ T cell responses by producing cytokines.
resultsHLA-E/SARS-CoV-2-restricted CD8+ T cells were identified in the blood of convalescent patients, predominantly expressing TNF-α, with lower levels of IFN-γ and IL-2, in response to predicted immunogenic epitopes. These cytokines were detected at higher frequencies in convalescent patients but were nearly absent in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. HLA-E/SARS-CoV-2-restricted CD8+ T cells were induced after BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination, with their frequencies increasing with more vaccine doses. Furthermore, they were significantly elicited in vaccinated individuals after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
conclusionThese findings underscore the translational potential of targeting HLA-E-restricted CD8+ T cell responses in next-generation vaccine design. The high conservation of HLA-E-presented epitopes across SARS-CoV-2 variants suggests that these peptides may offer a potentially valuable basis for expanding studies on vaccineinduced cellular immunity, independent of viral sequence drift. This strategy could be extended beyond SARS-CoV-2 to other rapidly evolving pathogens, providing a framework for broad-spectrum, T cell-focused vaccine platforms in precision vaccinology.
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