Pre-activated antiviral innate immunity in the upper airways controls early SARS-CoV-2 infection in children

Loske et al. (2021) https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-01037-9

The recent study by Loske et al (2021) investigated why children have reduced severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection rates and a substantially lower risk for developing severe coronavirus disease 2019 compared with adults.

Children displayed higher basal expression of relevant pattern recognition receptors such as MDA5 (IFIH1) and RIG-I (DDX58) in upper airway epithelial cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells, resulting in stronger innate antiviral responses upon SARS-CoV-2 infection than in adults.

There were also distinct immune cell subpopulations including KLRC1 (NKG2A)⁺ cytotoxic T cells and a CD8⁺ T cell population with a memory phenotype occurring predominantly in children. It seems the airway immune cells of children are primed for virus sensing, resulting in a stronger early innate antiviral response to SARS-CoV-2 infection than in adults.

Loske et al. (2021) have identified target proteins and cell involvement previously not studied in relation to viral and especially SARS-CoV-2 infection. To advance understanding of the biochemical mechanisms involved, ProSci Inc. offers research reagents for targets identified in this publication: MDA5 Antibody Cat. No. 4037, RIG-1 Antibody Cat. No. 3953, KLRC Antibody Cat. No. 63-556, CD8A T cell surface antigen Antibody Cat. No. 32-134. The immediate availability of these reagents underscores the importance of ProSci Inc.’s Comprehensive Antibody Catalog in helping the advance of biomedical research.