Comparative single-cell transcriptomic profile of hybrid immunity induced by adenovirus vector-based COVID-19 vaccines

Abstract

In this study, antibody response and a single-cell RNA-seq analysis were conducted on peripheral blood mononuclear cells from five different groups: naïve subjects vaccinated with AZD1222 (AZ) or Ad5-nCoV (Cso), individuals previously infected and later vaccinated (hybrid) with AZD1222 (AZ-hb) or Ad5-nCoV (Cso-hb), and those who were infected and had recovered from COVID-19 (Inf). The results showed that AZ induced more robust neutralizing antibody responses than Cso. The single-cell RNA data revealed a high frequency of memory B cells in the Cso and Cso-hb. In contrast, AZ and AZ-hb groups exhibited the highest proportion of activated naïve B cells expressing CXCR4. Transcriptomic analysis of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells demonstrated a heterogeneous response following vaccination, hybrid immunity, or natural infection. However, a single dose of Ad5-nCoV was sufficient to strongly activate CD4⁺ T cells (naïve and memory) expressing ANX1 and FOS, similar to the hybrid response observed with AZ. An interesting finding was the robust activation of a subset of CD8⁺ T cells expressing GZMB, GZMH, and IFNG genes in the Cso-hb group. Our findings suggest that both vaccines effectively stimulated the cellular immune response; however, the Ad5-nCoV induced a more robust CD8⁺ T-cell response in previously infected individuals.