Persistent cytolytic CD8+ T cells recognize SARS-CoV-2 and herpesvirus epitopes in long COVID
Tongcui Ma, Heeju Ryu, Kailin Yin, Thomas Dalhuisen, Douglas Robbins, Tyrine T. Bailey, Sean A. Thomas, Emily A. Fehrman, J. Daniel Kelly, Jeffrey N. Martin, Kara L. Lynch, Sulggi A. Lee, Steven G. Deeks, Timothy J. Henrich, Michael J. Peluso, Evan W. Newell, Nadia R. Roan · 2026
Read Persistent cytolytic CD8+ T cells recognize SARS-CoV-2 and herpesvirus epitopes in long COVID by Tongcui Ma, Heeju Ryu, Kailin Yin, Thomas Dalhuisen, Douglas Robbins, Tyrine T. Bailey, Sean A. Thomas, Emily A. Fehrman, J. Daniel Kelly, Jeffrey N. Martin, Kara L. Lynch, Sulggi A. Lee, Steven G. Deeks, Timothy J. Henrich, Michael J. Peluso, Evan W. Newell, Nadia R. Roan (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13522799.txt.
Description
Tongcui Ma and colleagues profile virus-specific killer T cells in long COVID in a 2026 immunology study. Killer T cells help control viruses, yet they can also damage tissue when they stay active too long. Cells recognizing SARS-CoV-2 and two common herpesviruses were compared between people with long COVID and people who had recovered fully.
During severe acute disease, herpesvirus-specific cells showed contrasting states, one stem-like and one fully mature and killing-ready. In long COVID, virus-specific cells across all three viruses tended to be mature, exhausted, and armed for killing. Such cells were especially prominent among women with long COVID. The authors suggest that failure to switch off this killing program after infection may help drive the lasting illness.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Tongcui Ma, Heeju Ryu, Kailin Yin, Thomas Dalhuisen, Douglas Robbins, Tyrine T. Bailey, Sean A. Thomas, Emily A. Fehrman, J. Daniel Kelly, Jeffrey N. Martin, Kara L. Lynch, Sulggi A. Lee, Steven G. Deeks, Timothy J. Henrich, Michael J. Peluso, Evan W. Newell, Nadia R. Roan |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 78 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |