Natural killer cells in COVID-19: from infection, to vaccination and therapy

Alireza Zafarani; Mohammad Hossein Razizadeh; Salar Pashangzadeh; Mohammad Reza Amirzargar; Mahsa Taghavi-Farahabadi; Mohammad Mahmoudi

doi:10.2217/fvl-2022-0040

Natural killer cells in COVID-19: from infection, to vaccination and therapy

Future Virol. 2023 Feb:10.2217/fvl-2022-0040. doi: 10.2217/fvl-2022-0040. Epub 2023 Mar 14.

Authors

Alireza Zafarani¹, Mohammad Hossein Razizadeh², Salar Pashangzadeh^{3

4}, Mohammad Reza Amirzargar¹, Mahsa Taghavi-Farahabadi⁵, Mohammad Mahmoudi⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Hematology & Blood Banking, School of Allied Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Department of Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Iranian Research Center for HIV/AIDS, Iranian Institute for Reduction of High-Risk Behaviors, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁴ Immunology Today, Universal Scientific Education & Research Network (USERN), Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1449614535, Iran.

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cells are among the most important innate immunity members, which are the first cells that fight against infected cells. The function of these cells is impaired in patients with COVID-19 and they are not able to prevent the spread of the disease or destroy the infected cells. Few studies have evaluated the effects of COVID-19 vaccines on NK cells, though it has been demonstrated that DNA vaccines and BNT162b2 can affect NK cell response. In the present paper, the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the NK cells during infection, the effect of vaccination on NK cells, and the NK cell-based therapies were reviewed.

Keywords: COVID-19; NK cells; SARS-CoV-2; exhaustion; vaccination.

Publication types

Review