Changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cell electrical properties in response to viral exposure and vaccination

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 24583 - 14
• Main Authors: Clarke, Krista S. P., Stewart, Alexander T., Sinclair, Emma L., Lewis, Rebecca, Labeed, Fatima H., Dunn-Walters, Deborah K., Hughes, Michael Pycraft
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 09.07.2025; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/57/2270; 692/53; 692/699/255/2514; Adult; Antibodies; Blood & organ donations; Body measurements; Cells; Correlate of protection; COVID-19; COVID-19 - immunology; COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 - virology; COVID-19 vaccines; COVID-19 Vaccines - administration & dosage; COVID-19 Vaccines - immunology; Dielectrophoresis; Electrical properties; Female; Females; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune response; Immune response (humoral); Immune system; Immunity (Disease); Infections; Leukocytes (mononuclear); Leukocytes, Mononuclear - immunology; Leukocytes, Mononuclear - physiology; Male; Membrane capacitance; Membrane conductance; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Pandemics; Pathogens; Penicillin; Peripheral blood mononuclear cell; Peripheral blood mononuclear cells; Proteins; Public health; SARS-CoV-2; SARS-CoV-2 - immunology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus - immunology; Spike protein; Vaccination; United Kingdom > UK; SARS-CoV-2; Membrane conductance; Membrane capacitance; Peripheral blood mononuclear cell; Cytoplasmic conductivity; Correlate of protection; Dielectrophoresis
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-08724-6

Viral infection triggers both cellular and systemic responses in vivo. These are sometimes difficult to study since the immune system is subject to constant challenge from multiple pathogens. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a unique opportunity arose to measure the body’s immune response during lockdown, when exposure to pathogens from the environment was substantially lower. This allowed measurement of COVID-naïve patients, as well as those who had recovered from COVID-19. The effects of subsequent vaccination and boosters could also be assessed. This offers two advantages; an insight into the humoral response to novel pathogens, and the opportunity to measure the ability of the body to respond to challenge from both new pathogens and those to which exposure had already occurred. In this paper, we used dielectrophoresis (DEP) to analyze the electrophysiological fingerprint of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from donors who had never had COVID-19, those who had recovered from COVID-19, and those who received first, second, or third vaccine doses. This was performed before and after incubation with the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to determine whether differential changes in the electrical properties of PBMCs could be detected and evaluated. Clear trends in response over time were observed, suggesting that DEP could pave the way towards a new correlate of protection (CoP) to SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, since the test measures immune response to challenge, it may be widely applicable to other diseases.