The induction of antigen specific memory CD8+ T cells in vivo is very important to new vaccines against infectious diseases.In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the immune responses of peptide-specific CD8+ T cells induced by HLA-A*0201 restricted severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) S epitopes plus CpG ODN, PolyI:C and R848 as adjuvants.Furthermore, the generation,distribution and phenotype of long-lasting peptide-specific memory CD8+ T cells were assessed by ELISA,ELISPOT and FACS.Our results showed that antigen specific CD8+ T cells were elicited by HLA-A*0201 restricted SARS-CoV S epitopes.Furthermore, the frequency ofpeptide-specific CD8+ T cells was dramatically increased after both prime and boost immunization with peptides plus CpG ODN, whereas slight enhancements were induced following boost vaccination with peptides plus PolyI∶C or R848.Based on the expression of IFN-γ, peptide-specific CD8+ T cells distributed throughout the lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues.Additional detection demonstrated that the HLA-A*0201 restricted peptide-specific CD8+T cells induced by peptides plus CpG ODN carried a memory cell phenotype with CD45RB+ and CD62L-and possessed longterm survival ability in vivo.Taken together, our results implied that HLA-A*0201 restricted SARS-CoV S epitopes plus CpG ODN might be the superior candidates for SARS vaccine, which was important in the development of vaccine against SARS-CoV infection.