HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: clinchem.2005.051045v1 51/8/1382    most recent Submit an electronic Letter to the Editor about this paper Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (4) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Liang, Y. Articles by Wu, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Liang, Y. Articles by Wu, Y. Related Collections Molecular Diagnostics and Genetics

Comprehensive Antibody Epitope Mapping of the Nucleocapsid Protein of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Coronavirus: Insight into the Humoral Immunity of SARS

¹ The Institute of Immunology, PLA, The Third Military Medical University, Shapingba District, Chongqing, China.
² Central Laboratory, Zhujiang Hospital, The Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

^aAddress correspondence to Yuzhang Wu at: The Institute of Immunology, PLA, The Third Military Medical University, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400038, People’s Republic of China; fax 086-023-68752789; e-mail wuyuzhang{at}gmail.com; or Xiao-yan Che at: Central Laboratory, Zhujiang Hospital, The Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510282, People’s Republic of China; fax 086-020-61643592; e-mail linche{at}pub.guangzhou.gd.cn.

Background: The epidemic outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) posed a worldwide threat to public health and economic stability. Although the pandemic has been contained, concerns over its recurrence remain. It is essential to identify specific diagnostic agents and antiviral vaccine candidates to fight this highly contagious disease.

Methods: We generated 14 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) specific to the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) nucleocapsid (N) protein and used these to thoroughly map the N protein antigenic determinants. We identified the immunodominant antigenic sites responsible for the antibodies in sera from SARS patients and antisera from small animals and differentiated the linear from the conformational antibody-combining sites comprising the natural epitopes by use of yeast surface display.

Results: We identified 5 conformational and 3 linear epitopes within the entire N protein; 3 conformational and 3 linear epitopes were immunodominant. The antibody responses to the N protein fragments in mammalian sera revealed that 3 regions of the N protein are strong antigenic domains. We expanded the specificity of the N protein epitope and identified 4 novel conformational epitopes (amino acids 1–69, 68–213, 212–341, and 337–422).

Conclusion: The antigenic structures identified for the SARS-CoV N protein, the epitope-specific mAbs, and the serum antibody profile in SARS patients have potential use in the clinical diagnosis and understanding of the protective immunity to SARS-CoV.

The following articles in journals at HighWire Press have cited this article:

				K. Fujimoto, K.-H. Chan, K. Takeda, K.-F. Lo, R. H. K. Leung, and T. Okamoto Sensitive and Specific Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Using Chemiluminescence for Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Viral Infection J. Clin. Microbiol., January 1, 2008; 46(1): 302 - 310. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]