Identification of an epitope of SARS-coronavirus nucleocapsid protein.
The nucleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is a major virion structural protein. In this study, two epitopes (N1 and N2) of the N protein of SARS-CoV were predicted by bioinformatics analysis. After immunization with two peptides, the peptides-specific antibodies were isolated from the immunized rabbits. The further experiments demonstrated that N1 peptide-induced polyclonal antibodies had a high affinity to bind to E. coli expressed N protein of SARS-CoV. Furthermore, it was confirmed that N1 peptide-specific IgG antibodies were detectable in the sera of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients. The results indicated that an epitope of the N protein has been identified and N protein specific Abs were produced by peptide immunization, which will be usefull for the study of SARS-CoV.
Lin
Ying
Y
Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
Shen
Xu
X
Yang
Rui Fu
RF
Li
Yi Xue
YX
Ji
Yong Yong
YY
He
You Yu
YY
Shi
Mu De
MD
Lu
Wei
W
Shi
Tie Liu
TL
Wang
Jin
J
Wang
Hong Xia
HX
Jiang
Hua Liang
HL
Shen
Jian Hua
JH
Xie
You Hua
YH
Wang
Yuan
Y
Pei
Gang
G
Shen
Bei Fen
BF
Wu
Jia Rui
JR
Sun
Bing
B
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000276:immunology; D011817:Rabbits; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000939:Epitopes; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D019590:Nucleocapsid Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments