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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2004, p. 362-371, Vol. 11, No. 2
1071-412X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.11.2.362-371.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Profiles of Antibody Responses against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Recombinant Proteins and Their Potential Use as Diagnostic Markers
Yee-Joo Tan,1,
* Phuay-Yee Goh,1,
Burtram C. Fielding,1 Shuo Shen,1 Chih-Fong Chou,1 Jian-Lin Fu,1 Hoe Nam Leong,2 Yee Sin Leo,2 Eng Eong Ooi,3 Ai Ee Ling,4 Seng Gee Lim,1,
and Wanjin Hong1,
Institute
of Molecular and Cell
Biology,1
Tan Tock Seng
Hospital,2
Environmental Health
Institute, National Environmental
Agency,3
Virology Section, Department
of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital,Singapore, Republic of Singapore4
Received 29 September 2003/
Returned for modification 24 November 2003/
Accepted 22 December 2003
A
new coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome
coronavirus [SARS-CoV]) has been identified to
be the etiological agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Given
the highly contagious and acute nature of the disease, there is an
urgent need for the development of diagnostic assays that can detect
SARS-CoV infection. For determination of which of the viral proteins
encoded by the SARS-CoV genome may be exploited as diagnostic antigens
for serological assays, the viral proteins were expressed individually
in mammalian and/or bacterial cells and tested for reactivity with sera
from SARS-CoV-infected patients by Western blot analysis. A total of 81
sera, including 67 from convalescent patients and seven pairs from two
time points of infection, were analyzed, and all showed
immunoreactivity towards the nucleocapsid protein (N). Sera from some
of the patients also showed immunoreactivity to U274 (59 of 81
[73%]), a protein that is unique to SARS-CoV. In
addition, all of the convalescent-phase sera showed immunoreactivity to
the spike (S) protein when analyzed by an immunofluorescence method
utilizing mammalian cells stably expressing S. However, samples from
the acute phase (2 to 9 days after the onset of illness) did not react
with S, suggesting that antibodies to N may appear earlier than
antibodies to S. Alternatively, this could be due to the difference in
the sensitivities of the two methods. The immunoreactivities to these
recombinant viral proteins are highly specific, as sera from 100
healthy donors did not react with any of them. These results suggest
that recombinant N, S, and U274 proteins may be used as antigens for
the development of serological assays for
SARS-CoV.
* Corresponding
author. Mailing address: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, 30
Medical Dr., Singapore 117609, Republic of Singapore. Phone:
65-68743780. Fax: 65-67791117. E-mail:
mcbtanyj{at}imcb.nus.edu.sg.
Y.-J.T.
and P.-Y.G. contributed equally to this study.
S.G.L. and W.H. were both senior authors for this paper.
Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2004, p. 362-371, Vol. 11, No. 2
1071-412X/04/$08.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.11.2.362-371.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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