Abstract
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.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Antibodies, Viral / blood
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Antibody Specificity / immunology
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Blotting, Western
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Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
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Epitopes / chemistry
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Epitopes / immunology*
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Epitopes / isolation & purification
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Genetic Vectors / genetics
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Humans
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Immunization
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Immunoglobulin G / blood
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Immunoglobulin G / immunology
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Nucleocapsid Proteins / chemistry
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Nucleocapsid Proteins / immunology*
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Nucleocapsid Proteins / isolation & purification
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Peptide Fragments / chemistry
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Peptide Fragments / immunology
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Protein Binding / immunology
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Rabbits
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / chemistry
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / genetics
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / immunology*
Substances
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Antibodies, Viral
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Epitopes
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Immunoglobulin G
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Nucleocapsid Proteins
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Peptide Fragments