简介:Thenucleocapsidprotein(Nprotein)hasbeenfoundtobeanantigenicproteininanumberofcoronaviruses.WhethertheNproteininsevereacuterespiratorysyndrome-associatedcoronavirus(SARS-CoV)isantigenicremainstobeelucidated.UsingWesternblotandEnzyme-linkedImmunosorbentAssay(ELISA),therecombinantNproteinsandthesynthesizedpeptidesderivedfromtheNproteinwerescreenedinserafromSARSpatients.AllpatientserainthisstudydisplayedstrongpositiveimmunoreactivitiesagainsttherecombinantNproteins,whereasnormalseragavenegativeimmunoresponsestotheseproteins,indicatingthattheNproteinofSARS-CoVisanantigenicprotein.Furthermore,theepitopesitesintheNproteinweredeterminedbycompetitionexperiments,inwhichtherecombinantproteinsorthesynthesizedpeptidescompetedagainsttheSARS-CoVproteinstobindtotheantibodiesraisedinSARSsera.OneepitopesitelocatedattheC-terminuswasconfirmedasthemostantigenicregioninthisprotein.AdetailedscreeningofpeptidewithELISAdemonstratedthattheaminosequencefromCodons371to407wastheepitopesiteattheC-terminusoftheNprotein.UnderstandingoftheepitopesitescouldbeverysignificantfordevelopinganeffectivediagnosticapproachtoSARS.