Identification of immunodominant epitopes on nucleocapsid and spike proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 in Iranian COVID-19 patients.

Autor:	Maghsood F; Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Shokri MR; Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Jeddi-Tehrani M; Monoclonal Antibody Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran., Torabi Rahvar M; Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Ghaderi A; Shiraz Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Science, Shiraz, Iran., Salimi V; Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Kardar GA; Immunology Asthma and Allergy Research Institute, Children's Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Zarnani AH; Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Amiri MM; Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran., Shokri F; Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Pathogens and disease [Pathog Dis] 2022 Feb 09; Vol. 80 (1).
DOI:	10.1093/femspd/ftac001
Abstrakt:	Given the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 virus as a life-threatening pandemic, identification of immunodominant epitopes of the viral structural proteins, particularly the nucleocapsid (NP) protein and receptor-binding domain (RBD) of spike protein, is important to determine targets for immunotherapy and diagnosis. In this study, epitope screening was performed using a panel of overlapping peptides spanning the entire sequences of the RBD and NP proteins of SARS-CoV-2 in the sera from 66 COVID-19 patients and 23 healthy subjects by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our results showed that while reactivity of patients' sera with reduced recombinant RBD protein was significantly lower than the native form of RBD (P < 0.001), no significant differences were observed for reactivity of patients' sera with reduced and non-reduced NP protein. Pepscan analysis revealed weak to moderate reactivity towards different RBD peptide pools, which was more focused on peptides encompassing amino acids (aa) 181-223 of RBD. NP peptides, however, displayed strong reactivity with a single peptide covering aa 151-170. These findings were confirmed by peptide depletion experiments using both ELISA and western blotting. Altogether, our data suggest involvement of mostly conformational disulfide bond-dependent immunodominant epitopes in RBD-specific antibody response, while the IgG response to NP is dominated by linear epitopes. Identification of dominant immunogenic epitopes in NP and RBD of SARS-CoV-2 could provide important information for the development of passive and active immunotherapy as well as diagnostic tools for the control of COVID-19 infection. (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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