Exploring the Immunodominant Epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid Protein as Exposure Biomarker.

ABSTRACT: Background The nucleocapsid protein (N protein) of SARS-CoV-2 is undeniably a potent target for the development of diagnostic tools due to its abundant expression and lower immune evasion pressure compared to spike (S) protein. Methods Blood samples of active COVID-19 infections (n=71) and post-COVID-19 (n=11) were collected from a tertiary care hospital in India; pre-COVID-19 (n=12) sera samples served as controls. Real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (rRT-PCR) confirmed pooled sera samples (n=5) were used with PEPperCHIP® SARS-CoV-2 Proteome Microarray (PEPperPRINT GmbH, Germany) to screen immunodominant epitopes of SARS-CoV-2. Highly immunodominant epitopes were then commercially synthesized and further validated for their immunoreactivity by dot-blot and ELISA. Results The lowest detect

SUBMITTER: Vashisht K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10008226 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature