Mapping immunodominant sites on the MERS-CoV spike glycoprotein targeted by infection-elicited antibodies in humans.

ABSTRACT: Middle-East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) first emerged in 2012 and causes human infections in endemic regions. Most vaccines and therapeutics in development against MERS-CoV focus on the spike (S) glycoprotein to prevent viral entry into target cells. These efforts, however, are limited by a poor understanding of antibody responses elicited by infection along with their durability, fine specificity and contribution of distinct S antigenic sites to neutralization. To address this knowledge gap, we analyzed S-directed binding and neutralizing antibody titers in plasma collected from individuals infected with MERS-CoV in 2017-2019 (prior to the COVID-19 pandemic). We observed that binding and neutralizing antibodies peak 1 to 6 weeks after symptom onset/hospitalization, persist

SUBMITTER: Addetia A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11014493 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature