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. 2010 Nov 4:7:299.
doi: 10.1186/1743-422X-7-299.

Potent and persistent antibody responses against the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV spike protein in recovered patients

Zhiliang Cao  1 , Lifeng Liu, Lanying Du, Chao Zhang, Shibo Jiang, Taisheng Li, Yuxian He
Affiliations

Potent and persistent antibody responses against the receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV spike protein in recovered patients

Zhiliang Cao et al. Virol J. .

Abstract

Background: The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV not only mediates receptor-binding but also induces neutralizing antibodies. We previously identified the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of S protein as a major target of neutralizing antibodies in animal models and thus proposed a RBD-based vaccine. However, the antigenicity and immunogenicity of RBD in humans need to be characterized.

Results: Two panels of serum samples from recovered SARS patients were included and the antibody responses against the RBD were measured by ELISA and micro-neutralization assays. We found that the RBD of S protein induced potent antibody responses in the recovered SARS patients and RBD-specific antibodies could persist at high titers over three year follow-up. Furthermore, affinity purified anti-RBD antibodies possessed robust neutralizing activity.

Conclusion: The RBD of SARS-CoV is highly immunogenic in humans and mediates protective responses and RBD-based vaccines and diagnostic approaches can be further developed.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potent RBD-specific antibody responses in the recovered SARS patients. The convalescent sera from 30 SARS patients and normal sera from 25 healthy blood donors were tested at 1/100 dilution by ELISA with RBD-His protein as a coating antigen. The dashed line represents a cutoff value (the mean absorbance at 450 nm of sera from healthy blood donors plus 3 SDs).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Persistent RBD-specific antibody responses in the recovered SARS patients. The sequential samples were collected from 19 recovered SARS patients enrolled for a follow-up study. The sera were tested at 1/100 dilution by ELISA with RBD-His protein as a coating antigen or by the viral lysate-based diagnostic kit.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Neutralization of SARS pseudovirus infection by affinity-purified RBD-specific antibodies from the recovered SARS patients. Infection of 293T/ACE2 cells by SARS pseudovirus was determined in the presence of RBD-specific antibodies at a series of 2-fold dilutions, and percent neutralization was calculated for each sample.
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