Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102911
Title: Linear B-cell epitopes in the spike and nucleocapsid proteins as markers of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and disease severity
Authors: Amrun, S.N.
Lee, C.Y.-P.
Lee, B.
Fong, S.-W. 
Young, B.E.
Chee, R.S.-L.
Yeo, N.K.-W.
Torres-Ruesta, A.
Carissimo, G.
Poh, C.M.
Chang, Z.W.
Tay, M.Z.
Chan, Y.-H.
Chen, M.I.-C. 
Low, J.G.-H.
Tambyah, P.A.
Kalimuddin, S.
Pada, S.
Tan, S.-Y.
Sun, L.J.
Leo, Y.-S. 
Lye, D.C. 
Renia, L.
Ng, L.F.P. 
Keywords: Biomarkers
COVID-19
Epitopes
Patients
SARS-CoV-2
Issue Date: 2020
Publisher: Elsevier B.V.
Citation: Amrun, S.N., Lee, C.Y.-P., Lee, B., Fong, S.-W., Young, B.E., Chee, R.S.-L., Yeo, N.K.-W., Torres-Ruesta, A., Carissimo, G., Poh, C.M., Chang, Z.W., Tay, M.Z., Chan, Y.-H., Chen, M.I.-C., Low, J.G.-H., Tambyah, P.A., Kalimuddin, S., Pada, S., Tan, S.-Y., Sun, L.J., Leo, Y.-S., Lye, D.C., Renia, L., Ng, L.F.P. (2020). Linear B-cell epitopes in the spike and nucleocapsid proteins as markers of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and disease severity. EBioMedicine 58 : 102911. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102911
Rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Abstract: Background: Given the unceasing worldwide surge in COVID-19 cases, there is an imperative need to develop highly specific and sensitive serology assays to define exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: Pooled plasma samples from PCR positive COVID-19 patients were used to identify linear B-cell epitopes from a SARS-CoV-2 peptide library of spike (S), envelope (E), membrane (M), and nucleocapsid (N) structural proteins by peptide-based ELISA. Hit epitopes were further validated with 79 COVID-19 patients with different disease severity status, 13 seasonal human CoV, 20 recovered SARS patients and 22 healthy donors. Findings: Four immunodominant epitopes, S14P5, S20P2, S21P2 and N4P5, were identified on the S and N viral proteins. IgG responses to all identified epitopes displayed a strong detection profile, with N4P5 achieving the highest level of specificity (100%) and sensitivity (>96%) against SARS-CoV-2. Furthermore, the magnitude of IgG responses to S14P5, S21P2 and N4P5 were strongly associated with disease severity. Interpretation: IgG responses to the peptide epitopes can serve as useful indicators for the degree of immunopathology in COVID-19 patients, and function as higly specific and sensitive sero-immunosurveillance tools for recent or past SARS-CoV-2 infections. The flexibility of these epitopes to be used alone or in combination will allow for the development of improved point-of-care-tests (POCTs). Funding: Biomedical Research Council (BMRC), the A*ccelerate GAP-funded project (ACCL/19-GAP064-R20H-H) from Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), and National Medical Research Council (NMRC) COVID-19 Research fund (COVID19RF-001) and CCGSFPOR20002. ATR is supported by the Singapore International Graduate Award (SINGA), A*STAR. © 2020 The Authors
Source Title: EBioMedicine
URI: https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/198127
ISSN: 2352-3964
DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102911
Rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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