Indexed by: Journal paper

First Author: Yang Li,Ming-liang Ma,Qing Lei,Feng Wang,Wei Hong

Correspondence Author: Hongping Wei,Ziyong Sun,Xionglin Fan,Sheng-ce Tao

Co-author: He-wei Jiang,Yun-xiao Zheng,Xue-ning Wang,Jiaoxiang Wu,Ming-liang Ma,Bo Zhang,Hong Chen,Caizheng Yu,Jun-biao Xue,Hai-nan Zhang,Huan Qi,Shu-juan Guo,Yandi Zhang,Xiaosong Lin,Zongjie Yao,Huiming Sheng,Ziyong Sun

Journal: Cell Reports

Affiliation of Author(s): 华中科技大学

Place of Publication: United Kingdom

Discipline: Medicine

First-Level Discipline: Basic Medicine

Document Type: J

Volume: Volume 34

Issue: 13

Page Number: 108915

ISSN No.: 0105-4538

Key Words: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; Spike protein; linear epitope landscape; neutralizing antibodies.

DOI number: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108915

Date of Publication: 2021-03-12

Impact Factor: 9.423

Teaching and Research Group: 华中科技大学基础医学院病原生物学系医学微生物学

Abstract: To fully decipher the immunogenicity of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Spike protein, it is essential to assess which part is highly immunogenic in a systematic way. We generate a linear epitope landscape of the Spike protein by analyzing the serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) response of 1,051 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with a peptide microarray. We reveal two regions rich in linear epitopes, i.e., C-terminal domain (CTD) and a region close to the S2' cleavage site and fusion peptide. Unexpectedly, we find that the receptor binding domain (RBD) lacks linear epitope. We reveal that the number of responsive peptides is highly variable among patients and correlates with disease severity. Some peptides are moderately associated with severity and clinical outcome. By immunizing mice, we obtain linear-epitope-specific antibodies; however, no significant neutralizing activity against the authentic virus is observed for these antibodies. This landscape will facilitate our understanding of SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral responses and might be useful for vaccine refinement.

Note: Y.Li,M. Ma,Q.Lei, etal. Linear epitope landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein constructed from 1,051 COVID-19 patients. Cell reports, 2021,34(13): 108915.

Links to published journals: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124721002291?via%3Dihub