Human post-infection serological response to the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2

Cheng Xiao; Shiman Ling; Minshan Qiu; Zhenxuan Deng; Liping Chen; Airu Zhu; Yi Chen; Yong Liu; Xia Lin; Fangmei Lin; Qiubao Wu; Lihan Shen; Feng Ye; Xiaoqing Liu; Yimin Li; Jincun Zhao; Zifeng Yang; Benjamin J Cowling; Richard Webby; Mark Zanin; Sook-San Wong

doi:10.1111/irv.12798

Human post-infection serological response to the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2

Influenza Other Respir Viruses. 2021 Jan;15(1):7-12. doi: 10.1111/irv.12798. Epub 2020 Aug 25.

Authors

Cheng Xiao^{1

2}, Shiman Ling^{1

2}, Minshan Qiu³, Zhenxuan Deng³, Liping Chen^{1

2}, Airu Zhu^{1

2}, Yi Chen⁴, Yong Liu^{1

5

6}, Xia Lin^{1

2}, Fangmei Lin^{1

2}, Qiubao Wu^{1

7}, Lihan Shen³, Feng Ye⁸, Xiaoqing Liu⁹, Yimin Li⁹, Jincun Zhao², Zifeng Yang^{2

6

10}, Benjamin J Cowling¹¹, Richard Webby¹², Mark Zanin^{1

2

11}, Sook-San Wong^{1

2

11}

Affiliations

¹ Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Intensive Care, Dongguan People's Hospital, Dongguan, China.
⁴ Central Laboratory, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁵ Kingmed Virology Diagnostics and Translational Center, Guangzhou Kingmed Center for Clinical Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁷ Nanshan Medicine Innovation, Guangdong, China.
⁸ Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁹ Department of Intensive Care, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
¹⁰ Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau SAR, China.
¹¹ School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
¹² Division of Virology, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.

Abstract

To inform seroepidemiological studies, we characterized the IgG- responses in COVID-19 patients against the two major SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins, spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N). We tested 70 COVID-19 sera collected up to 85 days post-symptom onset and 230 non-COVID-19 sera, including 27 SARS sera from 2003. Although the average SARS-CoV-2 S and N-IgG titers were comparable, N-responses were more variable among individuals. S- and N-assay specificity tested with non-COVID-19 sera were comparable at 97.5% and 97.0%, respectively. Therefore, S will make a better target due to its lower cross-reactive potential and its' more consistent frequency of detection compared to N.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; antibodies; epidemiology; nucleocapsid; serology; spike.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Antibodies, Viral / blood*
Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins / immunology*
Cross Reactions
Humans
Middle Aged
Phosphoproteins / immunology
SARS-CoV-2 / immunology*
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / immunology
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / immunology*

Substances

Antibodies, Viral
Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Proteins
Phosphoproteins
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
nucleocapsid phosphoprotein, SARS-CoV-2
spike protein, SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding