Linear epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein elicit neutralizing antibodies in COVID-19 patients
Yang Li, Dan‐yun Lai, Hainan Zhang, He‐wei Jiang, Xiaolong Tian, Ming‐liang Ma, Huan Qi, Qingfeng Meng, Shujuan Guo, Yanling Wu, Wei Wang, Xiao Yang, Dawei Shi, Junbiao Dai, Tianlei Ying, Jie Zhou, Sheng‐ce Tao
Abstract
COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2. 1 , 2 By July 25, 2020, globally, 15,672,841 diagnosed cases and 638,352 deaths were reported ( https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html ). 3 High titers of Spike protein (S protein)-specific antibodies are found in the blood of COVID-19 patients, especially IgG for both SARS-CoV 4 and SARS-CoV-2. 5 , 6 Because of the central role that S protein plays in the entry of the virus into the host cell, S1 and, more specifically, the RBD (receptor-binding domain) is the most targeted region for the development of COVID-19 therapeutic antibodies 7 , 8 and vaccines. 9 It is known that in addition to the RBD, other areas/epitopes of S protein may also elicit neutralizing antibodies. 10 However, antibody responses to full-length S protein have not been investigated at epitope resolution, and the capability of linear epitopes to elicit neutralizing antibodies has still not been explored.