tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Front Immunol
. 2022 May 26;13:879946.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.879946. eCollection 2022.
A SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor Binding Motif Peptide Induces Anti-Spike Antibodies in Mice andIs Recognized by COVID-19 Patients
Federico Pratesi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fosca Errante[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lorenzo Pacini[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Irina Charlot Peña-Moreno[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Sebastian Quiceno[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Alfonso Carotenuto[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Saidou Balam[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Drissa Konaté[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Mahamadou M Diakité[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Myriam Arévalo-Herrera[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Andrey V Kajava[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Paolo Rovero[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Giampietro Corradin[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Paola Migliorini[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anna M Papini[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Sócrates Herrera[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
The currently devastating pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome known as coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Both the virus and the disease have been extensively studied worldwide. A trimeric spike (S) protein expressed on the virus outer bilayer leaflet has been identified as a ligand that allows the virus to penetrate human host cells and cause infection. Its receptor-binding domain (RBD) interacts with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the host-cell viral receptor, and is, therefore, the subject of intense research for the development of virus control means, particularly vaccines. In this work, we search for smaller fragments of the S protein able to elicit virus-neutralizing antibodies, suitable for production by peptide synthesis technology. Based on the analysis of available data, we selected a 72 aa long receptor binding motif (RBM[SUB]436-507[/SUB]) of RBD. We used ELISA to study the antibody response to each of the three antigens (S protein, its RBD domain and the RBM[SUB]436-507[/SUB] synthetic peptide) in humans exposed to the infection and in immunized mice. The seroreactivity analysis showed that anti-RBM antibodies are produced in COVID-19 patients and immunized mice and may exert neutralizing function, although with a frequency lower than anti-S and -RBD. These results provide a basis for further studies towards the development of vaccines or treatments focused on specific regions of the S virus protein, which can benefit from the absence of folding problems, conformational constraints and other advantages of the peptide synthesis production.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; immunized animals; neutralizing Abs; receptor binding motif; spike (S) protein.
. 2022 May 26;13:879946.
doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.879946. eCollection 2022.
A SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor Binding Motif Peptide Induces Anti-Spike Antibodies in Mice andIs Recognized by COVID-19 Patients
Federico Pratesi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Fosca Errante[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Lorenzo Pacini[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Irina Charlot Peña-Moreno[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Sebastian Quiceno[SUP] 4 [/SUP], Alfonso Carotenuto[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Saidou Balam[SUP] 6 7 [/SUP], Drissa Konaté[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Mahamadou M Diakité[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Myriam Arévalo-Herrera[SUP] 8 [/SUP], Andrey V Kajava[SUP] 9 [/SUP], Paolo Rovero[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Giampietro Corradin[SUP] 10 [/SUP], Paola Migliorini[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Anna M Papini[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Sócrates Herrera[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35693806
- PMCID: PMC9178084
- DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.879946
Abstract
The currently devastating pandemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome known as coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Both the virus and the disease have been extensively studied worldwide. A trimeric spike (S) protein expressed on the virus outer bilayer leaflet has been identified as a ligand that allows the virus to penetrate human host cells and cause infection. Its receptor-binding domain (RBD) interacts with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the host-cell viral receptor, and is, therefore, the subject of intense research for the development of virus control means, particularly vaccines. In this work, we search for smaller fragments of the S protein able to elicit virus-neutralizing antibodies, suitable for production by peptide synthesis technology. Based on the analysis of available data, we selected a 72 aa long receptor binding motif (RBM[SUB]436-507[/SUB]) of RBD. We used ELISA to study the antibody response to each of the three antigens (S protein, its RBD domain and the RBM[SUB]436-507[/SUB] synthetic peptide) in humans exposed to the infection and in immunized mice. The seroreactivity analysis showed that anti-RBM antibodies are produced in COVID-19 patients and immunized mice and may exert neutralizing function, although with a frequency lower than anti-S and -RBD. These results provide a basis for further studies towards the development of vaccines or treatments focused on specific regions of the S virus protein, which can benefit from the absence of folding problems, conformational constraints and other advantages of the peptide synthesis production.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; immunized animals; neutralizing Abs; receptor binding motif; spike (S) protein.