An exposed domain in the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus spike protein induces neutralizing antibodies.

Exposed epitopes of the spike protein may be recognized by neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus (CoV). A protein fragment (S-II) containing predicted epitopes of the spike protein was expressed in Escherichia coli. The properly refolded protein fragment specifically bound to the surface of Vero cells. Monoclonal antibodies raised against this fragment recognized the native spike protein of SARS CoV in both monomeric and trimeric forms. These monoclonal antibodies were capable of blocking S-II attachment to Vero cells and exhibited in vitro antiviral activity. These neutralizing antibodies mapped to epitopes in two peptides, each comprising 20 amino acids. Thus, this region of the spike protein might be a target for generation of therapeutic neutralizing antibodies against SARS CoV and for vaccine development to elicit protective humoral immunity.