Identification and application of a pair of noncompeting monoclonal antibodies broadly binding to the nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron

Virol J. 2022 May 28;19(1):96. doi: 10.1186/s12985-022-01827-w.

Abstract

The SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NP) is an important indicator for the virus infection, highlighting the crucial role of NP-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) used in multiple biochemical assays and clinical diagnosis for detecting the NP antigen. Here, we reported a pair of noncompeting human NP-specific mAbs, named P301-F7 and P301-H5, targeting two distinct linear epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-CoV. We evaluated the application of P301-F7 in the analysis of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, western blot, flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and focus reduction neutralization test. We for the first time report a broad mAb effectively recognizing various live viruses of SARS-CoV-2 variants including Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron, indicating a wide range of application prospects.

Keywords: Delta; Monoclonal antibody; Nucleocapsid protein; Omicron; SARS-CoV-2 variants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • COVID-19* / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Nucleocapsid Proteins* / genetics
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics

Substances

  • Antibodies, Monoclonal
  • Nucleocapsid Proteins

Supplementary concepts

  • SARS-CoV-2 variants