ABSTRACT
Comprehensive profiling of humoral antibody response to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus-2 (CoV-2) proteins is essential in understanding the host immunity and in developing diagnostic tests and vaccines. To address this concern, we developed a SARS-CoV-2 proteome peptide microarray to analyze antibody interactions at the amino acid resolution. With the array, we demonstrate the feasibility of employing SARS-CoV-1 antibodies to detect the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid phosphoprotein. The first landscape of B-cell epitopes for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG antibodies in the serum of 10 coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) patients with early infection is also constructed. With array data and structural analysis, a peptide epitope for neutralizing antibodies within the SARS-CoV-2 spike receptor-binding domain's interaction interface with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor was predicted. All the results demonstrate the utility of our microarray as a platform to determine the changes of antibody responses in COVID-19 patients and animal models as well as to identify potential targets for diagnosis and treatment.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infection and threating the human lives in the world. The elevation of cytokines in blood is crucial to induce cytokine storm and immunosuppression in the transition of severity in COVID-19 patients. However, the comprehensive changes of serum proteins in COVID-19 patients throughout the SARS-CoV-2 infection is unknown. In this work, we developed a high-density antibody microarray and performed an in-depth proteomics analysis of serum samples collected from early COVID-19 (n = 15) and influenza (n = 13) patients. We identified a large set of differentially expressed proteins (n = 132) that participate in a landscape of inflammation and immune signaling related to the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, the significant correlations of neutrophil and lymphocyte with the CCL2 and CXCL10 mediated cytokine signaling pathways was identified. These information are valuable for the understanding of COVID-19 pathogenesis, identification of biomarkers and development of the optimal anti-inflammation therapy.