Construction of a Mouse-Feline Chimeric Neutralizing Antibody Against SARS-CoV-2

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become the biggest challenge in public health worldwide. Similarities among viral receptors predict that there are several animal species that could function as reservoirs for the virus. Recent studies have reported that felid animals, including wild and domestic cats, are highly susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings cause great concerns on the potential for human-to-animal and animal-to-human transmission, along with the virus mutations that appear as the virus goes back and forth between species. It is urgently needed to develop novel reagents for control of viral infection and preventing interspecies transmission. In this chapter, we described protocols for generation of a mouse-feline chimeric neutralizing antibody against SARS-CoV-2. This chimeric antibody has potential to be developed as a diagnostic tool and therapeutic agent against SARS-CoV-2 infections in cats.