Anti-CoV-Nucleoprotein (D2) antibody

General information on Anti-CoV-Nucleoprotein (D2) antibody

The anti-CoV-Nucleoprotein (D2) antibody targets the nucleoprotein (protein N or nucleocapsid phosphoprotein) of the new pandemic strain of coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Protein N is one of the four structural proteins carried by SARS-CoV-2 which further includes the spike (S) glycoprotein, envelope (E) protein, and membrane protein (M). Unlike the other three structural proteins, protein N is confined to the intraviral domain of SARS-CoV-2 where it plays an important role plays in RNA packaging. Moreover, it is known to participate in the process of viral replication, assembly, and release.

Recent studies show that the nucleoprotein forms dimers in SARS-CoV-2 with an estimated molecular weight of 114 kDa. And that it potently binds to non-specific nucleic acids (i.e. including host DNA/RNA molecules). Numerous studies show that protein N has a longer persistence than other structural proteins in the serum of COVID-19 infected patients. These results indicate that although anti-Nucleoprotein antibodies may find limited therapeutic applicability, they may be crucial for the design of sensitive and robust SARS-CoV-2 detection assays.

The new antibody is a fully human IgG molecule developed by screening the vastly diverse COVID-19 human library (LiAb-SFCOVID-19™). The library gathers the immune diversity of dozens of COVID-19 patients and it is fully adapted to fast screening (i.e. biopanning) with robust phage display technologies. The specificity and high affinity of the new antibody were tested and validated through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using recombinant protein N as the desired target. Furthermore, the antibody showed great stability and ease of production in the high productivity transient mammalian system – XtenCHO™.