Screening and identification of B cell epitope of the nucleocapsid protein in SARS-CoV-2 using the monoclonal antibodies

ABSTRACT: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the virus that causes the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is confirmed that nucleocapsid (N) protein is closely related to viral pathogenesis, modulation of host immune response, RNA transcription, and replication and virus packaging. Therefore, the N protein is a preponderant antigen target for virus detection. The codon-optimized N gene was designed according to the encoding characteristics of insect cells and inserted into pFastBac(TM)1 vector with 6 × His-tag-fused N protein for expression in insect sf21 cells. Six anti–N mAbs (4G3, 5B3, 12B6, 18C7-A2, 21H10-A3, 21H10-E9) were prepared by recombinant N protein. The mAbs showed high titers, antibody affinity, and reactivity with the SARS-CoV-2 N protein. Then, fourteen overlapped peptides that covered the intact N protein were synthesized (N1-N14). Peptide N14 was identified as the main linear B-cell epitope region via peptide-ELISA and dot-blot assay, and this region was truncated gradually until mapping the peptide 401-DFSKQLQQ-408. Simultaneously, compared with the sequence of variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs) strains among the several countries, epitope 401-DFSKQLQQ-408 is very conservative among them. The findings provide new guidance for the design and detection of COVID-19 targets. KEY POINTS: • The N protein was optimized according to the insect cell codon preference and was highly expressed. • The monoclonal antibodies prepared in this study were shown high antibody titers and high affinity. • Monoclonal antibodies were used to map the epitope 401–408 amino acids of N protein for the first time in this study. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-022-11769-6.