Genes Dis . A peptide-based assay discriminates individual antibody response to SARS-CoV-2

[tetano]

Genes Dis


. 2021 Feb 5.
doi: 10.1016/j.gendis.2021.01.008. Online ahead of print.
A peptide-based assay discriminates individual antibody response to SARS-CoV-2


Immacolata Polvere ^{1 2} , Serena Voccola ^{1 2} , Gaetano Cardinale ² , Maurizio Fumi ³ , Francesca Aquila ³ , Alfredina Parrella ² , Jessica Raffaella Madera ¹ , Romania Stilo ¹ , Pasquale Vito ^{1 2} , Tiziana Zotti ^{1 2}



Affiliations

• PMID: 33564711
• PMCID: PMC7862034
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gendis.2021.01.008

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 virus is responsible for the current worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, infecting millions of people and causing hundreds of thousands of deaths. Understanding the antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 is crucial for the development of vaccines, therapeutics and public health interventions. However, lack of consistency in methods used to monitor antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 leaves some uncertainty in our fine understanding of the human antibody response mounted following SARS-CoV-2 infection. We developed a peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) by selecting 7 synthetic peptides from the spike, membrane, and nucleocapsid protein sequences of SARS-CoV-2, which effectively detects the antibody response mounted by all COVID-19 convalescent tested. Strikingly, the assay shows a profound difference in antibody response among individual subjects, which may have a significant impact on disease severity. Together, our results define an efficient and specific serological assay to consistently measure the antibody response following SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as help the design of vaccine and therapeuticals for prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Keywords: Antibodies; Assay; COVID-19; ELISA; Peptides; SARS-Cov-2.