Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) contd...

SARS appears to be caused by a new strain of coronavirus which may have "jumped" from animals to humansin Guangdong Province. Unlike most human corona viruses, SARS can be grown in Vero cells

Coronavirus particles are irregularly-shaped, ~60nm to 220nm in diameter, with an outer envelope to which are attached distinctive "club-shaped" peplomers (~20nm x 10nm at wide distal end) bearing Spike proteins. The spike proteins can be cleaved into two subunits, S1 and S2, by a cellular protease in virus producing cells. The Spike protein alone can induce immunity but the internal nucleoprotein (N) has also been reported to induce protective immunity.

Our recombinant SARS Coronavirus S1 Domain (SCoV S1), code BS 6100, is expressed as a fusion protein with the Fc domain of human Ig and purified to homogeneity. This SCoV S1 protein shows excellent binding to Vero E6 cells and also to soluble forms of ACE2,the putative receptor.

Our SCoV S1 protein, in conjunction with our monoclonal antibodies to a number of SARS spike regions, will give researchers the possibility to investigate binding of S1 domain to ACE2 and other putative receptors.

Our monoclonal antibodies to SARS spike regions are western blot positive and non-neutralising, making them excellent reagents for S capture and for IF/FACS of infected cells.

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