Written by: Sean Brady Edited by: Esther Melamed Introduction The presence and quantity of pathogen-specific antibodies (such as SARS-CoV-2) can be an indicator of prior exposure to disease as well as an indicator of how well someone may be able to respond to that pathogen if they encounter it again. In a recent research letter in JAMA by Zoé L. E. van Kempen et al, a group of researchers analyzed SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in a large cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This analysis enabled the authors to investigate the prevalence of asymptomatic cases as well as the antibody …
Nucleocapsid Proteins Trigger Main Antibody-Mediated Immunity in COVID-19 Patients
Written by: Zohair Ahmed Edited by: Esther Melamed The genome of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, codes for structural and non-structural proteins (ex: proteins mediating the virus’ life cycle). The structural proteins include the envelope (E) protein, spike (S) protein, nucleocapsid (N) protein, and the membrane (M) protein. The S protein plays a critical role in the virus’s ability to enter human cells by mediating recognition of the angiotensin 2 (ACE2) receptor on human cells and directing fusion with the human cell membrane. The S protein is trimeric (made of three protein …