RE: S vs N protein10 Feb 2021 00:05
Can anyone translate if this means detecting the s proteinis better
: Coronavirus has four main structural proteins: nucleocapsid (N), spike (S), membrane (M) and envelope (E). The S protein consists of the S1 and S2 subunits. The S protein is highly immunogenic since it is located on the surface of the virus.
The N protein plays an important role in the transcription and replication of viral RNA, packaging the encapsidated genome into virions and inhibits the cell cycle process of the host cells. The N protein is abundantly expressed during infections and also has high immunogenic activity. Therefore, both N and S protein could be potential targets for the antibody-based detection of SARS-CoV-2. However, the N protein homology between SARS-CoV-2 and SARSCoV-1 is 90 percent, compared with the S protein (77 percent), especially the S1 subunit including the RBD (66 percent).
S1 subunit contains immunologically crucial receptor binding domain (RBD), which is the key target of neutralizing antibodies.
S1 subunit also has evolutionary low protein homologies within the coronavirus family suggesting that it could potentially demonstrate less cross-reactivities among the endemic coronaviruses. Recent studies have shown the N protein-based antibody assays could exhibit a higher false-negative rate compared with the S1 subunit, and that S1 subunit purified from mammalian cells demonstrated the highest performance to distinguish COVID-19 patients from controls. Therefore, the S1 subunit could be the specific target antigen for detecting SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.