Type          Polyclonal Rabbit Antibody. 

Introduction          SARS Coronavirus is an enveloped virus containing three outer structural proteins, namely the membrane (M), envelope (E), and spike (S) proteins. Spike (S)-glycoprotein of the virus interacts with a cellular receptor and mediates membrane fusion to allow viral entry into susceptible target cells. Accordingly, S-protein plays an important role in virus infection cycle and is the primary target of neutralizing antibodies. 

Background        It has recently been shown that SARS is caused by a human coronavirus. Human coronaviruses are the major cause of upper respiratory tract illness in humans, such as the common cold. Coronaviruses are positive-stranded RNA viruses, featuring the largest viral RNA genomes known to date (27-31 kb). The first step in coronavirus infection is binding of the viral spike protein, a 139-kDa protein, to certain receptors on host cells. The spike protein is the main surface antigen of the coronavirus. The most prominent protein in the culture supernatants infected with SARS virus is a 46 kDa nucleocapsid protein. This suggests that the nucleocapsid protein is a major immunogen that may be useful for early diagnostics. 

Contents         100µgs in 200µl PBS containing 0.2% gelatin and 0.05% sodium azide. 

Isotype          Rabbit Ig. AntigenThe antibody was developed by immunizing rabbits with synthetic peptides corresponding to amino a.a. 399-411 of putative SARS nucleocapsid (Genbank accession no. NP_828858). 

Applications        This polyclonal antibody can be used for detection of SARS Nucleocapsid protein in western blot analysis at a dilution of 1:100-1:2000. It can also be used in cell staining. 

Storage       Store at 4^oC, stable for 6 months. For long-term storage, store at -20^oC.

Western blot analysis of SARS Nucleocapsid in (A) untransfected mouse melanoma cell lysate and (B) transfected cell lysate using IMG-548 at a 1:2000 dilution.