The M Protein of SARS-CoV： Basic Structural and Immunological Properties
摘要
We studied structural and immunological properties of the SARS-CoV M (mem-brane) protein, based on comparative analyses of sequence features, phylogeneticinvestigation, and experimental results. The M protein is predicted to contain atriple-spanning transmembrane (TM) region, a single N-glycosylation site near itsN-terminus that is in the exterior of the virion, and a long C-terminal region inthe interior. The M protein harbors a higher substitution rate (0.6% correlated toits size) among viral open reading frames (ORFs) from published data. The foursubstitutions detected in the M protein, which cause non-synonymous changes,can be classified into three types. One of them results in changes of pI (isoelectricpoint) and charge, affecting antigenicity. The second changes hydrophobicity of theTM region, and the third one relates to hydrophilicity of the interior structure.Phylogenetic tree building based on the variations of the M protein appears tosupport the non-human origin of SARS-CoV. To investigate its immunogenicity,we synthesized eight oligopeptides covering 69.2% of the entire ORF and screenedthem by using ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) with sera from SARSpatients. The results confirmed our predictions on antigenic sites.