Use of the COOH Portion of the Nucleocapsid Protein in an Antigen-Capturing Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay for Specific and Sensitive Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

Antibody detection with a recombinant COOH portion of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus nucleocapsid (N) protein, N13 (amino acids 221 to 422), was demonstrated to be more specific and sensitive than that with the full-length N protein, and an N13-based antigen-capturing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay providing a convenient and specific test for serodiagnosis and epidemiological study of SARS was developed.