Work

Development of antibodies against severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus nucleoprotein for diagnosis

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is an emerging tick-borne virus that was first identified in China in 2009 (Xu et al. 2011 ). Since then, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) has been observed in various Asian countries, including South Korea and Japan (Kim et al. 2018 ; Ongkittikul et al. 2020 ; Peng et al. 2020 ; Takahashi et al. 2014 ; Tran et al. 2019 ; Win et al. 2020 ; Zohaib et al. 2020 ). In the USA, an infection with heartland virus, which is similar to SFTSV, has been reported (McMullan et al. 2012 ). The term “SFTSV” is more widely mentioned in the research community to refer to the virus, despite its recent renaming as Bandavirus dabieense by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses in 2022 (International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses 2022 ). SFTS has some major clinical manifestations, including fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, gastrointestinal symptoms, neurological symptoms, and bleeding tendency, with a mortality rate of up to 30% (Cao et al. 2021 ; Casel et al. 2021 ; Li et al. 2021 ; Zhang et al. 2013 ). It is transmitted by a primary host vector such as ticks and can subsequently infect various animals and humans (Luo et al. 2015 ). In addition, animal-to-human and human-to-human transmissions have been observed in some cases, which is probably mediated by blood or droplet contact (Jung et al. 2019 ; Li et al. 2024 ; Liu et al. 2012 ; Wang et al. 2014 ). Similar to other viruses in the family Phenuiviridae , SFTSV has a single negative-stranded RNA genome comprising three RNA segments: large (L), medium (M), and small (S) (Elliott 1990 ; Matsuno et al. 2013 ). The L segment encodes an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the M segment encodes glycoproteins (Gn and Gc), and the S segment encodes two proteins: a nucleocapsid protein (NP) and nonstructural (NS) protein (Sharma and Kamthania 2021 ; Xu et al. 2021 ). The NP encapsulates the three SFTSV RNA genome segments, which facilitates the packing and stabilization of the viral RNA genome to protect the virus from nucleases and the host immune system. NP is the most important target protein for viral detection because it is highly conserved among various RNA viruses. Owing to their high conservation, specific NP is used for the diagnosis of SFTSV. Multiple studies have been conducted to detect NP in SFTSV. Specifically, some groups have successfully developed antibodies capable of detecting NP for diagnosing SFTSV in laboratory settings (Lee et al. 2016 , 2023a ; Yu et al. 2018 ). Furthermore, assay systems have been developed for the detection of SFTSV-specific antibodies, such as immunoglobulin (Ig)G/IgM antibodies, utilizing recombinant NP (Jiao et al. 2012 ; Yu et al. 2015 ); however, existing resources provide limited information about antibody characterization.

Source: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

DOI: 10.1007/s00253-025-13530-1