mRNA Display Design of Fibronectin-based Intrabodies That Detect and Inhibit Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein

Liao, Hsiang-I.; Olson, C. Anders; Hwang, Seungmin; Deng, Hongyu; Wong, Elaine; Baric, Ralph S.; Roberts, Richard W.; Sun, Ren

The nucleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus plays important roles in both viral replication and modulation of host cell processes. New ligands that target the N protein may thus provide tools to track the protein inside cells, detect interaction hot spots on the protein surface, and discover sites that could be used to develop new anti-SARS therapies. Using mRNA display selection and directed evolution, we designed novel antibody-like protein affinity reagents that target SARS N protein with high affinity and selectivity. Our libraries were based on an 88-residue variant of the 10th fibronectin type III domain from human fibronectin (10Fn3). This selection resulted in eight independent 10Fn3 intrabodies, two that require the N-terminal domain for binding and six that recognize the C terminus, one with K(d) = 1.7 nm. 10Fn3 intrabodies are well expressed in mammalian cells and are relocalized by N in SARS-infected cells. Seven of the selected intrabodies tested do not perturb cellular function when expressed singly in vivo and inhibit virus replication from 11- to 5900-fold when expressed in cells prior to infection. Targeting two sites on SARS-N simultaneously using two distinct 10Fn3s results in synergistic inhibition of virus replication.