Choi, Yook-WahFielding, BurtramGoh, Phuay-YeeHong, WanjinLim, Seng GeeOoi, Eng-EongShuo, ShenTan, Timothy H. P.Tan, Yee-Joo2008-06-172008-06-172004-11-011611-2156http://hdl.handle.net/2003/2564010.17877/DE290R-14553The Severe and Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) is a newly-emerged virus that caused an outbreak of atypical pneumonia in the winter of 2002-2003. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the nucleocapsid (N) of the SARS CoV showed the localization of N to the cytoplasm and the nucleolus in virus-infected and N-expressing Vero E6 cells. Like other coronavirus N proteins, the SARS N is probably a phosphoprotein. N protein expressed in mammalian cells is apparently able to "spread" to neighboring cells. For N to spread to neighboring cells, it must be exported out of the expressing cells. This is shown by the immunoprecipitation of N from the culture medium of a stable cell line expressing myc-N. Deletion studies showed that the 27 kD C-terminal domain of N (C1/2) is the minimal region of N that can spread to other cells. The nucleolar localization and spreading of N are artefacts of fixation, reminiscent of other protein-transduction domain (PTD)-containing proteins.enEXCLI Journal ; Vol. 3, 2004coronavirusfixationnucleocapsidnucleolusSARStransduction610article (journal)