Product Launch: PEPperCHIP® MERS-CoV Proteome Microarray

According to WHO, 49 laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with novel Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been reported so far. Due to the severe acute respiratory disease of most patients, we developed and launched a new PEPperCHIP^® MERS-CoV Proteome Microarray that covers the full proteome of the novel coronavirus MERS-CoV. Based on sequencing data published by van Boheemen et al., the virus polyprotein 1ab, S protein, E protein, M protein, N protein and and in addition the ORFs 3, 4a, 4b, 5 and 8b were translated into 15 aa peptides with a peptide-peptide overlap of 12 aa (replicase polyprotein 1ab) and 13 aa (all other proteins). The PEPperCHIP^® MERS-CoV Proteome Microarray thus enables the investigation of humoral immune responses raised by the new coronavirus on the epitope level.

WHO Website on coronavirus infections
S. van Boheemen et al., Genomic Characterization of a Newly Discovered Coronavirus Associated with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome in Humans, mBio. 2012;3(6):e00473-12. doi:10.1128/mBio.00473-12.