Assembly of human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-like particles

Viral particles of human severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) consist of three virion structural proteins, including spike protein, membrane protein, and envelope protein. In this report, virus-like particles were assembled in insect cells by the co-infection with recombinant baculoviruses, which separately express one of these three virion proteins. We found that the membrane and envelope proteins are sufficient for the efficient formation of virus-like particles and could be visualized by electron microscopy. Sucrose gradient purification followed by Western blot analysis and immunogold labeling showed that the spike protein could be incorporated into the virus like particle also. The construction of engineered virus-like particles bearing resemblance to the authentic one is an important step towards the development of an effective vaccine against infection of SARS CoV.