{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T18:03:54Z","timestamp":1788804234182,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":67,"publisher":"National Academy of Sciences","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770595200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Plan for Scientific Research and Development of China","award":["2022YFC2604100 2022YFF1203100 2021YFC0864500 2022YFC2303400 2023YFC3043300"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFC2604100 2022YFF1203100 2021YFC0864500 2022YFC2303400 2023YFC3043300"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["92169205 92469204 82241072 82150205 32270983"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["92169205 92469204 82241072 82150205 32270983"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Wanke Scientific Research Program","award":["20221080056"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["20221080056"]}]},{"name":"VenoMATIcs project (Institut Pasteur Network) and the Tunisian Ministry of High Education and Scientific Research project funding","award":["D4P1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["D4P1"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.pnas.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Wild dromedary camels in the Arabian Peninsula and Africa have harbored antibodies against Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) for decades, predating zoonotic spillover to humans. However, the potency, specificity, and structural characteristics of these antibodies remain poorly understood. Here, we characterize the antibody responses of naturally infected wild dromedary camels in Tunisia, a MERS-CoV-endemic region. Plasma antibodies from nine camels exhibited variable neutralizing activity, generally increasing with age, and were largely autologous, with minimal cross-reactivity to SARS-CoV-1 or SARS-CoV-2. From a VHH antibody library derived from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of a single camel (D17), we identified 34 unique sequences with previously unreported germline origins and unusually long complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) sequences. Eight representative VHHs, expressed as human Fc fusions, displayed high-affinity binding to the MERS-CoV receptor-binding domain (RBD) and broad neutralization to RBD mutants (IC\n                    <jats:sub>50<\/jats:sub>\n                    : 1.05 to 9.55 ng\/mL). Crystal structural analysis revealed distinct neutralization mechanisms: VHH-227 fully blocked DPP4 binding, achieving complete neutralization, while VHH-T71, with partial neutralization (~80%), targeted the RBD core subdomain. This study provides comprehensive characterization of wild dromedary antibody responses, identifying novel nanobodies (Nbs) with broad and potent neutralization to naturally occurring RBD mutants. These findings offer insights into camel immunity and highlight promising candidates for MERS-CoV prophylactic and therapeutic development.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2513716123","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,9]],"date-time":"2026-02-09T20:01:13Z","timestamp":1770667273000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Decoding antibody response to MERS-CoV in wild dromedary camels"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"123","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-8450-6204","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Faten","family":"Idoudi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Biomolecules, Venoms and Theranostic Applications (LR20IPT01), NanoBioMedika research Team, University Tunis El Manar","place":["Tunis, Tunisia"]},{"name":"Comprehensive AIDS Research Center, Pandemic Research Alliance Unit, Center for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Faculty of Science of Bizerte, Carthage University","place":["Bizerte, Tunisia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8040-7913","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ruoke","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive AIDS Research Center, Pandemic Research Alliance Unit, Center for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4030-7843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Long","family":"Tian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure","place":["Beijing, China"]},{"name":"School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ziqing","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive AIDS Research Center, Pandemic Research Alliance Unit, Center for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-2693-8411","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kenn Ka-Heng","family":"Chik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Carol Yu Centre for Infection, Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong","place":["Hong Kong, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Comprehensive AIDS Research Center, Pandemic Research Alliance 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Research Center, Pandemic Research Alliance Unit, Center for Infection Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sayda","family":"Dhaouadi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Biomolecules, Venoms and Theranostic Applications (LR20IPT01), NanoBioMedika research Team, University Tunis El Manar","place":["Tunis, Tunisia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zakaria","family":"Benlasfar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of Biomolecules, Venoms and Theranostic Applications (LR20IPT01), NanoBioMedika research Team, University Tunis El Manar","place":["Tunis, Tunisia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahmoud","family":"Somia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Pasteur Institute of Tunis, Laboratory of 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