Abstract
We describe a rapid liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the direct detection and quantitation of SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein in gargle solutions and saliva. The method is based on a multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM) mass spectrometry approach with a total cycle time of 5 min per analysis and allows the detection and accurate quantitation of SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein as low as 500 amol/μL. We improved the sample preparation protocol of our recent piloting SARS-CoV-2 LC-MS study regarding sensitivity, reproducibility, and compatibility with a complementary reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis of the same sample. The aim of this work is to promote diagnostic tools that allow identifying and monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infections by LC-MS/MS methods in a routine clinical environment.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the biggest challenges of our times
We describe our latest efforts in developing a rapid liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-Mass spectrometry (MS)/MS) method for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics from gargle solutions and saliva
We report an MS-compatible sample preparation strategy and a quantification protocol that is based on selected peptides from SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein by an Liquid chromatography (LC)-multiple-reaction monitoring (MRM)-Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) approach
Summary
During the past 1.5 years, we have seen a rapid spreading of the disease with increasing numbers of infections and fatalities. The numbers are so dynamic that it is difficult to pencil them in exact counts as are they are obsolete within hours. There have been more than 140 million of SARS-CoV-2 infections and close to 3 million of fatalities worldwide [1], with ~120 million of infected individuals having recovered and ~ 750 million of vaccine doses administered.. An infection with SARS-CoV-2 does not necessarily lead to serious health problems; often, the patients do not experience any symptoms. This is one of the greatest challenges when dealing with SARS-CoV-2, making it one of
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