Optical Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Utilizing Antigen-Antibody Binding Interactions.

Neena Panicker,Farah Mustafa,Tahir A Rizvi,Mahmoud Al Ahmad

doi:10.3390/s21196596

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus responsible for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, is sweeping the world today. This study investigates the optical detection of SARS-CoV-2, utilizing the antigen-antibody binding interactions utilizing a light source from a smart phone and a portable spectrophotometer. The proof-of-concept is shown by detecting soluble preparations of spike protein subunits from SARS-CoV-2, followed by detection of the actual binding potential of the SARS-CoV-2 proteins with their corresponding antigens. The measured binding interactions for RBD and NCP proteins with their corresponding antibodies under different conditions have been measured and analyzed. Based on these observations, a “hump or spike” in light intensity is observed when a specific molecular interaction takes place between two proteins. The optical responses could further be analyzed using the principle component analysis technique to enhance and allows precise detection of the specific target in a multi-protein mixture.

Highlights

The world is currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the appearance of a novel coronavirus in the human population at the end of 2019 [1]
The principle was further validated by testing specific protein–protein interactions by testing two viral protein–antibody pairs (RBD and NC proteins with their specific antibodies) and testing them either in solution (Figure 6) or on a solid matrix (Figure 7)
It was shown that application of a weak current into the system could lead to the disruption of NC protein–antibody interactions, which could be optically detected (Figure 8)

Summary

Introduction

The world is currently facing the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the appearance of a novel coronavirus in the human population at the end of 2019 [1]. The molecular technique of quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT PCR) is the gold standard for SARS-CoV-2 detection using samples from respiratory secretions [3,4,5,6,7]. This time-consuming and cumbersome procedure involves long processing times (days) for results [8].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion