Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Here we report a novel strategy for the rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2 based on an enrichment approach exploiting the affinity between the virus and cellulose sulfate ester functional groups, hot acid hydrolysis, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Virus samples were enriched using cellulose sulfate ester microcolumns. Virus peptides were prepared using the hot acid aspartate-selective hydrolysis and characterized by MALDI-TOF MS. Collected spectra were processed with a peptide fingerprint algorithm, and searching parameters were optimized for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. These peptides provide high sequence coverage for nucleocapsid (N protein) and allow confident identification of SARS-CoV-2. Peptide markers contributing to the detection were rigorously identified using bottom-up proteomics. The approach demonstrated in this study holds the potential for developing a rapid assay for COVID-19 diagnosis and detecting virus variants from a variety of sources, such as sewage and nasal swabs.
Keywords: MALDI-TOF MS; SARS-CoV-2; cellulose sulfate enrichment; hot acid aspartate-selective hydrolysis; rapid COVID-19 detection.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, MALDI-TOF MS, cellulose sulfate enrichment, hot acid aspartate-selective hydrolysis, rapid COVID-19 detection., 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, coronavirus disease, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, proteomics, Coronavirus disease 2019, coronavirus, mass spectrometry, pandemic, peptide, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus, virus, Coverage, nucleocapsid, Algorithm, COVID-19 diagnosis, N protein, peptides, sewage, virus variants, affinity, marker, Cellulose, sulfate, acute respiratory syndrome, acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, sequence, aspartate, nasal swabs, virus samples, flight, parameter, approach, hydrolysis, characterized, functional, variety, demonstrated, cause, contributing to, groups, processed, virus variant, 【제목키워드】 detection, mass, enrichment, acid, ester,