The recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has been declared a global health emergency. It will take years to vaccinate the whole population to protect them from this deadly virus, hence the management of SARS-CoV-2 largely depends on the widespread availability of an accurate diagnostic test. Toward addressing the unmet need of a reliable diagnostic test in the current work by utilizing the power of Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment, a 44-mer G-quadruplex-forming DNA aptamer against spike trimer antigen of SARS-CoV-2 was identified. The lead aptamer candidate (S14) was characterized thoroughly for its binding, selectivity, affinity, structure, and batch-to-batch variability by utilizing various biochemical, biophysical, and in silico techniques. S14 has demonstrated a low nanomolar K D , confirming its tight binding to a spike antigen of SARS-CoV-2. S14 can detect as low as 2 nM of antigen. The clinical evaluation of S14 aptamer on nasopharyngeal swab specimens (n = 232) has displayed a highly discriminatory response between SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from the non-infected one with a sensitivity and specificity of ∼91% and 98%, respectively. Importantly, S14 aptamer-based test has evinced a comparable performance with that of RT-PCR-based assay. Altogether, this study established the utility of aptamer technology for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Graphical abstract Detection of spike trimer protein of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal swabs of COVID-19 suspected individuals using SELEX-derived G-quadruplexforming aptamer-based ALISA.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, G-quadruplex, diagnostics, aptamer, spike trimer, ALISA, batch-to-batch variation, 【초록키워드】 COVID-19, diagnostic, detection, in silico, virus, Antigen, Nasopharyngeal swab, Protein, DNA, Sensitivity and specificity, clinical evaluation, outbreak, management, utility, binding, unmet need, health emergency, Abstract, biochemical, individual, Variability, vaccinate, nasopharyngeal swab specimen, widespread, non-infected, PROTECT, detect, characterized, demonstrated, comparable, SARS-CoV-2 infected individual, 【제목키워드】 Antigen, trimeric,