Abstract
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has created an unrivalled need for sensitive and rapid point-of-care testing (POCT) methods for the detection of infectious viruses. For the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, the nucleocapsid protein (N-protein) is one of the most abundant structural proteins of the virus and it serves as a useful diagnostic marker for detection. Herein, we report a fiber optic particle plasmon resonance (FOPPR) biosensor which employed a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamer as the recognition element to detect the SARS-CoV-2 N-protein in 15 min with a limit of detection (LOD) of 2.8 nM, meeting the acceptable LOD of 10 6 copies/mL set by the WHO target product profile. The sensor chip is a microfluidic chip based on the balance between the gravitational potential and the capillary force to control fluid loading, thus enabling the power-free auto-flowing function. It also has a risk-free self-contained design to avoid the risk of the virus leaking into the environment. These findings demonstrate the potential for designing a low-cost and robust POCT device towards rapid antigen detection for early screening of SARS-CoV-2 and its related mutants.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; aptamer; binding kinetics; fiber optic biosensor; gold nanoparticle; localized surface plasmon resonance; microfluidic chip; nucleocapsid protein; point-of-care testing.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, nucleocapsid protein, aptamer, Point-of-care testing., binding kinetics, Gold nanoparticle, localized surface plasmon resonance, Microfluidic chip, fiber optic biosensor, 【초록키워드】 diagnostic, risk, virus, global pandemic, point-of-care, nucleocapsid, limit of detection, POCT, mutants, structural protein, antigen detection, binding, marker, novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, infectious viruses, N-protein, single-stranded DNA, ssDNA, fiber, robust, detect, the WHO, leaking, the SARS-CoV-2, 【제목키워드】 detection, Particle, Rapid, integration, resonance, Optic, Plasmon,