Accurate Diagnosis of COVID-19 from Self-Collectable Biospecimens Using Synthetic Apolipoprotein H Peptide-Coated Nanoparticle Assay.

Analytical chemistry 2022 Dec 13

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A high-throughput, accurate screening is crucial for the prevention and control of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Current methods, which involve sampling from the nasopharyngeal (NP) area by medical staffs, constitute a fundamental bottleneck in expanding the testing capacity. To meet the scales required for population-level surveillance, self-collectable specimens can be used; however, its low viral load has hindered its clinical adoption. Here, we describe a magnetic nanoparticle functionalized with synthetic apolipoprotein H (ApoH) peptides to capture, concentrate, and purify viruses. The ApoH assay demonstrates a viral enrichment efficiency of >90% for both SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, leading to an order of magnitude improvement in analytical sensitivity. For validation, we apply the assay to a total of 84 clinical specimens including nasal, oral, and mouth gargles obtained from COVID-19 patients. As a result, a 100% positivity rate is achieved from the patient-collected nasal and gargle samples, which exceeds that of the traditional NP swab method. The simple 12 min pre-enrichment assay enabling the use of self-collectable samples will be a practical solution to overcome the overwhelming diagnostic capacity. Furthermore, the methodology can easily be built on various clinical protocols, allowing its broad applicability to various disease diagnoses.

Citation

Junwon Kang, Haewook Jang, Tae Hyun Kim, Untack Cho, Hyeeun Bang, Jisung Jang, Wooseok Lee, Hyelyn Joo, Jinsung Noh, Gi Yoon Lee, Dong Hoon Shin, Chang Kyung Kang, Pyoeng Gyun Choe, Nam Joong Kim, Myoung-Don Oh, Manki Song, Sunghoon Kwon, Francisco Veas, Wan Beom Park. Accurate Diagnosis of COVID-19 from Self-Collectable Biospecimens Using Synthetic Apolipoprotein H Peptide-Coated Nanoparticle Assay. Analytical chemistry. 2022 Dec 13;94(49):17186-17194