Electrochemical Resonance of Molecular Motion Enabling Label-, Antibody-, and Enzyme-Free Detection of SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

In this work, we developed a method to detect two viral marker proteins, the main protease and the spike protein (S protein), of SARS-CoV-2, as well as a host marker, chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5), which is associated with the risk of developing the severe acute respiratory syndrome. This assay can be completed in two steps in a label-free fashion, yielding a “signal-on” signal readout, which usually cannot be attained by electrochemical label-free detection using no labels or markers to tag the target protein. The proposed assay also utilizes no antibodies or enzyme-based reagents. The method achieves this performance by moderating the frequency of electrochemical potential scanning such that the scanning rate keeps pace with, or “resonances” with, the molecular motion of the probe molecule. This method has been successfully applied to detect the three target proteins in serum samples collected from patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the results indicate a strong correlation with the risk of deteriorating into severe acute conditions after virus infection. Soon, the clinical application of this method may provide a low-cost but effective method for virus surveillance in the general public.

The role of electrochemical biosensors in SARS-CoV-2 detection: a bibliometrics-based analysis and review

“…(C) Using sampling frequency to"resonance" with the molecular motion for SARS-CoV-2 labelled protein detection. Reprinted with permission 151,157,162. Copyright 2022, Elsevier, Springer Nature, American Chemical Society.…”

All-solid-state SARS-CoV-2 protein biosensor employing colloidal quantum dots-modified electrode

“…The demand for ubiquitous and reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2, one of the largest RNA viruses spurring the design of materials that exhibit engineered sensing properties and that can enable new fabrication methods for high-performance biosensors ( Yin et al, 2020 ; Sadique et al, 2021a , Sadique et al, 2021b ). All-solid-state SARS-CoV-2 electrochemical biosensors that uses solid electrodes (transducer) and solid sensing element (sensing film) typically based on chemically modified electrodes (CME) have been successfully developed for SARS-CoV-2 protein detection in Table S2 ( Seo et al, 2020 ; Ali et al, 2021 ; Beduk et al, 2021 ; Hashemi et al, 2021 ; Yakoh et al, 2021 ; Torres et al, 2021 ; Yousefi et al, 2021 ; Zhou et al, 2021 ). Unlike glucose test, it is difficult to measure the long-range charge transfer and directional electron transport between proteins in which the corresponding reactive sites are surrounded by polypeptide of the biological macromolecules ( Winkler et al, 1982 ).…”

“…For instance, Yousefi et al (2021) proposed an electrochemical sensor based on an analyte-recognizing antibody attached to negatively-charged DNA linker, in which the ferrocene redox probe was attached to the DNA linker through the cross-linker of NHS Ester. Zhou et al (2021) developed an electrochemical resonance assay using the peptides with a terminal thiol group to tether on gold electrode surface. The electrochemical point-of-care (POC) immunosensors have potential to open broad prospect in biosensor applications for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 biomarkers ( Ranjan et al, 2021 ).…”

Amperometric immunosensor developed for sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike S1 protein in combined with portable device

“…There are many studies in the literature using different techniques [ [9] , [10] , [11] , [12] ] for the detection of COVID-19. Some of these techniques have presented disadvantages such as being relatively expensive, requiring multifaceted devices by requiring trained personnel.…”