| Autor: |
Wang SJ; Department of Chemistry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Gupta R; Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Benegal A; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Avula R; Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Huang YY; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Vahey MD; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Chakrabarty RK; Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering, Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Pappu RV; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Singamaneni S; Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., Puthussery JV; Center for Aerosol Science and Engineering, Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States., King MR; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Center for Biomolecular Condensates, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri 63130, United States. |
| Abstrakt: |
Lateral flow assays (LFAs) are currently the most popular point-of-care diagnostics, rapidly transforming disease diagnosis from expensive doctor checkups and laboratory-based tests to potential on-the-shelf commodities. Yet, their sensitive element, a monoclonal antibody, is expensive to formulate, and their long-term storage depends on refrigeration technology that cannot be met in resource-limited areas. In this work, LCB1 affibodies (antibody mimetic miniproteins) were conjugated to bovine serum albumin (BSA) to afford a high-avidity synthetic capture (LCB1-BSA) capable of detecting the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein and virus like particles (VLPs). Substituting the monoclonal antibody 2B04 for LCB1-BSA (stable up to 60 °C) significantly improved the thermal stability, shelf life, and affordability of plasmonic-fluor-based LFAs (p-LFAs). Furthermore, this substitution significantly improved the sensitivity of p-LFAs toward the spike protein and VLPs with precise quantitative ability over 2 and 3 orders of magnitude, respectively. LCB1-BSA sensors could detect VLPs at 100-fold lower concentrations, and this improvement, combined with their robust nature, enabled us to develop an aerosol sampling technology to detect aerosolized viral particles. Synthetic captures like LCB1-BSA can increase the ultrasensitivity, availability, sustainability, and long-term accuracy of LFAs while also decreasing their manufacturing costs. |
