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Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Nanoparticles Enable Rapid, Reliable, and Robust Point-of-Care Thermal Detection of SARS-CoV-2

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jake McClementsORCiD, Dr Pankaj Singla, Dr Brendan PayneORCiD, Dr Shayan SeyedinORCiD, Professor Marloes PeetersORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

Abstract

Rapid antigen tests are currently used for population screening of COVID-19. However, they lack sensitivity and utilize antibodies as receptors, which can only function in narrow temperature and pH ranges. Consequently, molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) are synthetized with a fast (2 h) and scalable process using merely a tiny SARS-CoV-2 fragment (∼10 amino acids). The nanoMIPs rival the affinity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies under standard testing conditions and surpass them at elevated temperatures or in acidic media. Therefore, nanoMIP sensors possess clear advantages over antibody-based assays as they can function in various challenging media. A thermal assay is developed with nanoMIPs electrografted onto screen-printed electrodes to accurately quantify SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Heat transfer-based measurements demonstrate superior detection limits compared to commercial rapid antigen tests and most antigen tests from the literature for both the alpha (∼9.9 fg mL^–1) and delta (∼6.1 fg mL^–1) variants of the spike protein. A prototype assay is developed, which can rapidly (∼15 min) validate clinical patient samples with excellent sensitivity and specificity. The straightforward epitope imprinting method and high robustness of nanoMIPs produce a SARS-CoV-2 sensor with significant commercial potential for population screening, in addition to the possibility of measurements in diagnostically challenging environments.

Publication metadata

Author(s): McClements J, Bar L, Singla P, Canfarotta F, Thomson A, Czulak J, Johnson R, Crapnell R, Banks C, Payne B, Seyedin S, Losada-Perez P, Peeters M

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: ACS Sensors

Year: 2022

Volume: 7

Issue: 4

Pages: 1122-1131

Print publication date: 22/04/2022

Online publication date: 13/04/2022

Acceptance date: 23/03/2022

Date deposited: 25/04/2022

ISSN (electronic): 2379-3694

Publisher: American Chemical Society

URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.2c00100

DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.2c00100

ePrints DOI: 10.57711/3ehn-kw31

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