A Novel G-quadruplex Aptamer-based Spike Trimeric Antigen Test for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2

Overview

Journal Mol Ther Nucleic Acids

Publisher Cell Press

Date 2021 Jun 30

PMID 34188971

Citations 33

Authors

Ankit Gupta

Anjali Anand

Neha Jain

Sandeep Goswami

Anbalagan Anantharaj

Sharanabasava Patil

Rahul Singh

Amit Kumar

Tripti Shrivastava

Shinjini Bhatnagar

Guruprasad R Medigeshi

Tarun Kumar Sharma

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The recent SARS-CoV-2 outbreak has been declared a global health emergency. It will take years to vaccinate the whole population to protect them from this deadly virus, hence the management of SARS-CoV-2 largely depends on the widespread availability of an accurate diagnostic test. Toward addressing the unmet need of a reliable diagnostic test in the current work by utilizing the power of Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment, a 44-mer G-quadruplex-forming DNA aptamer against spike trimer antigen of SARS-CoV-2 was identified. The lead aptamer candidate (S14) was characterized thoroughly for its binding, selectivity, affinity, structure, and batch-to-batch variability by utilizing various biochemical, biophysical, and techniques. S14 has demonstrated a low nanomolar K, confirming its tight binding to a spike antigen of SARS-CoV-2. S14 can detect as low as 2 nM of antigen. The clinical evaluation of S14 aptamer on nasopharyngeal swab specimens (n = 232) has displayed a highly discriminatory response between SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals from the non-infected one with a sensitivity and specificity of ∼91% and 98%, respectively. Importantly, S14 aptamer-based test has evinced a comparable performance with that of RT-PCR-based assay. Altogether, this study established the utility of aptamer technology for the detection of SARS-CoV-2.

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