Mass spectrometry analytical responses to the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus in review

This article reviews the many and varied mass spectrometry based responses to the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus amidst a continuing global healthcare crisis. Although RT-PCR is the most prevalent molecular based surveillance approach, improvements in the detection sensitivities with mass spectrometry coupled to the rapid nature of analysis, the high molecular precision of measurements, opportunities for high sample throughput, and the potential for in-field testing, offer advantages for characterising the virus and studying the molecular pathways by which it infects host cells. The detection of biomarkers by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, studies of viral peptides using proteotyping strategies, targeted LC-MS analyses to identify abundant peptides in clinical specimens, the analysis of viral protein glycoforms, proteomics approaches to understand impacts of infection on host cells, and examinations of point-of-care breath analysis have all been explored. This review organises and illustrates these applications with reference to the many studies that have appeared in the literature since the outbreak. In this respect, those studies in which mass spectrometry has a major role are the focus, and only those which have peer-reviewed have been cited.