Enhanced Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using Platinum-Decorated Poly(2-vinylpyridine) Nanoparticle-Based Lateral Flow...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Diagnostics
• Nanotechnology in Medicine
• Infectious Disease Detection

Background:

• Rapid diagnostics are crucial for controlling infectious diseases like SARS-CoV-2.
• Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) strips offer cost-effective, point-of-care testing.
• Conventional LFIA sensitivity is limited by detection probe performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly sensitive LFIA strip for SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (NP) protein detection.
• To utilize platinum-decorated poly(2-vinylpyridine) nanoparticles (Pt-P2VPs) as novel probes.
• To improve the sensitivity of LFIA for infectious disease diagnostics.

Main Methods:

• Conjugating monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 NP with Pt-P2VPs.
• Incorporating Pt-P2VP-antibody conjugates into LFIA strips.
• Evaluating assay performance using recombinant proteins, viral strains, and clinical specimens, with RT-PCR as the reference.

Main Results:

• Pt-P2VP LFIA strips demonstrated sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 NP protein with minimal cross-reactivity.
• In clinical specimens, the assay achieved 74% sensitivity and 100% specificity.
• Pt-P2VP strips showed superior sensitivity compared to conventional LFIA kits, especially at lower viral loads.

Conclusions:

• Pt-P2VPs are a promising probe material for enhancing LFIA sensitivity.
• This technology facilitates the development of rapid and sensitive immunoassays.
• The enhanced LFIA holds potential for scalable infectious disease diagnostics in biomedical applications.