Efficient and timely testing has taken center stage in the management, control, and monitoring of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Simple, rapid, cost-effective diagnostics are needed that can complement current polymerase chain reaction-based methods and lateral flow immunoassays. Here, we report the development of an electrochemical sensing platform based on single-walled carbon nanotube screen-printed electrodes (SWCNT-SPEs) functionalized with a redox-tagged DNA aptamer that specifically binds to the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 subunit. Single-step, reagentless detection of the S1 protein is achieved through a binding-induced, concentration-dependent folding of the DNA aptamer that reduces the efficiency of the electron transfer process between the redox tag and the electrode surface and causes a suppression of the resulting amperometric signal. This aptasensor is specific for the target S1 protein with a dissociation constant (K-D) value of 43 +/- 4 nM and a limit of detection of 7 nM. We demonstrate that the target S1 protein can be detected both in a buffer solution and in an artificial viral transport medium widely used for the collection of nasopharyngeal swabs, and that no cross-reactivity is observed in the presence of different, non-target viral proteins. We expect that this SWCNT-SPE-based format of electrochemical aptasensor will prove useful for the detection of other protein targets for which nucleic acid aptamer ligands are made available.

A Folding-Based Electrochemical Aptasensor for the Single-Step Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein / Curti, Federica; Fortunati, Simone; Knoll, Wolfgang; Giannetto, Marco; Corradini, Roberto; Bertucci, Alessandro; Careri, Maria. - In: ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES. - ISSN 1944-8244. - 14:17(2022), pp. 19204-19211. [10.1021/acsami.2c02405]

A Folding-Based Electrochemical Aptasensor for the Single-Step Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

Curti, Federica
Investigation
;
Fortunati, Simone
Investigation
;
Giannetto, Marco
Methodology
;
Corradini, Roberto
Writing – Review & Editing
;
Bertucci, Alessandro
Supervision
;
Careri, Maria
Supervision
2022-01-01

Abstract

Efficient and timely testing has taken center stage in the management, control, and monitoring of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Simple, rapid, cost-effective diagnostics are needed that can complement current polymerase chain reaction-based methods and lateral flow immunoassays. Here, we report the development of an electrochemical sensing platform based on single-walled carbon nanotube screen-printed electrodes (SWCNT-SPEs) functionalized with a redox-tagged DNA aptamer that specifically binds to the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein S1 subunit. Single-step, reagentless detection of the S1 protein is achieved through a binding-induced, concentration-dependent folding of the DNA aptamer that reduces the efficiency of the electron transfer process between the redox tag and the electrode surface and causes a suppression of the resulting amperometric signal. This aptasensor is specific for the target S1 protein with a dissociation constant (K-D) value of 43 +/- 4 nM and a limit of detection of 7 nM. We demonstrate that the target S1 protein can be detected both in a buffer solution and in an artificial viral transport medium widely used for the collection of nasopharyngeal swabs, and that no cross-reactivity is observed in the presence of different, non-target viral proteins. We expect that this SWCNT-SPE-based format of electrochemical aptasensor will prove useful for the detection of other protein targets for which nucleic acid aptamer ligands are made available.
2022
A Folding-Based Electrochemical Aptasensor for the Single-Step Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein / Curti, Federica; Fortunati, Simone; Knoll, Wolfgang; Giannetto, Marco; Corradini, Roberto; Bertucci, Alessandro; Careri, Maria. - In: ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES. - ISSN 1944-8244. - 14:17(2022), pp. 19204-19211. [10.1021/acsami.2c02405]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11381/2931853
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