Nanozyme-Based Colorimetric SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Detection by Naked Eye

Mengya He; Xican Xu; Hongyu Wang; Qingyuan Wu; Linghao Zhang; Dongsheng Zhou; Yigang Tong; Xin Su; Huiyu Liu

doi:10.1002/smll.202208167

Nanozyme-Based Colorimetric SARS-CoV-2 Nucleic Acid Detection by Naked Eye

Small. 2023 May;19(20):e2208167. doi: 10.1002/smll.202208167. Epub 2023 Feb 13.

Authors

Mengya He¹, Xican Xu¹, Hongyu Wang¹, Qingyuan Wu¹, Linghao Zhang¹, Dongsheng Zhou², Yigang Tong³, Xin Su¹, Huiyu Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing Laboratory of Biomedical Materials, Bionanomaterials & Translational Engineering Laboratory, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P.R. China.
² State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, 100071, P. R. China.
³ Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering (BAIC-SM), College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, P. R. China.

PMID: 36782092
DOI: 10.1002/smll.202208167

Abstract

Fluorescence-based PCR and other amplification methods have been used for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics, however, it requires costly fluorescence detectors and probes limiting deploying large-scale screening. Here, a cut-price colorimetric method for SARS-CoV-2 RNA detection by iron manganese silicate nanozyme (IMSN) is established. IMSN catalyzes the oxidation of chromogenic substrates by its peroxidase (POD)-like activity, which is effectively inhibited by pyrophosphate ions (PPi). Due to the large number of PPi generated by amplification processes, SARS-CoV-2 RNA can be detected by a colorimetric readout visible to the naked eye, with the detection limit of 240 copies mL^-1 . This conceptually new method has been successfully applied to correctly distinguish positive and negative oropharyngeal swab samples of COVID-19. Colorimetric assay provides a low-cost and instrumental-free solution for nucleic acid detection, which holds great potential for facilitating virus surveillance.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics; colorimetric detection; nanozymes; pyrophosphate ions.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19* / diagnosis
Colorimetry / methods
Humans
Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / methods
RNA, Viral / genetics
SARS-CoV-2*

Substances

RNA, Viral