A point-of-care selenium nanoparticle-based test for the combined detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG in human serum and blood

Lab Chip. 2020 Nov 10;20(22):4255-4261. doi: 10.1039/d0lc00828a.

Abstract

COVID-19 is a widespread and highly contagious disease in the human population. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. There is still a great demand for point-of-care tests for detection, epidemic prevention and epidemiological investigation, both now and after the epidemic. We present a lateral flow immunoassay kit based on a selenium nanoparticle-modified SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein, which detects anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG in human serum, and the results can be read by the naked eye in 10 minutes. We expressed and purified the SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein in HEK293 cells, with a purity of 98.14% and a concentration of 5 mg mL-1. Selenium nanoparticles were synthesized by l-ascorbic acid reduction of seleninic acid at room temperature. After conjugation with the nucleoprotein, a lateral flow kit was successfully prepared. The IgM and IgG detection limits of the lateral flow kit reached 20 ng mL-1 and 5 ng mL-1, respectively, in human serum. A clinical study sample comprising 90 COVID-19-diagnosed patients and 263 non-infected controls was used to demonstrate a sensitivity and specificity of 93.33% and 97.34%, respectively, based on RT-PCR and clinical results. No cross-reactions with rheumatoid factor and positive serum for anti-nuclear antibodies, influenza A, and influenza B were observed. Moreover, the lateral flow kit remained stable after storage for 30 days at 37 °C. Our results demonstrate that the selenium nanoparticle lateral flow kit can conveniently, rapidly, and sensitively detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG in human serum and blood; it can also be suitable for the epidemiological investigation of COVID-19.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Antibodies, Viral / immunology
  • Betacoronavirus / immunology*
  • COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Testing
  • Clinical Laboratory Techniques*
  • Coronavirus Infections / blood*
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis
  • Coronavirus Infections / immunology
  • Equipment Design
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G / blood*
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin M / blood*
  • Immunoglobulin M / immunology
  • Lab-On-A-Chip Devices
  • Limit of Detection
  • Nanoparticles / chemistry
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / blood*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / immunology
  • Point-of-Care Testing
  • Reagent Strips / analysis
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Selenium / chemistry

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Immunoglobulin M
  • Reagent Strips
  • Selenium