Thermodynamically coupled biosensors for detecting neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants

Nat Biotechnol. 2022 Sep;40(9):1336-1340. doi: 10.1038/s41587-022-01280-8. Epub 2022 Apr 28.

Abstract

We designed a protein biosensor that uses thermodynamic coupling for sensitive and rapid detection of neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants in serum. The biosensor is a switchable, caged luciferase-receptor-binding domain (RBD) construct that detects serum-antibody interference with the binding of virus RBD to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) as a proxy for neutralization. Our coupling approach does not require target modification and can better distinguish sample-to-sample differences in analyte binding affinity and abundance than traditional competition-based assays.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing / chemistry
  • Antibodies, Viral / genetics
  • Biosensing Techniques*
  • COVID-19* / diagnosis
  • Humans
  • Neutralization Tests
  • SARS-CoV-2 / genetics
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus / chemistry

Substances

  • Antibodies, Neutralizing
  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus
  • spike protein, SARS-CoV-2

Supplementary concepts

  • SARS-CoV-2 variants