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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Vaccines and Molecular Therapeutics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1446095
This article is part of the Research Topic Single-Domain Antibodies: Biology, Engineering and Emerging Applications - Volume II View all 14 articles

A Single Domain Antibody-based Luminex Assay for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2 in Clinical Samples

Provisionally accepted
Ellen R. Goldman Ellen R. Goldman 1*Victor A. Sugiharto Victor A. Sugiharto 2,3*Lisa C. Shriver-Lake Lisa C. Shriver-Lake 1*Andrew M. Garcia Andrew M. Garcia 2,4*Shuenn- Jue Wu Shuenn- Jue Wu 2*Sarah A. Jenkins Sarah A. Jenkins 2*Hua-Wei Chen Hua-Wei Chen 2,3*
  • 1 Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., United States
  • 2 Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
  • 3 Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), Bethesda, Maryland, United States
  • 4 Leidos (United States), Reston, Virginia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Within the past decade, single domain antibodies (sdAbs) have been recognized as unique affinity binding reagents that can be tailored for performance in a variety of immunoassay formats. Luminex MagPlex color-coded magnetic microspheres provide a high-throughput platform that enables multiplexed immunoassays. We developed a MagPlex bead-based assay for the detection SARS-CoV-2, using sdAbs against SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein in which we engineered the sdAb capture reagents to orient them on the beads. The oriented sdAbs provided an increase in sensitivity over randomly oriented sdAbs for samples of N diluted in buffer, which also translated into better detection of SARS-CoV-2 in clinical samples. We assessed the specificity of the assay by examining seasonal coronavirus clinical samples. In summary, we provide a proof-of-concept that a bead-based assay using sdAbs to detect SARS-CoV-2 is feasible and future research combining it with other sdAbcoated beads that can detect other viruses may provide a useful diagnostic tool.

    Keywords: Single domain antibody, Nanobody, SARS-CoV-2, Immunoassay, Nucleocapsid, Luminex, MagPlex

    Received: 09 Jun 2024; Accepted: 25 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Goldman, Sugiharto, Shriver-Lake, Garcia, Wu, Jenkins and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Ellen R. Goldman, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., United States
    Victor A. Sugiharto, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, 20910, Maryland, United States
    Lisa C. Shriver-Lake, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington D.C., United States
    Andrew M. Garcia, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, 20910, Maryland, United States
    Shuenn- Jue Wu, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, 20910, Maryland, United States
    Sarah A. Jenkins, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, 20910, Maryland, United States
    Hua-Wei Chen, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, 20910, Maryland, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.