State of the Art on the SARS-CoV-2 Toolkit for Antigen Detection: One Year Later

Abstract

The recent global events of COVID-19 in 2020 have alerted the world to the risk of viruses and their impacts on human health, including their impacts in the social and economic sectors. Rapid tests are urgently required to enable antigen detection and thus to facilitate rapid and simple evaluations of contagious individuals, with the overriding goal to delimitate spread of the virus among the population. Many efforts have been achieved in recent months through the realization of novel diagnostic tools for rapid, affordable, and accurate analysis, thereby enabling prompt responses to the pandemic infection. This review reports the latest results on electrochemical and optical biosensors realized for the specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens, thus providing an overview of the available diagnostics tested and marketed for SARS-CoV-2 antigens as well as their pros and cons.

Paper-based immunoassay based on 96-well wax-printed paper plate combined with magnetic beads and colorimetric smartphone-assisted measure for reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2 in saliva

“…For RNA detection several analytical devices have been developed ( Wang et al, 2020 ; Zhu et al, 2020 ), including the use of CRISPR-Technology ( Ning et al, 2021 ), which is a vanguard technology as demonstrated by the Nobel Prize in Caratelli et al, 2020 ) to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna, having discovered the CRISPR/Cas9 genetic scissor ( https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2020/press-release/ ). In the case of antigen detection ( Fabiani et al, 2021a ), the immunosensors developed are based on the detection of i) nucleocapsid (N) protein, which is the protein responsible for genome packaging ( Masters, 2019 ; Laude and Masters, 1995 ); ii) Spike (S) protein, which is the protein present of the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus with affinity with the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2), exploited to infect human cells ( Verdecchia et al, 2020 ; Ward et al, 2020 ; Xia et al, 2020 ). In detail, the S protein of SARS-CoV-2 is composed of two subunits, S1 and S2, where the S1 subunit contains a receptor-binding domain that recognizes and binds the host receptor, while the S2 subunit umpires the viral cell membrane fusion ( Huang et al, 2020 ).…”

Visual Detection of COVID-19 from Materials Aspect

“…At present, Guangzhou Wondfo Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Beijing Kingwolf Biotechnology Co., Ltd. have created China’s first Novel Coronavirus antigen test kits, and COVID-19 diagnosis can be done within 20 min. When the viral load is high, the antigen test can quickly find positive cases and aid in the rapid diagnosis of suspected patients as well as the mass screening of relevant populations, allowing for early diagnosis and intervention [ 64 , 65 ]. Furthermore, antigen testing can only be done in conjunction with other tests and cannot be used to diagnose COVID-19 pandemic on its own.…”

Engineered two-dimensional nanomaterials based diagnostics integrated with internet of medical things (IoMT) for COVID-19

“…The convergence of interdisciplinary technologies offers a viable approach to address the primary limitations that hinder the practical implementation of biosensor prototypes, hence enabling the incorporation of essential elements necessary for the efficient utilization of biosensors during pandemics. 376 The healthcare management of futuristic infectious diseases will also require a strong focus on public health. Public health measures such as vaccination, quarantine, and contact tracing are essential for preventing the spread of infectious diseases.…”