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Discovery and Characterization of Spike N‐Terminal Domain‐Binding Aptamers for Rapid SARS‐CoV‐2 Detection
Author(s) -
Kacherovsky Nataly,
Yang Lucy F.,
Dang Ha V.,
Cheng Emmeline L.,
Cardle Ian I.,
Walls Alexandra C.,
McCallum Matthew,
Sellers Drew L.,
DiMaio Frank,
Salipante Stephen J.,
Corti Davide,
Veesler David,
Pun Suzie H.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.202107730
Subject(s) - aptamer , covid-19 , coronavirus , glycoprotein , computational biology , spike (software development) , virology , plasma protein binding , biology , binding domain , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , binding site , biochemistry , medicine , computer science , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , pathology , outbreak , software engineering
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has devastated families and disrupted healthcare, economies and societies across the globe. Molecular recognition agents that are specific for distinct viral proteins are critical components for rapid diagnostics and targeted therapeutics. In this work, we demonstrate the selection of novel DNA aptamers that bind to the SARS‐CoV‐2 spike glycoprotein with high specificity and affinity (<80 nM). Through binding assays and high resolution cryo‐EM, we demonstrate that SNAP1 (SARS‐CoV‐2 spike protein N‐terminal domain‐binding aptamer 1) binds to the S N‐terminal domain. We applied SNAP1 in lateral flow assays (LFAs) and ELISAs to detect UV‐inactivated SARS‐CoV‐2 at concentrations as low as 5×10 5 copies mL −1 . SNAP1 is therefore a promising molecular tool for SARS‐CoV‐2 diagnostics.