Open AccessEnhanced Label-Free Nanoplasmonic Cytokine Detection in SARS-CoV-2 Induced Inflammation Using Rationally Designed Peptide Aptamer
Author(s) -
Jiacheng He,
Lang Zhou,
Gangtong Huang,
Jialiang Shen,
Wu Chen,
Chuanyu Wang,
Albert Kim,
Zhuoyu Zhang,
Weiqiang Chen,
Siyuan Dai,
Feng Ding,
Pengyu Chen
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
acs applied materials and interfaces
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.535
H-Index - 228
eISSN - 1944-8252
pISSN - 1944-8244
DOI - 10.1021/acsami.2c14748
Subject(s) - aptamer , immunoassay , detection limit , surface plasmon resonance , cytokine , immune system , peptide , materials science , immunology , medicine , antibody , nanotechnology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , chromatography , chemistry , nanoparticle , biochemistry
Rapid and precise serum cytokine quantification provides immense clinical significance in monitoring the immune status of patients in rapidly evolving infectious/inflammatory disorders, examplified by the ongoing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. However, real-time information on predictive cytokine biomarkers to guide targetable immune pathways in pathogenic inflammation is critically lacking, because of the insufficient detection range and detection limit in current label-free cytokine immunoassays. In this work, we report a highly sensitive localized surface plasmon resonance imaging (LSPRi) immunoassay for label-free Interleukin 6 (IL-6) detection utilizing rationally designed peptide aptamers as the capture interface. Benefiting from its characteristically smaller dimension and direct functionalization on the sensing surface via Au-S bonding, the peptide-aptamer-based LSPRi immunoassay achieved enhanced label-free serum IL-6 detection with a record-breaking limit of detection down to 4.6 pg/mL, and a wide dynamic range of ∼6 orders of magnitude (values from 4.6 to 1 × 10 6 pg/mL were observed). The immunoassay was validated in vitro for label-free analysis of SARS-CoV-2 induced inflammation, and further applied in rapid quantification of serum IL-6 profiles in COVID-19 patients. Our peptide aptamer LSPRi immunoassay demonstrates great potency in label-free cytokine detection with unprecedented sensing capability to provide accurate and timely interpretation of the inflammatory status and disease progression, and determination of prognosis.