Jeremiah J. Morrissey
Siteman Cancer Center, USA
Title: Plasmonically-enhanced Ultrasensitive Epitope-Specific Serologic Assay for Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 spike Protein in Patient Plasma
Biography
Biography: Jeremiah J. Morrissey
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has rapidly spread and resulted in global pandemic of COVID-19. Existing serology assays with the entire spike or nucleocapsid antigens only provide coarse information about infection stage and future immune protection. Novel biosensors enabling easy-to-use and sensitive detection of multiple epitope-specific antibodies simultaneously will facilitate precise diagnosis of infection stages, prediction of clinical outcomes, and evaluation of future immune protection upon vial exposure or vaccination. Here, we demonstrate a rapid and ultrasensitive quantification method for epitope-specific antibodies, including different isotypes and subclasses. Using an ultrabright fluorescent nanolabel, plasmonic-fluor, this novel assay can be completed in 20 minutes and, more importantly, the limit of detection of the plasmon-enhanced immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies is up to 100-fold lower compared to the assays relying on enzymatic amplification of a colorimetric signal. Using convalescent patient plasma, we demonstrate that this method reveals patient-to-patient variability in immune response as evidenced by the variations in whole protein and epitope-specific antibodies. This cost-effective, rapid and ultrasensitive plasmonically-enhanced multiplexed