Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using Antibody-Antigen Interactions with Graphene-Based Nanomechanical Resonator Sensors

One master and two servants: One Zr(Ⅳ) with two ligands of TCPP and NH2-BDC form the MOF as the electrochemiluminescence emitter for the biosensing application

Here we put forward an innovative "one master and two servants" strategy for enhancing the ECL performance. A novel ECL luminophore named Zr-TCPP/NH2-BDC (TCPP@UiO-66-NH2) was synthesized by self-assembly of meso-tetra(4-carboxyphenyl)porphine (TCPP) and 4-aminobenzoic acid (NH2-BDC) with Zr clusters. TCPP@UiO-66-NH2 has a porous structure and a highly ordered structure, which allows the molecular motion of TCPP to be effectively confined, thereby inhibiting nonradiative energy transfer. Importantly, TCPP@UiO-66-NH2 has a higher and more stable ECL signal. To further improve the sensitivity of the sensor, we use polydopamine-coated manganese dioxide (PDA@MnO2), which has a double quenching effect, as the quencher. The nucleocapsid (N) protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2-N) is one of the ideal markers for the early diagnosis of COVID-19, and its sensitivity detection is of great significance for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Thus, we constructed a quenching-type ECL sensor for the ultrasensitive detection of the SARS-CoV-2-N. Its linear range is 10 fg/mL∼1 μg/mL and the calculated detection limit is 1.4 fg/mL (S/N = 3). The spiked recoveries are 97.40-103.8%, with the relative standard deviations (RSD) under 3.0%. More importantly, the technique offers a viable way to identify and diagnose viral infections early.

Graphene-based biosensors for detecting coronavirus: a brief review

The coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease has affected the globe with 770 437 327 confirmed cases, including about 6 956 900 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) as of September 2023. Hence, it is imperative to develop diagnostic technologies, such as a rapid cost-effective SARS-CoV-2 detection method. A typical biosensor enables biomolecule detection with an appropriate transducer by generating a measurable signal from the sample. Graphene can be employed as a component for ultrasensitive and selective biosensors based on its physical, optical, and electrochemical properties. Herein, we briefly review graphene-based electrochemical, field-effect transistor (FET), and surface plasmon biosensors for detecting the SARS-CoV-2 target. In addition, details on the surface modification, immobilization, sensitivity and limit of detection (LOD) of all three sensors with regard to SARS-CoV-2 were reported. Finally, the point-of-care (POC) detection of SARS-CoV-2 using a portable smartphone and a wearable watch is a current topic of interest.

Optical Fiber-Based Polymer Microcantilever for Chemical Sensing: A Through-Fiber Fabrication Scheme

Fiber optics offer an emerging platform for chemical and biological sensors when engineered with appropriate materials. However, the large aspect ratio makes the optical fiber a rather challenging substrate for standard microfabrication techniques. In this work, the cleaved end of an optical fiber is used as a fabrication platform for cantilever sensors based on functional polymers. The through-fiber fabrication process is triggered by photo-initiated free-radical polymerization and results in a high-aspect-ratio polymer beam in a single step. The dynamic mode application of these cantilevers is first demonstrated in air. These cantilevers are then tuned for sensing applications, including humidity and chemical sensing based on molecularly imprinted polymers.

A Brief Review of Graphene-Based Biosensors Developed for Rapid Detection of COVID-19 Biomarkers

The prevalence of mutated species of COVID-19 antigens has provided a strong impetus for identifying a cost-effective, rapid and facile strategy for identifying the viral loads in public places. The ever-changing genetic make-up of SARS-CoV-2 posts a significant challenfge for the research community to identify a robust mechanism to target, bind and confirm the presence of a viral load before it spreads. Synthetic DNA constructs are a novel strategy to design complementary DNA sequences specific for antigens of interest as in this review's case SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Small molecules, complementary DNA and protein-DNA complexes have been known to target analytes in minimal concentrations. This phenomenon can be exploited by nanomaterials which have unique electronic properties such as ballistic conduction. Graphene is one such candidate for designing a device with a very low LOD in the order of zeptomolar and attomolar concentrations. Surface modification will be the significant aspect of the device which needs to have a high degree of sensitivity at the same time as providing a rapid signaling mechanism.

Batteryless wireless magnetostrictive Fe30Co70/Ni clad plate for human coronavirus 229E detection

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been garnered increasing for its rapid worldwide spread. Each country had implemented city-wide lockdowns and immigration regulations to prevent the spread of the infection, resulting in severe economic consequences. Materials and technologies that monitor environmental conditions and wirelessly communicate such information to people are thus gaining considerable attention as a countermeasure. This study investigated the dynamic characteristics of batteryless magnetostrictive alloys for energy harvesting to detect human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E). Light and thin magnetostrictive Fe-Co/Ni clad plate with rectification, direct current (DC) voltage storage capacitor, and wireless information transmission circuits were developed for this purpose. The power consumption was reduced by improving the energy storage circuit, and the magnetostrictive clad plate under bending vibration stored a DC voltage of 1.9 V and wirelessly transmitted a signal to a personal computer once every 5 min and 10 s under bias magnetic fields of 0 and 10 mT, respectively. Then, on the clad plate surface, a novel CD13 biorecognition layer was immobilized using a self-assembled monolayer of -COOH groups, thus forming an amide bond with -NH2 groups for the detection of HCoV-229E. A bending vibration test demonstrated the resonance frequency changes because of HCoV-229E binding. The fluorescence signal demonstrated that HCoV-229E could be successfully detected. Thus, because HCoV-229E changed the dynamic characteristics of this plate, the CD13-modified magnetostrictive clad plate could detect HCoV-229E from the interval of wireless communication time. Therefore, a monitoring system that transmits/detects the presence of human coronavirus without batteries will be realized soon.

Recent advances of nanotechnology in COVID 19: A critical review and future perspective

The global anxiety and economic crisis causes the deadly pandemic coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID 19) affect millions of people right now. Subsequently, this life threatened viral disease is caused due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, morbidity and mortality of infected patients are due to cytokines storm syndrome associated with lung injury and multiorgan failure caused by COVID 19. Thereafter, several methodological advances have been approved by WHO and US-FDA for the detection, diagnosis and control of this wide spreadable communicable disease but still facing multi-challenges to control. Herein, we majorly emphasize the current trends and future perspectives of nano-medicinal based approaches for the delivery of anti-COVID 19 therapeutic moieties. Interestingly, Nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with drug molecules or vaccines resemble morphological features of SARS-CoV-2 in their size (60–140 nm) and shape (circular or spherical) that particularly mimics the virus facilitating strong interaction between them. Indeed, the delivery of anti-COVID 19 cargos via a nanoparticle such as Lipidic nanoparticles, Polymeric nanoparticles, Metallic nanoparticles, and Multi-functionalized nanoparticles to overcome the drawbacks of conventional approaches, specifying the site-specific targeting with reduced drug loading and toxicities, exhibit their immense potential. Additionally, nano-technological based drug delivery with their peculiar characteristics of having low immunogenicity, tunable drug release, multidrug delivery, higher selectivity and specificity, higher efficacy and tolerability switch on the novel pathway for the prevention and treatment of COVID 19.

Design and finite element modeling of two-dimensional nanomechanical biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 detection

SARS-CoV-2 is the causative agent of COVID-19 disease. The development of different variants has increased the prevalence, pathogenicity, and mortality of the SARS-CoV-2. Prompt diagnosis and timely initiation of therapy can undoubtedly minimize the damage caused by this virus. In this study, a wide range of emerging single layer two-dimensional materials (SL2DMs), including graphene, grapheme oxide (GO), reduced graphene oxide (rGO), hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), Ti3C2Tx MXene, and MoS2that can be used to fabricate highly sensitive biosensors, are analyzed using the finite element method based on antigen-antibody interaction. Important design parameters including sensor size, sensor aspect ratio, number of viruses, and applying in-plane strain on sensor performance are analyzed using frequency shift technique. In the following, an analytical relationship that can predict the limit of detection (LOD) according to the above parameters is proposed. The results show that all the above materials have a good performance in detecting viruses in the sample range of 10-100 viruses. This range can be reduced significantly by applying strains of less than 0.1. Also, applying strain increases shift frequency index by 2 to 3 times, which is a significant result. The maximum and minimum sensor performance are obtained for GO and Ti3C2Tx, respectively. The results of this paper can be used to build a new generation of two-dimensional biosensors for rapid detection of COVID-19 and other viruses.

Diagnostic Approaches For COVID-19: Lessons Learned and the Path Forward

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a transmitted respiratory disease caused by the infection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Although humankind has experienced several outbreaks of infectious diseases, the COVID-19 pandemic has the highest rate of infection and has had high levels of social and economic repercussions. The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the limitations of existing virological tests, which have failed to be adopted at a rate to properly slow the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2. Pandemic preparedness has developed as a focus of many governments around the world in the event of a future outbreak. Despite the largely widespread availability of vaccines, the importance of testing has not diminished to monitor the evolution of the virus and the resulting stages of the pandemic. Therefore, developing diagnostic technology that serves as a line of defense has become imperative. In particular, that test should satisfy three criteria to be widely adopted: simplicity, economic feasibility, and accessibility. At the heart of it all, it must enable early diagnosis in the course of infection to reduce spread. However, diagnostic manufacturers need guidance on the optimal characteristics of a virological test to ensure pandemic preparedness and to aid in the effective treatment of viral infections. Nanomaterials are a decisive element in developing COVID-19 diagnostic kits as well as a key contributor to enhance the performance of existing tests. Our objective is to develop a profile of the criteria that should be available in a platform as the target product. In this work, virus detection tests were evaluated from the perspective of the COVID-19 pandemic, and then we generalized the requirements to develop a target product profile for a platform for virus detection.

State-of-the-Art Smart and Intelligent Nanobiosensors for SARS-CoV-2 Diagnosis

The novel coronavirus appeared to be a milder infection initially, but the unexpected outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), commonly called COVID-19, was transmitted all over the world in late 2019 and caused a pandemic. Human health has been disastrously affected by SARS-CoV-2, which is still evolving and causing more serious concerns, leading to the innumerable loss of lives. Thus, this review provides an outline of SARS-CoV-2, of the traditional tools to diagnose SARS-CoV-2, and of the role of emerging nanomaterials with unique properties for fabricating biosensor devices to diagnose SARS-CoV-2. Smart and intelligent nanomaterial-enabled biosensors (nanobiosensors) have already proven their utility for the diagnosis of several viral infections, as various detection strategies based on nanobiosensor devices are already present, and several other methods are also being investigated by researchers for the determination of SARS-CoV-2 disease; however, considerably more is undetermined and yet to be explored. Hence, this review highlights the utility of various nanobiosensor devices for SARS-CoV-2 determination. Further, it also emphasizes the future outlook of nanobiosensing technologies for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis.

Peptide Binder with High-Affinity for the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Receptor-Binding Domain

Rapid antigen detection tests are urgently needed for the early diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The discovery of a binder with high affinity and selectivity for the biomarkers presented by SARS-CoV-2 is crucial to the development of the rapid antigen detection method. We utilized the surface biopanning to identify a peptide binder R1 from a phage-displayed peptide library consisting of 109 independent phage recombinants. The R1 peptide exhibited high-affinity for specific binding with the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with a dissociation constant KD of (7.5 ± 1.9) × 10-10 M, which maintained high binding affinity with the RBD derived from Gamma, Lambda, Delta, and Omicron variants. The composition and sequence dependence of binding characteristics in R1-RBD interactions was revealed by the binding affinity fluctuations between RBD and the scrambled sequences or single-site mutants of R1. The R1-functionalized gold nanoparticles possessed concentration-dependent response to RBD and selectivity over bovine serum albumin and human serum albumin. The peptide binder R1 shows the potential to be used for constructing a rapid detection method for the early-stage diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2.

Use of Nanomaterials for Diagnosis and Treatment: The Advancement of Next-Generation Antiviral Therapy

Globally, viral illness propagation is the leading cause of morbidity and death, causing wreaking havoc on socioeconomic development and health care systems. The rise of infected individuals has outpaced the existing critical care facilities. Early and sophisticated methods are desperately required in this respect to halt the spread of the infection. Therefore, early detection of infectious agents and an early treatment approach may help minimize viral outbreaks. Conventional point-of-care diagnostic techniques such as computed tomography scan, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), X-ray, and immunoassay are still deemed valuable. However, the labor demanding, low sensitivity, and complex infrastructure needed for these methods preclude their use in distant areas. Nanotechnology has emerged as a potentially transformative technology due to its promise as an effective theranostic platform for diagnosing and treating viral infection, circumventing the limits of traditional techniques. Their unique physical and chemical characteristics make nanoparticles (NPs) advantageous for drug delivery platforms due to their size, encapsulation efficiency, improved bioavailability, effectiveness, immunogenicity, and antiviral response. This study discusses the recent research on nanotechnology-based treatments designed to combat new viruses.

Multifunctional carbon nanomaterials for diagnostic applications in infectious diseases and tumors

Infectious diseases (such as Corona Virus Disease 2019) and tumors pose a tremendous challenge to global public health. Early diagnosis of infectious diseases and tumors can lead to effective control and early intervention of the patient's condition. Over the past few decades, carbon nanomaterials (CNs) have attracted widespread attention in different scientific disciplines. In the field of biomedicine, carbon nanotubes, graphene, carbon quantum dots and fullerenes have the ability of improving the accuracy of the diagnosis by the improvement of the diagnostic approaches. Therefore, this review highlights their applications in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and tumors over the past five years. Recent advances in the field of biosensing, bioimaging, and nucleic acid amplification by such CNs are introduced and discussed, emphasizing the importance of their unique properties in infectious disease and tumor diagnosis and the challenges and opportunities that exist for future clinical applications. Although the application of CNs in the diagnosis of several diseases is still at a beginning stage, biosensors, bioimaging technologies and nucleic acid amplification technologies built on CNs represent a new generation of promising diagnostic tools that further support their potential application in infectious disease and tumor diagnosis.

Graphene-Based Technologies for Tackling COVID-19 and Future Pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for rapid tools and technologies to combat highly infectious viruses. The excellent electrical, mechanical and other functional properties of graphene and graphene-like 2D materials (2DM) can be utilized to develop novel and innovative devices to tackle COVID-19 and future pandemics. Here, the authors outline how graphene and other 2DM-based technologies can be used for the detection, protection, and continuous monitoring of infectious diseases including COVID-19. The authors highlight the potential of 2DM-based biosensors in rapid testing and tracing of viruses to enable isolation of infected patients, and stop the spread of viruses. The possibilities of graphene-based wearable devices are discussed for continuous monitoring of COVID-19 symptoms. The authors also provide an overview of the personal protective equipment, and potential filtration mechanisms to separate, destroy or degrade highly infectious viruses, and the potential of graphene and other 2DM to increase their efficiency, and enhance functional and mechanical properties. Graphene and other 2DM could not only play a vital role for tackling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but also provide technology platforms and tools for the protection, detection and monitoring of future viral diseases.