The global COVID-19 pandemic has had severe consequences from the social and economic perspectives, compelling the scientific community to focus on the development of effective diagnostics that can combine a fast response and accurate sensitivity/specificity performance. Presently available commercial antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are very fast, but still face significant criticisms, mainly related to their inability to amplify the protein signal. This translates to a limited sensitive outcome and, hence, a reduced ability to hamper the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To answer the urgent need for novel platforms for the early, specific and highly sensitive detection of the virus, this paper deals with the use of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) as very efficient ion-electron converters and amplifiers for the detection of spike proteins and their femtomolar concentration. The electrical response of the investigated OECTs was carefully analyzed, and the changes in the parameters associated with the transconductance (i.e., the slope of the transfer curves) in the gate voltage range between 0 and 0.3 V were found to be more clearly correlated with the spike protein concentration. Moreover, the functionalization of OECT-based biosensors with anti-spike and anti-nucleocapside proteins, the major proteins involved in the disease, demonstrated the specificity of these devices, whose potentialities should also be considered in light of the recent upsurge of the so-called "long COVID" syndrome.

Organic Electrochemical Transistor Immuno-Sensors for Spike Protein Early Detection / Barra, Mario; Tomaiuolo, Giovanna; Rachela Villella, Valeria; Esposito, Speranza; Liboà, Aris; D’Angelo, Pasquale; Marasso, SIMONE LUIGI; Cocuzza, Matteo; Bertana, Valentina; Camilli, Elena; Preziosi, Valentina. - In: BIOSENSORS. - ISSN 2079-6374. - ELETTRONICO. - 13:7(2023). [10.3390/bios13070739]

Organic Electrochemical Transistor Immuno-Sensors for Spike Protein Early Detection

Simone Luigi Marasso;Matteo Cocuzza;Valentina Bertana;Elena Camilli;
2023

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had severe consequences from the social and economic perspectives, compelling the scientific community to focus on the development of effective diagnostics that can combine a fast response and accurate sensitivity/specificity performance. Presently available commercial antigen-detecting rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) are very fast, but still face significant criticisms, mainly related to their inability to amplify the protein signal. This translates to a limited sensitive outcome and, hence, a reduced ability to hamper the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection. To answer the urgent need for novel platforms for the early, specific and highly sensitive detection of the virus, this paper deals with the use of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) as very efficient ion-electron converters and amplifiers for the detection of spike proteins and their femtomolar concentration. The electrical response of the investigated OECTs was carefully analyzed, and the changes in the parameters associated with the transconductance (i.e., the slope of the transfer curves) in the gate voltage range between 0 and 0.3 V were found to be more clearly correlated with the spike protein concentration. Moreover, the functionalization of OECT-based biosensors with anti-spike and anti-nucleocapside proteins, the major proteins involved in the disease, demonstrated the specificity of these devices, whose potentialities should also be considered in light of the recent upsurge of the so-called "long COVID" syndrome.
2023
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Organic Electrochemical Transistor Immuno-Sensors for Spike Protein Early Detection.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: 2a Post-print versione editoriale / Version of Record
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 3.4 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.4 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11583/2981625