Rapid detection of an Ebola biomarker with optical microring resonators

Ebola virus (EBOV) is a highly infectious pathogen, with a casemortality rate as high as 89%. Rapid therapeutic treatments and supportive measures can drastically improve patient outcome; however, the symptoms of EBOV disease (EVD) lack specificity from other endemic diseases. Given the high mortality and significant symptom overlap, there is a critical need for sensitive, rapid diagnostics for EVD. Facile diagnosis of EVD remains a challenge. Here, we describe a rapid and sensitive diagnostic for EVD through microring resonator sensors in conjunction with a unique biomarker of EBOV infection, soluble glycoprotein (sGP). Microring resonator sensors detected sGP in under 40 min with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 1.00 ng/mL in serum. Furthermore, we validated our assay with the detection of sGP in serum from EBOV-infected non-human primates. Our results demonstrate the utility of a high-sensitivity diagnostic platform for detection of sGP for diagnosis of EVD.

Automated summary

This study describes a rapid and sensitive diagnostic method for Ebola virus disease (EVD), using microring resonator sensors and the specific biomarker soluble glycoprotein (sGP) of Ebola infection. The method can detect sGP in a short time period with a low detection limit in serum.