High throughput surface plasmon resonance imaging method for clinical detection of presence and strength of binding of IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 during CoViD-19 infection

Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi) was used to determine the presence and strength of binding of IgG, IgM and IgA against the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 in sera of 102 CoViD-19 and non-CoViD-19 patients. The SPRi assay simultaneously measures the antibody isotype levels and the strength of binding to the RBD of ultimate 384 patient samples in one run. It turns out that during the course of the disease, the IgG levels and strength of binding increased while generally the IgM and IgA levels go down. Recovered patients all show high strength of binding of the IgG type to the RBD protein. The anti-RBD immunoglobulins SPRi assay provides additional insights in the immune status of patients recovering from CoViD-19. This new high throughput method can be applied for the assessment of the quality of the immune reaction of healthy individuals to SARS-CoV-2 and its mutants in vaccination programs. Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging is an unprecedented technology for high throughput screening of antibody profiling of CoViD19 patients. Fingerprinting of isotypes IgM, IgG and IgA can be performed for 384 patients in one run. An affinity maturation effect was shown for patients recovering from CoViD19. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

The study used Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging to analyze the presence and strength of binding of IgG, IgM, and IgA against the Receptor Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2 in 102 CoViD-19 and non-CoViD-19 patients' sera. The results showed that IgG levels and strength of binding increased during the course of the disease, while IgM and IgA levels generally decreased. Recovered patients exhibited high strength of binding of IgG to the RBD protein. The SPRi assay provides additional insights into the immune status of patients recovering from CoViD-19.