Tetrahedron-Based Constitutional Dynamic Network for COVID-19 or Other Coronaviruses Diagnostics and Its Logic Gate Applications

Considering the large-scale outbreak of the coronavirus, it is essential to develop a versatile sensing system for different coronaviruses diagnostics, such as COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV), and bat SARS-like corona-virus (Bat-SL-CoVZC45). In this work, a tetrahedron-based constitutional dynamic network was built as the sensing platform for coronavirus detection. Four different DNA probes were used to construct the tetrahedron structure. DNAzyme and the fluorophore modified substrate strand were used to generate different fluorescence signals, which can be used to distinguish different coronaviruses. The coronavirus biosensor shows a high sensitivity for COVID-19, Bat-SL-CoVZC45, and SARS-CoV detection, with detection limits of 2.5, 3.1, and 2.9 fM, respectively. Also, the platform is robust, and the possible interference from clinical samples was negligible. Using different coronaviruses as inputs, we have fabricated several concatenated logic gates, such as AND-OR, INHIBIT-AND, AND-AND-AND, and AND-INHIBIT. Importantly, our logic system can also be used to identify SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Lambda variants in the logic operations. Due to the unique advantages of high sensitivity and selectivity, multiple logic biocomputing capabilities, and multireadout mode, this flexible sensing system provides a versatile sensing strategy for intelligent diagnostics of different coronaviruses with low false-negative rates.

Automated summary

The study developed a tetrahedron-based sensing system for detecting different coronaviruses with high sensitivity and selectivity. By constructing various logic gates, it can also identify SARS-CoV-2 Delta and Lambda variants.