Five-Minute Magnetic Nanoparticle Spectroscopy-Based Bioassay for Ultrafast Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein

In this work, we report a 5-min magnetic particle spectroscopy (MPS)-based bioassay strategy. In our approach, surface-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles are incubated with target analytes at 37 degrees C with agitation for 3 min, and the MPS reading is then taken at the fifth minute. We prove the feasibility of 5 min ultrafast detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with a detection limit below 5 nM (0.2 pmol). Our proposed 5-min bioassay strategy may be applied to reduce the assay time for other liquid-phase, volumetric biosensors such as NMR, quantum dots, fluorescent biosensors, etc.

Automated summary

In this work, a 5-minute bioassay strategy based on magnetic particle spectroscopy (MPS) is reported. By incubating surface-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles with target analytes at 37 degrees C for 3 minutes and taking the MPS reading at the fifth minute, the feasibility of ultrafast detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with a detection limit below 5 nM (0.2 pmol) is demonstrated. The proposed 5-minute bioassay strategy can be applied to reduce the assay time for other liquid-phase, volumetric biosensors such as NMR, quantum dots, and fluorescent biosensors.