Emergence of the novel pathogenic coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 and its rapid pandemic spread presents challenges that demand immediate attention. Here, we describe the development of a semi‐quantitative high‐content microscopy‐based assay for detection of three major classes (IgG, IgA, and IgM) of SARS‐CoV‐2 specific antibodies in human samples. The possibility to detect antibodies against the entire viral proteome together with a robust semi‐automated image analysis workflow resulted in specific, sensitive and unbiased assay that complements the portfolio of SARS‐CoV‐2 serological assays. Sensitive, specific and quantitative serological assays are urgently needed for a better understanding of humoral immune response against the virus as a basis for developing public health strategies to control viral spread. The procedure described here has been used for clinical studies and provides a general framework for the application of quantitative high‐throughput microscopy to rapidly develop serological assays for emerging virus infections.

中文翻译：

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基于显微镜的人血清中 SARS-CoV-2 特异性抗体的半定量检测


新型致病冠状病毒 SARS-CoV-2 的出现及其迅速大流行带来的挑战需要立即关注。在这里，我们描述了一种基于半定量高内涵显微镜检测的开发，用于检测人类样本中 SARS-CoV-2 特异性抗体的三大类（IgG、IgA 和 IgM）。检测针对整个病毒蛋白质组的抗体的可能性与强大的半自动图像分析工作流程相结合，产生了特异性、灵敏且公正的检测，补充了 SARS-CoV-2 血清学检测组合。迫切需要灵敏、特异和定量的血清学检测，以更好地了解针对病毒的体液免疫反应，作为制定控制病毒传播的公共卫生策略的基础。这里描述的程序已用于临床研究，并为应用定量高通量显微镜快速开发新出现的病毒感染的血清学测定提供了通用框架。