Several diagnostic tools have been developed for clinical and epidemiological assays. RT-PCR and antigen detection tests are more useful for diagnosis of acute disease, while antibody tests allow the estimation of exposure in the population. Currently, there is an urgent need for the development of diagnostic tests for COVID-19 that can be used for large-scale epidemiological sampling. Through a comprehensive strategy, potential 16 mer antigenic peptides suited for antibody-based SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis were identified. A systematic scan of the three structural proteins (S,N and M) and the non-structural proteins (ORFs) present in the SARS-CoV-2 virus was conducted through the combination of immunoinformatic methods, peptide SPOT synthesis and an immunoassay with cellulose-bound peptides (Pepscan). The Pepscan filter paper sheets with synthetic peptides were tested against pools of sera of COVID-19 patients. Antibody recognition showed a strong signal for peptides corresponding to the S, N and M proteins of SARS-CoV-2 virus, but not for the ORFs proteins. The peptides exhibiting higher signal intensity were found in the C-terminal region of the N protein. Several peptides of this region showed strong recognition with all three immunoglobulins in the pools of sera. The differential reactivity observed between the different immunoglobulin isotypes (IgA, IgM and IgG) within different regions of the S and N proteins, can be advantageous for ensuring accurate diagnosis of all infected patients, with different times of exposure to infection. Few peptides of the M protein showed antibody recognition and no recognition was observed for peptides of the ORFs proteins.

已经开发出了几种用于临床和流行病学分析的诊断工具。RT-PCR和抗原检测测试对于诊断急性疾病更为有用，而抗体测试则可以估算人群中的暴露水平。当前，迫切需要开发可用于大规模流行病学抽样的COVID-19诊断测试。通过综合策略，确定了适用于基于抗体的SARS-CoV-2诊断的潜在16聚体抗原肽。通过结合免疫信息学方法，肽SPOT合成和纤维素免疫测定，对SARS-CoV-2病毒中存在的三种结构蛋白（S，N和M）和非结构蛋白（ORF）进行了系统扫描。结合肽（Pepscan）。对带有合成肽的Pepscan滤纸片进行了针对COVID-19患者血清的测试。抗体识别显示出与SARS-CoV-2病毒的S，N和M蛋白相对应的肽的强信号，但对ORFs蛋白却没有。在多肽中发现具有较高信号强度的肽。N蛋白的C末端区域。该区域的几种肽对血清库中的所有三种免疫球蛋白均显示出较强的识别力。在S和N蛋白的不同区域内，不同免疫球蛋白同种型（IgA，IgM和IgG）之间观察到的差异反应性，对于确保准确诊断所有感染患者以及暴露于感染的不同时间可能是有利的。M蛋白的肽很少显示出抗体识别，而ORFs蛋白的肽没有观察到识别。