The COVID-19 pandemic, and future pandemics, require diagnostic tools to track disease spread and guide the isolation of (a)symptomatic individuals. Lateral-flow diagnostics (LFDs) are rapid and of lower cost than molecular (genetic) tests, with current LFDs using antibodies as their recognition units. Herein, we develop a prototype flow-through device (related, but distinct to LFDs), utilizing N-acetyl neuraminic acid-functionalized, polymer-coated, gold nanoparticles as the detection/capture unit for SARS-COV-2, by targeting the sialic acid-binding site of the spike protein. The prototype device can give rapid results, with higher viral loads being faster than lower viral loads. The prototype’s effectiveness is demonstrated using spike protein, lentiviral models, and a panel of heat-inactivated primary patient nasal swabs. The device was also shown to retain detection capability toward recombinant spike proteins from several variants (mutants) of concern. This study provides the proof of principle that glyco-lateral-flow devices could be developed to be used in the tracking monitoring of infectious agents, to complement, or as alternatives to antibody-based systems.

中文翻译：

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用于检测 SARS-COV-2 的基于聚糖的流通装置

COVID-19 大流行以及未来的大流行需要诊断工具来跟踪疾病传播并指导隔离有症状的个体。侧流诊断 (LFD) 比分子（基因）测试快速且成本更低，目前的 LFD 使用抗体作为识别单元。在此，我们开发了一种原型流通装置（与 LFD 相关但不同），利用N-乙酰神经氨酸功能化、聚合物涂层的金纳米颗粒作为 SARS-COV-2 的检测/捕获单元，通过靶向刺突蛋白的唾液酸结合位点。该原型设备可以快速给出结果，较高的病毒载量比较低的病毒载量更快。使用刺突蛋白、慢病毒模型和一组热灭活的原发性患者鼻拭子证明了原型的有效性。该装置还被证明保留了对来自几种相关变体（突变体）的重组刺突蛋白的检测能力。这项研究提供了原理证明，即可以开发糖侧向流动装置用于感染源的跟踪监测，以补充或替代基于抗体的系统。