A SARS-CoV-2 Neutralization Assay Using Single Molecule Arrays.

Authors :: Gilboa T
Cohen L
Cheng CA
Lazarovits R
Uwamanzu-Nna A
Han I
Griswold K Jr
Barry N
Thompson DB
Kohman RE
Woolley AE
Karlson EW
Walt DR
Source :: Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) [Angew Chem Int Ed Engl] 2021 Dec 01; Vol. 60 (49), pp. 25966-25972. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Nov 05.
Publication Year :: 2021
Abstract: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) manifests with high clinical variability and warrants sensitive and specific assays to analyze immune responses in infected and vaccinated individuals. Using Single Molecule Arrays (Simoa), we developed an assay to assess antibody neutralization with high sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities based on antibody-mediated blockage of the ACE2-spike interaction. The assay does not require live viruses or cells and can be performed in a biosafety level 2 laboratory within two hours. We used this assay to assess neutralization and antibody levels in patients who died of COVID-19 and patients hospitalized for a short period of time and show that neutralization and antibody levels increase over time. We also adapted the assay for SARS-CoV-2 variants and measured neutralization capacity in pre-pandemic healthy, COVID-19 infected, and vaccinated individuals. This assay is highly adaptable for clinical applications, such as vaccine development and epidemiological studies.<br /> (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)