Light-Induced Immunoassay Selectively Detects COVID-19 Proteins
Researchers have demonstrated a light-based method that detects coronavirus proteins.
Complete the form below to unlock access to ALL audio articles.
Like moths to a flame, microbes can also be moved by light. Using this knowledge, researchers from Osaka Metropolitan University’s Research Institute for Light-induced Acceleration System (RILACS) have demonstrated a method to detect the presence of viruses quickly and using only a small sample.
The research team led by OMU Professor Takuya Iida, the director of RILACS, and Associate Professor Shiho Tokonami, the deputy director, report in npj Biosensing on a light-induced immunoassay. Using laser irradiation for less than 1 minute, a nanoparticle-imprinted plasmonic substrate with a series of nanobowl structures (500 nm in diameter for each) could be coated with antibodies for the spike proteins of the novel coronavirus. A 5-milliwatt laser, as low power as commercial laser pointers, could then form bubbles on the biochip that drew virus-mimicking nanoparticles, thereby accelerating the selective detection of the particles.
Want more breaking news?
Subscribe to Technology Networks’ daily newsletter, delivering breaking science news straight to your inbox every day.
Subscribe for FREE“This study shows that we can shorten the cumbersome antibody coating process and perform rapid and highly sensitive protein detection,” Professor Iida proclaimed. “We believe our findings can contribute to the early diagnosis of not only the novel coronavirus, but possibly also various infectious diseases, cancer, even dementia.”
Reference: Kanoda M, Hayashi K, Takagi Y, Tamura M, Tokonami S, Iida T. High-throughput light-induced immunoassay with milliwatt-level laser under one-minute optical antibody-coating on nanoparticle-imprinted substrate. npj Biosensing. 2024;1(1):1-9. doi: 10.1038/s44328-024-00004-z
This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here.
