Ultrasensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein by graphene field-effect transistors

COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originated a global health crisis, causing over 2 million casualties and altering human daily life all over the world. This pandemic emergency revealed the limitations of current diagnostic tests, highlighting the...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Silvestri, Alessandro, Zayas Arrabal, Julián, Vera Hidalgo, Mariano, Di Silvo, Desiré, Wetzl, Cecilia, Martínez Moro, Marta, Zurutuza, Amaia, Torres, Elias, Centeno, Alba, Maestre, Arantxa, Gómez, Juan Manuel, Arrastua, María, Elicegui, Marta, Ontoso Martínez, Nerea, Prato, Maurizio, Coluzza, Iván, Criado Fernández, Alejandro
Format: article
Publication Date:2022
Country:España
Institution:Universidad del País Vasco
Repository:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:addi________::2ef2205a1cbe1bb1726bf8c708cbdff0
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/78925
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Graphene
GFET
Detection
Covid
Description
Summary:COVID-19, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originated a global health crisis, causing over 2 million casualties and altering human daily life all over the world. This pandemic emergency revealed the limitations of current diagnostic tests, highlighting the urgency to develop faster, more precise and sensitive sensors. Graphene field effect transistors (GFET) are analytical platforms that enclose all these requirements. However, the design of a sensitive and robust GFET is not a straightforward objective. In this work, we report a GFET array biosensor for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using the human membrane protein involved in the virus internalisation: angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). By finely controlling the graphene functionalisation, by tuning the Debye length, and by deeply characterising the ACE2-spike protein interactions, we have been able to detect the target protein with an extremely low limit of detection (2.94 aM). This work set the basis for a new class of analytical platforms, based on human membrane proteins, with the potential to detect a broad variety of pathogens, even before their isolation, being a powerful tool in the fight against future pandemics.

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