DEVELOPMENT OF COVID DETECTION USING SPR SENSORS: A PRELIMINARY RESULTS Feraliana,1 Sarah Zulfa Khoirunnisa,1 Ni Luh Wulan Septiani,2 Muhammad Iqbal,2 Tati Sutarti, 4 Husna Nugrahapraja,3 Brian Yuliarto1,2
1Research Center for Nanosciences and Nanotechnology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
2Advanced Functional Materials Research Group, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
3Genetics and Molecular Research Group, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung 40132, Indonesia
4Bandung City Health Department, Bandung 40122, Indonesia
Abstract
Coronavirus or Covid-19 is a virus from the Coronaviridae family that has been epidemic throughout the world since the end of 2019. The virus spreads ten times faster through human interaction than SARS-CoV. RNA sequence of Covid-19 has 79,5% similarity with SARS-CoV. Fast and specific detection of Covid-19 is needed so that patient detection can be done quickly and accurately. One method that can be developed as a Covid-19 biosensor is aptamers-based biosensors. Aptamers are artificial oligonucleic acids that can specifically bind to target molecules. Aptamers are easily chemically modifiable for increasing stability and reducing toxicity. They show a comparable affinity for the target virus and better thermal stability than monoclonal antibodies. Those advantages make aptamers promising candidates in diagnostic and detection applications. The goal of this research was to use RNA aptamer as the specific recognition element in a portable surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor for the detection of Covid-19 in humans. Aptamer RNA 1 Covid-19 was designed using the Covid-19 sequence from Gisaid using the in silico method. End of 3^ aptamer RNA 1 modified with dithiol. Then, the aptamer was immobilized on the gold nanoparticle sensor surface via Cysteine-dithiol binding. The RNA solution that had been extracted from swab samples, was diluted ten times before being used as a sample. The immobilized aptamer RNA 1 captured Covid-19 in RNA solution, causing an increase in refraction index (r.u). Aptamer RNA 1 was found to bind RNA virus of Covid-19 where the positive sample of Covid-19 has refraction index (r.u) between 3 r.u - 10 r.u for various Ct values.
Keywords: aptamer- RNA- small molecule- aptasensor- oligonucleotide- biosensor-
