Sandwich/competitive immuno-sensors on micro-interface for SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies

A simple, rapid and robust method to quantify SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) is urgently needed for determining COVID-19 serodiagnosis, vaccine development and evaluation of vaccine efficacy. In this study, we report sandwich/competitive immuno-sensors based on lateral chromatography micro-interface for accurate quantification of SARS-CoV-2 nAbs. Fluorescent microspheres (FMS) labeled receptor binding domain (RBD) antigen was prepared for detection of nAbs with high sensitivity. Sandwich and competitive immunoassay were conducted on the microfluidic-based sensor within 10 min and the fluorescent signal of immunoassay was analyzed by a portable microfluidic immunoassay instrument. The nAbs detection range of sandwich immuno-sensor and competitive immuno-sensor was 4.0 ng/mL to 400 ng/mL and 2.13 ng/mL to 213 ng/mL, respectively. Furthermore, the sandwich immuno-sensor was demonstrated to be comparable with existing methods and used to detect 182 clinical serum samples from vaccinated individuals. Sandwich immuno-sensor based on lateral chromatography micro-interface allowed reliable, fast, and low-cost detection of nAbs, which holds considerable potential for nAbs testing.