It’s a process now familiar to most people that is a pandemic “legacy”: taking a sample for a self-diagnostic test and waiting a quarter of an hour for the result about whether the person is infected with SARS-CoV-2. But what would you think if this whole process was reduced to one minute and even gave a “shiny” result? That’s exactly what a new study published in “ACS Central Science” suggests: a self-diagnostic saliva test for COVID-19 whose inspiration is bioluminescence.
Inspired by crustaceans
In particular, researchers from different Japanese centers used a molecule found in crustaceans that detects the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 in a way similar to that used in vaccines against the pandemic coronavirus.
Reaction with spike protein
From fireflies to kingfishers, many species, especially marine ones, have the chemical “tools” to produce light. The “light” reaction requires the chemical luciferin and the enzyme luciferase. There is however a class of luciferins known as IPT (imidazopyrazinone-type) substances that glow when they come into contact with other proteins as well, including those that are not considered enzymes. The Japanese researchers hypothesized that IPT luciferin could react with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that allows the virus to invade and infect human cells, paving the way for the development of a “bright” test for virus detection.
Detection in saliva in one minute
To test whether their hypothesis was correct, the researchers initially tested 36 IPT luciferins for their ability to react with the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. As they saw, only a substance that came from tiny shellfish of the genus Cypridina emitted light. Through further experiments, the scientists discovered that this particular luciferin could detect the spike protein of the coronavirus in saliva with an accuracy comparable to that of the technique currently used in vaccines against the virus. And in fact, it was able to detect it in just one minute, much faster than existing self-diagnostic tests.
And for other viruses such as influenza
According to the researchers, the new findings raise hopes for the development of a diagnostic test based on IRT luciferin, which will be added to a saliva sample of the person suspected of having COVID-19 and will quickly give a… bright result. In fact, as the scientists added, a similar approach could be followed for the detection of other viruses that have proteins similar to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 such as influenza, MERS-CoV and other coronaviruses
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