Rapid response flow cytometric assay for the detection of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2

Lapuente D, Maier C, Irrgang P, Hübner J, Peter AS, Hoffmann M, Enßer A, Ziegler K, Winkler T, Birkholz T, Kremer A, Steininger P, Korn K, Neipel F, Überla K, Tenbusch M (2020)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Journal

European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases Springer Verlag (Germany)

DOI: 10.1007/s10096-020-04072-7

Abstract

SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a previously unknown zoonotic coronavirus that spread worldwide causing a serious pandemic. While reliable nucleic acid–based diagnostic assays were rapidly available, only a limited number of validated serological assays were available in the early phase of the pandemic. Here, we evaluated a novel flow cytometric approach to assess spike-specific antibody responses.HEK 293T cells expressing SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in its natural confirmation on the surface were used to detect specific IgG and IgM antibody responses in patient sera by flow cytometry. A soluble angiotensin-converting-enzyme 2 (ACE-2) variant was developed as external standard to quantify spike-specific antibody responses on different assay platforms. Analyses of 201 pre-COVID-19 sera proved a high assay specificity in comparison to commercially available CLIA and ELISA systems, while also revealing the highest sensitivity in specimens from PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected patients. The external standard allowed robust quantification of antibody responses among different assay platforms. In conclusion, our newly established flow cytometric assay allows sensitive and quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies, which can be easily adopted in different laboratories and does not rely on external supply of assay kits. The flow cytometric assay also provides a blueprint for rapid development of serological tests to other emerging viral infections

Authors with CRIS profile

Armin Enßer Medizinische Fakultät Thomas Winkler Professur für Genetik Torsten Birkholz Medizinische Fakultät Andreas Kremer Department of Medicine 1 – Gastroenterology, Pneumology and Endocrinology Philipp Steininger Institute of Clinical and Molecular Virology Klaus Korn Institute of Clinical and Molecular Virology Frank Neipel Institute of Clinical and Molecular Virology Klaus Überla Lehrstuhl für Klinische und Molekulare Virologie Matthias Tenbusch Professur für Genbasierte Immunisierungsverfahren

Involved external institutions

Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität, Nürnberg DE Germany (DE) Deutsches Primatenzentrum (DPZ), Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung DE Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Lapuente, D., Maier, C., Irrgang, P., Hübner, J., Peter, A.S., Hoffmann, M.,... Tenbusch, M. (2020). Rapid response flow cytometric assay for the detection of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-020-04072-7

MLA:

Lapuente, Dennis, et al. "Rapid response flow cytometric assay for the detection of antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2." European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (2020).

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