COVID-19: APTAMER-BASED DIAGNOSTICS KIT FOR THE EARLY AND RAPID DETECTION OF COVIDS

APTA-COVID旨在开发一种用户友好的试剂盒，用于早期和快速诊断COVID（及其未来的突变体）感染。计算机建模将能够识别能够识别COVID-19刺突不同结构域的相对较小的分子（称为适体）库。这些分子将被移植到磁性纳米颗粒上，成为一种强大的工具，用于捕获、浓缩和检测口腔拭子/唾液样本中的少量病毒。这将通过将磁性纳米颗粒与样品孵育仅15分钟，用磁铁吸引它们，在洗掉多余的后，将它们与带有荧光分子标记的自由适体孵育15分钟来完成：每个适体识别不同的病毒刺突结构域。最后一次清洗后，在便宜的紫外线灯照射下发出荧光的颗粒将表明病毒的存在。这个套件将比现有的套件（1000个样品50英镑）更具成本效益。更多的人将在更短的时间内接受检测，从而能够更早地发现感染并绘制疫情的地理地图，从而使临床医生和决策者能够迅速采取行动。

APTA-COVID aims to develop **a user-friendly kit** for the early and fast diagnosis of COVID (and its future mutants) infection. Computer modelling will enable the identification of a library of relatively small molecules (called aptamers) able to recognise different domains of the COVID-19 spikes. These molecules will be grafted on to magnetic nanoparticles to become **a powerful tool to capture, concentrate and detect small amounts of viruses in oral swabs/saliva samples**. This will be done by incubating the magnetic nanoparticles with the sample for only 15 min, attracting them with a magnet and after washing out the excess, incubate them for 15 min with free aptamers tagged with fluorescent molecules: each recognising a different virus spike domain. After a final wash, particles that fluoresce under illumination with an inexpensive UV torch will signal the presence of the virus. This kit will be much more cost-effective than the one currently available (£50 for 1000 samples). More individuals will be tested in a shorter time period thus enabling earlier detection of infection and geographical mapping of outbreaks enabling fast actions by clinicians and policymakers.