• Abdul Raziq, Anna Kidakova, Roman Boroznjak, Jekaterina Reut, Andres Öpik, and Vitali Syritski.
• Department of Materials and Environmental Technology, Tallinn University of Technology, Ehitajate tee 5, 19086, Tallinn, Estonia.
• Biosens Bioelectron. 2021 Apr 15; 178: 113029.

AbstractThe current COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is expanding around the globe. Hence, accurate and cheap portable sensors are crucially important for the clinical diagnosis of COVID-19. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) as robust synthetic molecular recognition materials with antibody-like ability to bind and discriminate between molecules can perfectly serve in building selective elements in such sensors. Herein, we report for the first time on the development of a MIP-based electrochemical sensor for detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleoprotein (ncovNP). A key element of the sensor is a disposable sensor chip - thin film electrode - interfaced with a MIP-endowed selectivity for ncovNP and connected with a portable potentiostat. The resulting ncovNP sensor showed a linear response to ncovNP in the lysis buffer up to 111 fM with a detection and quantification limit of 15 fM and 50 fM, respectively. Notably, the sensor was capable of signaling ncovNP presence in nasopharyngeal swab samples of COVID-19 positive patients. The presented strategy unlocks a new route for the development of rapid COVID-19 diagnostic tools.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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