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. 2021 Jul;71(1):370-375.
doi: 10.2144/btn-2021-0044. Epub 2021 Jun 18.

Tergitol-15-S-9 inactivates SARS-CoV-2 and boosts immunoassay signals

Michael G Berg  1 , Eitan Israeli  2 , Erin Quaco  1 , Gavin A Cloherty  1 , Philip M Hemken  2
Affiliations

Tergitol-15-S-9 inactivates SARS-CoV-2 and boosts immunoassay signals

Michael G Berg et al. Biotechniques. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 virus is necessary to mitigate risk but may interfere with diagnostic assay performance. We examined the effect of heat inactivation on a prototype SARS-CoV-2 antigen immunoassay run on the ARCHITECT automated analyzer. Recombinant full-length SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and virus lysate detection was reduced by 66 and 31%, respectively. Several nonionic detergents were assessed as inactivation alternatives based on infectivity in cultured Vero CCL81 cells. Incubation of SARS-CoV-2 in 0.1% Tergitol 15-S-9 for 10 min significantly reduced infectivity and increased the immunoassay signal for cultured lysate and patient specimens. Tergitol 15-S-9 can inactivate SARS-CoV-2 while preserving epitopes on the nucleocapsid protein for enhanced detection by immunoassay antibodies.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; Tergitol 15-S-9; immunoassay; viral inactivation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This study was funded by Abbott Laboratories. All authors are employees of Abbott Laboratories. A patent application has been filed for the described method. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

We acknowledge Stacey Tobin for scientific writing assistance of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Tergitol 15-S-9 alone and in blends inactivate SARS-CoV-2 virus after ≥10 min.
SARS-CoV-2 virus lysate in VTM (108 cp/100 μl) was mixed with 100 μl of various detergents and blends to a final concentration of 0.1% and incubated for the indicated times. The mixtures were then diluted to 0.00125% and applied to Vero CCL81 cells for 2 h. Four days after infection, Viral Tox Glo assay was used to detect ATP produced by remaining viable cells as a measure of infectivity. Comparison of “No detergent” negative controls (no virus) and “no detergent” positive controls (with virus) run in triplicate demonstrates an approximate 50% reduction in Viral Tox Glo assay signal due to cell death after 10 min. Tergitol 15-S-9 alone and with Surfynol inactivated virus after 10 min, as indicated by assay signals comparable to negative controls.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Tergitol 15-S-9 inactivates SARS-CoV-2 over a range of concentrations.
Dose response of SARS-CoV-2 inactivation after incubation with decreasing concentrations of Tergitol 15-S-9 for 10 min. Infectivity was determined by the Viral Tox Glo assay. Blue indicates no virus controls, orange indicates virus-containing samples. No detergent (0.00%) negative controls (no virus) and positive controls (with virus) and each detergent condition were run in duplicate.
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