Molecularly Imprinted Polymer-Based Sensors for SARS-CoV-2: Where Are We Now?

Abstract

Since the first reported case of COVID-19 in 2019 in China and the official declaration from the World Health Organization in March 2021 as a pandemic, fast and accurate diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has played a major role worldwide. For this reason, various methods have been developed, comprising reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), immunoassays, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), and bio(mimetic)sensors. Among the developed methods, RT-PCR is so far the gold standard. Herein, we give an overview of the MIP-based sensors utilized since the beginning of the pandemic.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; biomimetic sensors; molecularly imprinted polymers.

Figure 1

Schematic representation of structural proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and properties Reprinted with permission from Ref. [5]. 2021, MDPI.

Figure 2

Workflow of MIP preparation Reprinted with permission from [20]. 2021, Elsevier.

Figure 3

Schematic representation of structural levels of target analyte in the virus imprinting process.

Figure 4

Schematic representation of (a) the preparation of MIP-based sensor and (b) the electrochemical reduction of graphene oxide Reprinted with permission from [141]. 2022, Elsevier.

Figure 5

Representation of the measurement in a redox marker solution upon the rebinding of the target analyte. Reprinted with permission from [65]. 2022, Elsevier.

Figure 6

Schematic representation of steps of virus imprinting procedure preparation and the SPR responses of the rebinding Reprinted with permission from [82]. 2022, RSC.