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Review
. 2023 Feb 24;13(7):2877-2896.
doi: 10.1016/j.apsb.2023.02.014. Online ahead of print.

Application of microfluidic technologies on COVID-19 diagnosis and drug discovery

Zhun Lin  1 , Zhengyu Zou  2 , Zhe Pu  1 , Minhao Wu  2 , Yuanqing Zhang  1
Affiliations
Review

Application of microfluidic technologies on COVID-19 diagnosis and drug discovery

Zhun Lin et al. Acta Pharm Sin B. .

Abstract

The ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has boosted the development of antiviral research. Microfluidic technologies offer powerful platforms for diagnosis and drug discovery for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) diagnosis and drug discovery. In this review, we introduce the structure of SARS-CoV-2 and the basic knowledge of microfluidic design. We discuss the application of microfluidic devices in SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis based on detecting viral nucleic acid, antibodies, and antigens. We highlight the contribution of lab-on-a-chip to manufacturing point-of-care equipment of accurate, sensitive, low-cost, and user-friendly virus-detection devices. We then investigate the efforts in organ-on-a-chip and lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) synthesizing chips in antiviral drug screening and mRNA vaccine preparation. Microfluidic technologies contribute to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 research efforts and provide tools for future viral outbreaks.

Keywords: COVID-19; Detection; Drug screen; Lab-on-a-chip; Microfluidic; Organ-on-a-chip; SARS-CoV-2.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Image 1
Graphical abstract
Figure 1
Figure 1
The structure of SARS-CoV-2.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example of microfluidic technology for SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid detection. (A) A high-speed but low-throughput RT-qPCR system for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2021 Elsevier. (B) A 3D printed integrated microfluidic chip for multiplexed colorimetric detection of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2020 Elsevier. (C) Multiplexed CRISPR-based microfluidic platform for identification of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2022 Springer Nature. (D) An ultralocalized Cas13a assay enables universal and nucleic acid amplification-free single-molecule RNA diagnostics. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Example of microfluidic technology for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detection. (A) A point-of-care test for multiplexed, quantitative serological profiling of COVID-19. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. (B) A high-throughput microfluidic nano immunoassay for detecting anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2021 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (C) Microfluidic particle dam for direct visualization of SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2022 American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Example of microfluidic technology for SARS-CoV-2 antigens detection. (A) The handheld microfluidic filtration platform enables rapid, low-Cost, and robust self-testing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2021 John Wiley and Sons. (B) Microfluidic magneto immunosensor for rapid, high sensitivity measurements of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein in serum. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Example of organ-on-a-chip for SARS-CoV-2 drug screening. (A) The biomimetic human disease model of SARS-CoV-2-induced lung injury and immune responses on organ chip. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2020 John Wiley and Sons. (B) SARS-CoV-2 induced intestinal responses with a biomimetic human gut-on-chip. Reprinted with the permission from Ref. . Copyright © 2020 Elsevier.
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