A New, Simple, Rapid, On-Site Test for Detection of and Prevention from SARS-CoV Viruses

The overall goal of this proposal is to develop a new approach for the detection of and protection from the coronaviruses SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. The test uses a tongue scrape sample and gives a simple response, positive or negative, in less than 10 minutes. Our novel approach measures the activity of an enzyme of the SARS virus that causes COVID. This enzyme is a protease that cleaves a short protein fragment (a peptide) with a known amino acid sequence that is recognized only by SARS viruses and not by other coronaviruses. When the peptide is cleaved, fluorescence is emitted that can be read in a commercially available handheld fluorometer. The Phase I work is based on our preliminary data that show that fluorescence from the SARS peptide and a control peptide for the human ACE2 protease is detectable in crude lysates from tongue scrape samples that do not require any processing. The Phase I work will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed technical approach to perform in one sample vial in a commercial handheld spectrometer and will determine system requirements needed to build a multi-sample spectrometer.