The outlined protocol describes the procedure for producing the HiBiT-receptor-binding domain protein complex and its application for fast and sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for better serological detection methods to determine the epidemiologic impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The increasing number of SARS-CoV-2 infections raises the need for better antibody detection assays. Current antibody detection methods compromise sensitivity for speed or are sensitive but time-consuming. A large proportion of SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibodies target the receptor-binding domain (RBD), one of the primary immunogenic compartments of SARS-CoV-2. We have recently designed and developed a highly sensitive, bioluminescent-tagged RBD (NanoLuc HiBiT-RBD) to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. The following text describes the procedure to produce the HiBiT-RBD complex and a fast assay to evaluate the presence of RBD-targeting antibodies using this tool. Due to the durability of the HiBiT-RBD protein product over a wide range of temperatures and the shorter experimental procedure that can be completed within 1 h, the protocol can be considered as a more efficient alternative to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patient serum samples.
The recent emergence of a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV21, has caused more than 2,800,000 fatalities and 128 million infections as of March 30th, 20212. Due to the lack of a reliable and well-established treatment procedure for SARS-CoV-2 clinical therapies, many endeavors have been made to restrict further viral transmission and more importantly, to develop an effective and robust treatment or a vaccine3. To date, there are more than 50 COVID-19 vaccine candidates in trials reported by the World Health Organization4. Detection of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 is of paramount importance to determine the long-term stability of humoral response upon administration of the vaccine as well as in recovered patients of COVID-195. Some studies have demonstrated that there is a possibility that recovered SARS-CoV-2 patients lose most of the RBD-binding antibodies after 1 year5,6,7,8,9. Further investigation is required to better understand lasting immunity, and more sensitive antibody detection platforms can help further such work. Reports of sustained immunity of mild SARS-CoV-2 infections, which suggest long-term antibody responses, is also an interesting and worthwhile area of study. A fast and accurate method of detection is essential for monitoring antibodies in individuals' sera to provide more information about immunity in the population.
Like other coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2 uses protruding spike glycoprotein to bind to angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) to initiate a cascade of events that lead to the fusion of the viral and cell membranes6,7. Several studies have recently proved the RBD of the Spike protein to have a crucial role in eliciting powerful and specific antibody response against SARS-CoV28,9,10,11. In particular, correlations observed by Premkumar et al. between the titer of RBD-binding antibody and SARS-CoV-2 neutralization potency of patients' plasma are consistent with RBD being an immunogenic compartment of the virus structure9. With that in mind, many diagnostic tests available for SARS-CoV-2 antibody detection are time and cost-intensive, require a lengthy procedure of incubation and washing (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]), or lack sensitivity and accuracy (lateral flow immunoassay [LFIA])12. Therefore, a quantitative and rapid complementary serological method of COVID-19-derived antibody detection with high sensitivity, fast response, and relatively low cost would serve the need for a reliable serologic test for SARS-CoV-2 epidemiologic surveillance.
Collectively, the limitations of current serological assays prompted the investigation of the bioluminescent reporting system as a potential diagnostic agent in future serosurveys. Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring enzyme/substrate reaction, with light emission. Nanoluc luciferase is the smallest (19 kDa), yet the brightest system compared to Renilla and firefly luciferase (36 kDa and 61 kDa, respectively)13,14. Further, Nanoluc has the highest signal to noise ratio and stability among the previously mentioned systems. The high signal intensity of Nanoluc supports the detection of even very low amounts of reporter fusions15. Nanoluc Binary Technology (NanoBiT) is a split version of the Nanoluc system, which is comprised of two segments: small BiT (11 amino acids; SmBiT) and large BiT (LgBiT) with relatively low-affinity interactions (KD = 190 µM ) to form a luminescent complex16. NanoBiT is extensively used in various studies involving the identification of protein-protein interactions15,17,18,19 and cellular signaling pathways11,20,21.
Recently, another small peptide with a distinctly higher affinity to LgBiT (KD = 0.7 nM ) was introduced, namely the HiBiT Nano-Glo system, in place of SmBiT. The high affinity and strong signal of the Nano-Glo "add-mix-read" assay makes HiBiT a suitable, quantitative, luminescent peptide tag. In this approach, the HiBiT tag is appended to the target protein by developing a construct imposing minimal structural interference. HiBiT-protein fusion would actively bind to the LgBiT counterpart, producing a highly active luciferase enzyme to generate detectable bioluminescence in the presence of detection reagents (Figure 1). Similarly, we developed a HiBiT Nano-Glo-based system to readily measure the neutralizing antibody titer in the sera of SARS-CoV-2 recovered individuals and recently developed a HiBiT-tagged SARS-CoV-2 RBD. This paper describes the protocol for producing the HiBiT-RBD bioreporter using standard laboratory procedures and equipment, and shows how this bioreporter can be used in a fast and efficient assay to detect SARS-CoV-2 RBD-targeting antibodies.
NOTE: The protocol described below adheres to all ethics guidelines according to protocol code 20200371-01H.
1. Production and evaluation of the HiBiT-RBD bioreporter
2. Detecting anti-RBD antibody with a fast and sensitive assay
3. High-throughput detection of the SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies from patient serum samples
The signals from both the HiBit-RBD-containing cell lysate and supernatant of the transfected cells were recorded (Figure 2) to evaluate the appropriate protein source. HiBiT-RBD and LgBit were separately used as controls, and the data showed low background compared to a strong signal when both parts were combined. Hence, HiBiT-RBD interaction with LgBiT is necessary to generate active enzyme for substrate digestion and bioluminescence activity (Figure 1).
The addition of protein G will help antibody precipitation (Figure 3). The assay was used to compare the signal from a commercial SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibody with a control IgG. The specific antibody signal was robust, while the control antibody had close to the luminescent background level (Figure 4A). Recombinant attenuated oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) with a mutation at position 51 of the M protein (Δ51) expressing exogenous RBD was used to vaccinate mice. The serum collected from vaccinated mice produced a robust signal compared to no signal in mice injected with control VSV (Figure 4B).
Figure 1: LgBiT interaction with HiBiT connected to RBD. Upon interaction of the small portion of the nanoluciferase, HiBiT, with the large subunit of the enzyme, LgBiT, the active enzyme complex can produce a luminescent signal after substrate consumption. The RBD does not interfere with this process. Abbreviations: RBD = receptor-binding domain. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Robust reporter activity from both lysate and supernatant of transfected cells. The protein is present in both supernatant and lysate and produces a strong signal. Control groups' luminescent signals were close to the background. Error bars represent Standard Deviation (SD). Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Schematic of the HiBiT-RBD interaction with antibodies bound to protein G. The schematic depicts the antibody precipitation by protein G and interaction with HiBiT-RBD. The addition of the LgBit to the mixture will produce a robust signal when the antibody is specific for RBD. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 4: HiBiT-RBD bioreporter generates strong bioluminescence with purified neutralizing antibodies, vaccinated mouse serum, and patient serum samples. (A) HiBiT-RBD interacts with RBD-specific neutralizing antibody and generates significantly high signal compared to the negligible signal for nonspecific IgG. (B) The bioreporter can detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in vaccinated mouse serum. Abbreviations: RBD = receptor-binding domain; IgG = immunoglobulin G; Ab = antibody; VSV = vesicular stomatitis virus; Fluc = firefly luciferase. (C) Detection of the SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patient serum samples, reproduced from Azad et al.22. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
The increasing number of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 and the ongoing effort for global vaccination necessitates sensitive and fast serologic tests that can be used in large-scale serosurveys. Recent research shows that split nanoluciferase-based bioreporters can be used to develop such assays. We recently developed the HiBiT-RBD bioreporter to design a test that can be used to detect SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in patient serum in a fast and reliable fashion (Figure 4C).
There are a few critical steps in this assay. Because the system’s efficiency depends on RBD protein expression, the protein levels should be validated by western blotting. Moreover, it is necessary to use a positive control, such as a commercial antibody against RBD, and a negative control antibody. Addition of a Nanoluciferase protein is recommended to be used as a positive control for bioluminescence detection. The protein product also contains a His-tag, which can be used for purification for a large number of serum samples.
There are several advantages to using this bioreporter compared to other competing methods. First, an experienced user can perform the complete assay procedure in less than one hour, which is considerably faster than existing tests such as ELISA. Second, the minimum preparation and testing requirements make this test highly valuable for large-scale production at a low cost. Moreover, the detection limit of the assay is as low as 1 ng of the SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing antibody as described by Azad et al.22. A drawback of this approach is the inability to differentiate between different antibody isotypes. Moving forward, the sensitivity of the test should be compared to other routinely used serologic tests.
Azad et al.22 had used serum samples from patients to evaluate the applicability of the assay. It is also essential that the system is tested for antibody detection in blood samples from patients. This tool could also be very impactful in the assessment of the correlation between the severity of COVID-19 and the presence of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. Overall, such serologic tests could have a substantial impact in estimating the epidemiological impact of the SARS-CoV-2 and can be a convenient substitute for time-consuming and less sensitive detection methods.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
We appreciate and thank the technical assistance of Xiaohong He, Ricardo Marius, Julia Petryk, Bradley Austin, and Christiano Tanese De Souza. We also thank Mina Ghahremani for Graphic Design. We would also like to thank all the individuals who participated and donated their blood samples for this study. DWC is supported in part by uOttawa Faculty and Department of Medicine.
5x Passive Lysis Buffer | Promega | E194A | 30 mL |
Bio-Plex Handheld Magnetic Washer | Bio-Rad | 171020100 | |
DMEM | Sigma | D6429-500ml | |
Dual-Glo luciferase Assay System | Promega | E2940 | 100 mL kit |
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) | Sigma | F1051 | |
HiBiT-RBD Plasmid | gacggatcgggagatctcccgatcccctatggt gcactctcagtacaatctgctctgatgccgcata gttaagccagtatctgctccctgcttgtgtgttgg aggtcgctgagtagtgcgcgagcaaaattta agctacaacaaggcaaggcttgaccgacaa ttgcatgaagaatctgcttagggttaggcgttttg cgctgcttcgcgatgtacgggccagatatacgc gttgacattgattattgactagttattaatagt aatcaattacggggtcattagttcatagcccat atatggagttccgcgttacataacttacggtaa atggcccgcctggctgaccgcccaacgaccc ccgcccattgacgtcaataatgacgtatgttccc atagtaacgccaatagggactttccattgacgtc aatgggtggagtatttacggtaaactgcccact tggcagtacatcaagtgtatcatatgccaagta cgccccctattgacgtcaatgacggtaaatgg cccgcctggcattatgcccagtacatgaccttat gggactttcctacttggcagtacatctacgtat tagtcatcgctattaccatggtgatgcggtttt ggcagtacatcaatgggcgtggatagcggtttg actcacggggatttccaagtctccaccccattg acgtcaatgggagtttgttttggcaccaaaatc aacgggactttccaaaatgtcgtaacaactccg ccccattgacgcaaatgggcggtaggcgtgta cggtgggaggtctatataagcagagctctctgg ctaactagagaacccactgcttactggcttatcg aaattaatacgactcactatagggagacccaa gctggctagcgtttaaacttaagcttggtaccga gctcggatccgccaccATGGAGACAGA 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ttctatcgccttcttgacgagttcttctgagcg ggactctggggttcgaaatgaccgaccaag cgacgcccaacctgccatcacgagatttcgat tccaccgccgccttctatgaaaggttgggctt cggaatcgttttccgggacgccggctggatga tcctccagcgcggggatctcatgctggagt tcttcgcccaccccaacttgtttattgcagctta taatggttacaaataaagcaatagcatcacaa atttcacaaataaagcatttttttcactgcatt ctagttgtggtttgtccaaactcatcaatgtat cttatcatgtctgtataccgtcgacctctagct agagcttggcgtaatcatggtcatagctgtttc ctgtgtgaaattgttatccgctcacaattccacac aacatacgagccggaagcataaagtgtaaag cctggggtgcctaatgagtgagctaactcacat taattgcgttgcgctcactgcccgctttccagtc gggaaacctgtcgtgccagctgcattaatgaa tcggccaacgcgcggggagaggcggtttgcg tattgggcgctcttccgcttcctcgctcactgactc gctgcgctcggtcgttcggctgcggcgagcggt atcagctcactcaaaggcggtaatacggttatc cacagaatcaggggataacgcaggaaagaa catgtgagcaaaaggccagcaaaaggccag gaaccgtaaaaaggccgcgttgctggcgtttt tccataggctccgcccccctgacgagcatcac aaaaatcgacgctcaagtcagaggtggcgaa acccgacaggactataaagataccaggcgtt tccccctggaagctccctcgtgcgctctcctgtt ccgaccctgccgcttaccggatacctgtccgcc tttctcccttcgggaagcgtggcgctttctcat 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gagttacatgatcccccatgttgtgcaaaaaag cggttagctccttcggtcctccgatcgttgtca gaagtaagttggccgcagtgttatcactcatggt tatggcagcactgcataattctcttactgtcatg ccatccgtaagatgcttttctgtgactggtgagta ctcaaccaagtcattctgagaatagtgtatgcg gcgaccgagttgctcttgcccggcgtcaatacg ggataataccgcgccacatagcagaactttaa aagtgctcatcattggaaaacgttcttcggggc gaaaactctcaaggatcttaccgctgttgagat ccagttcgatgtaacccactcgtgcacccaact gatcttcagcatcttttactttcaccagcgtttc tgggtgagcaaaaacaggaaggcaaaatgc cgcaaaaaagggaataagggcgacacgga aatgttgaatactcatactcttcctttttcaat attattgaagcatttatcagggttattgtc tcatgagcggatacatatttgaatgtattt agaaaaataaacaaataggggttccgcgca catttccccgaaaagtgccacctgacgtc | ||
LgBiT | Promega | N3030 | |
penicillin Streptomycin | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 15140122 | |
Pierce Protein G Magnetic Beads | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 88848 | |
PolyJet In Vitro DNA Transfection Reagent | Signagen | SL100688.5 | |
SARS-CoV-2 (2019-nCoV) Spike Neutralizing Antibody, Mouse Mab | SinoBiological | 40592-MM57 | |
Synergy Mx Microplate Reader | BioTek | 96-well plate reader luminometer | |
Trypsin-EDTA | Thermo Fisher Scientific | 2520056 | 0.25% |