RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Nanotrap® particles improve detection of SARS-CoV-2 for pooled sample methods, extraction-free saliva methods, and extraction-free transport medium methods JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2020.06.25.172510 DO 10.1101/2020.06.25.172510 A1 RA Barclay A1 I Akhrymuk A1 A Patnaik A1 V Callahan A1 C Lehman A1 P Andersen A1 R Barbero A1 S Barksdale A1 R Dunlap A1 D Goldfarb A1 T Jones-Roe A1 R Kelly A1 B Kim A1 S Miao A1 A Munns A1 D Munns A1 S Patel A1 E Porter A1 R Ramsey A1 S Sahoo A1 O Swahn A1 J Warsh A1 K Kehn-Hall A1 B Lepene YR 2020 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/06/29/2020.06.25.172510.abstract AB Here we present a rapid and versatile method for capturing and concentrating SARS-CoV-2 from transport medium and saliva using affinity-capture magnetic hydrogel particles. We demonstrate that the method concentrates virus prior to RNA extraction, thus significantly improving detection of the virus using a real-time RT-PCR assay across a range of viral titers, from 100 to 1,000,000 viral copies/mL; in particular, detection of virus in low viral load samples is enhanced when using the method coupled with the IDT 2019-nCoV CDC EUA Kit. This method is compatible with commercially available nucleic acid extraction kits, as well with a simple heat and detergent method. Using transport medium diagnostic remnant samples that previously had been tested for SARS-CoV-2 using either the Abbott RealTime SARS-CoV-2 EUA Test (n=14) or the Cepheid Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2 EUA Test (n=35), we demonstrate that our method not only correctly identifies all positive samples (n = 17) but also significantly improves detection of the virus in low viral load samples. The average improvement in cycle threshold (Ct) value as measured with the IDT 2019-nCoV CDC EUA Kit was 3.1; n = 10. Finally, to demonstrate that the method could potentially be used to enable pooled testing, we spiked infectious virus or a confirmed positive diagnostic remnant sample into 5 mL and 10 mL of negative transport medium and observed significant improvement in the detection of the virus from those larger sample volumes.Competing Interest StatementRAB, AP, PA, RB, SB, RD, DG, TJ, RK, SM, AM, DM, SP, EP, RR, SS, OS, JW, and BL are employees of Ceres Nanosciences Inc. KKH is a member of Ceres' Scientific Advisory Board.