Rapid and sensitive inhibitor screening using magnetically modulated biosensors

Abstract

Inhibitor screening is an important tool for drug development, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most used in vitro inhibitor screening tool is an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, ELISA-based inhibitor screening is time consuming and has a limited dynamic range. Using fluorescently and magnetically modulated biosensors (MMB), we developed a rapid and sensitive inhibitor screening tool. This study demonstrates its performance by screening small molecules and neutralizing antibodies as potential inhibitors of the interaction between the spike protein 1 (S1) of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor. The MMB-based assay is highly sensitive, has minimal non-specific binding, and is much faster than the commonly used ELISA (2 h vs. 7–24 h). We anticipate that our method will lead to a remarkable advance in screening for new drug candidates.