Strategies to contain the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic rely on molecular and serological testing in addition to vaccination. For any kind of serological test development, the search for the optimal antigen is essential.

The paper describes the verification of a new protein microarray with different commercially available preparations of important antigens of SARS-CoV-2. Antigens of other pathogens for which there are widely available vaccines were also included.

The optimized assay was used to determine the immune status of previously tested individuals and/or the vaccination status after COVID-19 vaccination. Microarray evaluation of the antibody profiles of COVID-19 convalescents and post-vaccination sera showed that the IgG response differs between these groups and that the choice of test antigen is critical for assay performance.

In addition, the results showed that the immune response is highly individual, depends on several factors (e. g., age or sex), and is not directly related to disease severity. The new protein microarray provides an ideal opportunity for parallel screening of many different antigens of vaccine-preventable diseases in a single sample and for reliable and meaningful diagnostic tests, as well as for the development of safe and specific vaccines.

The publication is about the development of a method for application in clinical diagnostics, specifically the use of biosensors by means of microarrays, a core topic at Leibniz IPHT.

In this context, scientific results are translated into products, i.e. a real translation takes place. The publication has achieved a lot of resonance in the media on different channels.