Functionalizing gold nanoparticles with bluetongue virus multiple peptide antigens utilizing gold-thiol interaction: a novel approach to develop pen side test.

Bluetongue is an economically important viral disease of small ruminants. The present/current diagnostic kits and methods to diagnose BTV are laborious, time consuming and expensive. In the present study, we have attempted to develop a novel approach to detect BTV antibodies in sera that in future can be harnessed for developing a pen side diagnostic test. Briefly, we identified the immunodominant regions of the VP7 protein of BTV and synthesized them in the multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) format with cysteine at C-terminal of the lysine mosaic, which elicited highly ordered conformation as well as ELISA reactivity. Finally, we coated the MAP peptides on the gold nanoparticles that can be used to detect BTV specific antibodies in the sera using a spot test.