Thermal Denaturation Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 in Human Whole Blood

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a thermoanalytical technique to study the thermodynamic properties of biological and non-biological samples [47 (link),48 (link),49 (link),50 (link),51 ]. To investigate the effect of SARS-CoV-2 on the human whole blood, thermal denaturation measurements were performed with SETARAM Micro DSC-III calorimeter. Each measurement was performed in the range of 20–100 °C by using a 0.3 K·min⁻¹ heating rate. The sample and the reference (normal saline) were balanced with a precision of ±0.05 mg to avoid corrections with the heat capacity of the vessels. A second thermal scan of the denatured sample was carried out for baseline correction. The deconvolution of DSC data, the analysis of the melting temperature (T_m), and the calculation of the relative enthalpy change (ΔH) from the area under the deconvolved heat absorption curves were analyzed using the OriginLab Origin^® 2021 (version 9.8.5.212) software (OriginLab Corporation, One Roundhouse Plaza, Suite 303, Northampton, MA 01060, USA).