Trends in aptamer selection methods and applications

Abstract

Aptamers are target specific ssDNA, RNA or peptide sequences generated by an in vitro selection and amplification method called SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential Enrichment), which involves repetitive cycles of binding, recovery and amplification steps. Aptamers have the ability to bind with a variety of targets such as drugs, proteins, heavy metals, pathogens with high specificity and selectivity. Aptamers are similar to monoclonal antibodies regarding their binding affinities, but they provide a number of advantages to the existing antibody-based detection methods that make the aptamers promising diagnostic and therapeutic tools for the future biomedical and analytical applications. The aim of this review article is to provide an overview of the recent advancements in aptamer screening methods along with a concise description of the major application areas of aptamers including the biomarker discovery, diagnostics, imaging and the nanotechnology.

Thrombin-linked aptamer assay for detection of platelet derived growth factor BB on magnetic beads in a sandwich format

“…The limit of detection (LOD) on the basis of 3 times the standard deviation of the blank was 16 pM. This detection limit is comparable to or better than those reported by some aptamerbased assays for PDGF-BB [3,5,8,9,[48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55]. An aptamer proximity binding assay for fluorescent detection of PDGF-BB was reported, which did not require separation [53].…”

“…Nucleic acid aptamers possess several desirable analytical features (e.g., small size, good stability, amplifiable property, switchable structures, ease of synthesis with low cost, and facile labeling with functional groups) [1][2][3], and have been involved in many applications [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Using aptamers as binding ligands, numerous assays have been developed for thrombin, an important enzyme molecule in blood with multiple functions.…”

Aptamers for CD Antigens: From Cell Profiling to Activity Modulation

“…Yüce et al. reviewed most of these different approaches, explaining their advantages and disadvantages 107 . Therefore, it seems that aptamer technology has reached its maturation and needs a booster to claim its position.…”

A mini-review on functional nucleic acids-based heavy metal ion detection

“…Aptamers are artificial short single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), RNA sequences or peptide molecules that selected through the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) approach (Iliuk et al, 2011;Yuce et al, 2015) and can fold into specific secondary and tertiary structures on binding to certain targets with extremely high specificity (Mascini et al, 2012;Song et al, 2012a). It should be noticed that although the acronym SELEX was often be applied to describe all selection experiments, strictly speaking it applies only to the selections of aptamers but not to that of nucleic acid enzymes (RNAzymes and DNAzymes) (Li and Lu 2009).…”