Aptamers: The Powerful Molecular Tools for Virus Detection

Aptamers are short single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides selected by the technique of systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). Aptamers have been demonstrated to bind various targets from small-molecule to cells or even tissues in the way of antibodies. Thus, they are called chemical antibodies. We summarize and evaluate recent developments in aptamer-based sensors (for short aptasensors) for virus detection in this review. These aptasensors are mainly classified into optical and electronic aptasensors based on the type of transducer. Nowadays, the smartphone has become the most widely used mobile device with billions of users worldwide. Considering the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, smartphone-based aptasensors for a portable and point-of-care test (POCT) of COVID-19 detection will be of great importance in the future.     

Advantages of Carbon Nanomaterials in Electrochemical Aptasensors for Food Analysis

Electrochemical aptasensors appear as promising tools in food analysis, able to provide sensitive, fast and cost‐effective analysis, with the added advantage of portability. Carbon nanomaterials and in particular carbon nanotubes and graphene are among the nanomaterials most often used to build electrochemical aptasensors due to their good electrical conductivity, large surface area and multiple functionalisation possibilities. This review aims to give an overview of the types of carbon nanomaterials and their composites which have been used to enhance the performance of electrochemical aptasensors. Examples are detailed for the biosensors which were tested with real food samples. In these aptasensors, carbon nanomaterials have played different roles, from facilitating the immobilization of high amounts of aptamer and enhancing the electroactive area of the sensors to roles as nanocarrier for signaling probes in amplification schemes or even as electroactive probes generating the output signal. The survey of recent literature shows a positive evolution towards increased aptasensor testing with food samples. However, many challenges remain related to the better characterization of nanomaterials used, clarifying the roles of specific components in multi‐component nanocomposites and widening the types of food matrices and analytes tested with the aptasensors. Although we are still far from knowing when these novel tools will replace classic analytical methods in food analysis, carbon nanomaterials will certainly continue to play an important role in the design of future electrochemical aptasensors for food analysis.     

Ultrasensitive Fluorescence Polarization Aptasensors Based on Exonuclease Signal Amplification and Polystyrene Nanoparticle Amplification

Here, we combine T7 exonuclease (T7 Exo) signal amplification and polystyrene nanoparticle (PS NP) amplification to develop novel fluorescence polarization (FP) aptasensors. The binding of a target/open aptamer hairpin complex or a target/single‐stranded aptamer complex to dye‐labeled DNA bound to PS NPs, or the self‐assembly of two aptamer subunits (one of them labeled with a dye) into a target/aptamer complex on PS NPs leads to the cyclic T7 Exo‐catalyzed digestion of the dye‐labeled DNA or the dye‐labeled aptamer subunit. This results in a substantial decrease in the FP value for the amplified sensing process. Our newly developed aptasensors exhibit a sensitivity five orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional homogeneous aptasensors and a high specificity for the target molecules. These distinct advantages of our proposed assay protocol make it a generic platform for the design of amplified aptasensors for ultrasensitive detection of various target molecules.     

Aptasensor for Thrombin Based on Carbon Nanotubes‐Methylene Blue Composites

The amperometric and EQCM aptasensors based on DNA aptamers immobilized by avidin‐biotin method or by electrostatic adsorption onto multiwalled carbon nanotube layer contained methylene blue (MB) have been developed and examined for thrombin detection in buffer and in spiked blood serum. The presence of MB increases the binding capacity of the surface layer and enhances the range of thrombin concentrations to be determined. This results in significant improvement of analytical characteristics of thrombin detection. The EQCM aptasensors allowed us to detect 0.3–100 nM and amperometric aptasensors 10–1000 nM of thrombin.     

SERS opens a new way in aptasensor for protein recognition with high sensitivity and selectivity

SERS aptasensors for protein recognition based on Au nanoparticles labeled with aptamers and Raman reporters have been developed, which opens a new way for protein recognition of high sensitivity and selectivity.     

用于赭曲霉毒素A检测的电化学适配体生物传感器的研究进展

赭曲霉毒素（Ochratoxin）是一类主要由曲霉菌和青霉菌产生的次生代谢产物,其中赭曲霉毒素A（OTA）的毒性最强。OTA相当稳定,常规的食品加工难以去除,若摄入受OTA污染的食品或药物会对人类造成严重的危害。实现对OTA的灵敏和快速检测是及早发现和处置OTA污染的关键。近年来,核酸适配体因其独特的优点,被作为抗体的替代物用于构建OTA电化学生物传感器。本文介绍了经典的OTA检测方法和基于适配体的电化学生物传感检测方法,从OTA电化学适配体传感器的适配体优化、新型材料应用以及生物信号放大技术的应用等三个方面总结了该生物传感技术的研究现状,并对其未来的发展进行了展望     

An ultrasensitive peroxidase DNAzyme-associated aptasensor that utilizes a target-triggered enzymatic signal amplification strategy

By rationally employing enzymes for signal amplification, an ultrasensitive aptasensor was developed and successfully tested in a system designed to detect lysozyme with a detection limit of 0.1 fM. This detection limit is nearly three orders of magnitude lower than those of any previously reported DNAzyme-based aptasensors.     

电化学和电化学发光核酸适体传感器

核酸适体具有亲合力强、选择性高、稳定性好、易于修饰等优点,广泛用于对目标物如蛋白质、小分子等的灵敏检测.电化学具有成本低、灵敏度高、仪器小巧等优点.近年来,构建基于核酸适体的电化学传感器,已经成为一个热门的研究领域.本文重点评述了2005年以来核酸适体的电化学传感器的研究进展,并展望其发展前景.     

Electronic aptamer-based sensors

The selection of aptamers-nucleic acids that specifically bind low-molecular-weight substrates or proteins-by the SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) procedure has attracted recent efforts directed to the development of new specific recognition units. In particular, extensive activities have been directed to the application of aptamers as versatile materials for the design of biosensors. The Minireview summarizes the recent accomplishments in developing electronic aptamer-based sensors (aptasensors), which include electrochemical, field-effect transistor, and microgravimetric quartz crystal microbalance sensors, and describes methods to develop amplified aptasensor devices and label-free aptasensors.     

Ultrasensitive Detection and Binding Mechanism of Cocaine in an Aptamer‐based Single‐molecule Device

Aptamer serves as a potential candidate for the micro‐detection of cocaine due to its high specificity, high affinity and good stability. Although cocaine aptasensors have been extensively studied, the binding mechanism of cocaine‐aptamer interactions is still unknown, which limits the structural refinement in the design of an aptamer to improve the performance of cocaine aptasensors. Herein, we report a label‐free, ultrasensitive detection of single‐molecule cocaine‐aptamer interaction by using an electrical nanocircuit based on graphene‐molecule‐ graphene single‐molecule junctions (GMG‐SMJs). Real‐time recordings of cocaine‐aptamer interactions have exhibited distinct current oscillations before and after cocaine treatment, revealing the dynamic mechanism of the conformational changes of aptamer upon binding with cocaine. Further concentration‐dependent experiments have proved that these devices can act as a single‐molecule biosensor with at least a limit of detection as low as 1 nmol?L^–1. The method demonstrated in this work provides a novel strategy for shedding light on the interaction mechanism of biomolecules as well as constructing new types of aptasensors toward practical applications.     

Development of a Wavelength-Shifting Fluorescent Module for the Adenosine Aptamer Using Photostable Cyanine Dyes

DNA-based aptamers are commonly used recognition elements in biosensors for a range of target molecules. Here, the development of a wavelength-shifting optical module for a DNA-based adenosine-binding aptamer is described. It applies the combination of two photostable cyanine-styryl dyes as covalent modifications. This energy-transfer pair is postsynthetically attached to oligonucleotides via a copper(I)-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition by two structurally different approaches: 1) as nucleotide modifications at the 2′-position of uridines and 2) as nucleotide substitutions using (S)-amino-1,2-propanediol as acyclic linker between the phosphodiester bridges. Both dyes exhibit a remarkable photostability. A library of DNA aptamers consisting of different combinations of the two dyes in diagonal orientations were evaluated by their emission color contrast as readout. Further optimization led to aptasensors with improved fluorescent readout as compared with previously reported aptasensors. This approach described is synthetically facile using simple propargylated phosphoramidites as DNA building blocks. As such, this approach could be applied for other dyes and other chemical/biological applications.     

Amplified fluorescence aptamer-based sensors using exonuclease III for the regeneration of the analyte

Quick and easy detection: The Exo?III-stimulated regeneration of the analyte by the digestion of supramolecular aptamer-analyte complexes provides a means to develop amplified optical aptasensors (see figure).     

Synthesis and Characterization of Bis-1,2,3-Triazole Ligand and its Corresponding Copper Complex for the Development of Electrochemical Affinity Biosensors

The bis-triazole ligand and its corresponding copper complexes were synthesized and characterized for the first time and proposed as new labels for the development of electrochemical aptasensors. The bis-triazole ligand was prepared from methyl 1,6-heptadiyne-4-carboxylate and 2-(azidomethyl)phenol using classical CuAAC in presence of different copper salts. The X-ray structure of bis-triazole showed a symmetry center (C1). UV-Vis and X-band EPR spectra showed that the coordination capacity of the bis-triazole ligand was improved in the presence of triethylamine due to deprotonation of the triazole and phenolate moieties. After complexation with copper, the obtained complex was successfully attached to an anti-estradiol aptamer through thiol-maleimide coupling, and the resulting labelled aptamer was immobilized on a carbon screen-printed electrode by carbodiimide coupling. The electrochemical response of the resulting sensor was shown to decrease in the presence of estradiol, demonstrating that the developed complexes can be applied for the development of aptasensors.     

Biorecognition on Graphene: Physical,Covalent, and Affinity Immobilization Methods Exhibiting Dramatic Differences

The preparation of biorecognition layers on the surface of a sensing platform is a very crucial step for the development of sensitive and selective biosensors. Different protocols have been used thus far for the immobilization of biomolecules onto various electrode surfaces. In this work, we investigate how the protocol followed for the immobilization of a DNA aptamer affects the performance of the fabricated thrombin aptasensor. Specifically, the differences in selectivity and optimum amount of immobilized aptamer of the fabricated aptasensors adopting either physical, covalent, or affinity immobilization were compared. It was discovered that while all three methods of immobilization uniformly show a similar optimum amount of immobilized aptamer, physical, and covalent immobilization methods exhibit higher selectivity than affinity immobilization. Hence, it is believed that our findings are very important in order to optimize and improve the performance of graphene‐based aptasensors.     

Application of split aptamers-based sensors for the detection of small moleculesEI北大核心CSCD

The split aptamers (SPAs)-based sensors is a novel kind of biosensors, assembled by two or more oligonucleotides in the presence of specific targets. To be successfully assembled, the sensor has to be induced by a specific target, which can aviod false-positive results and thus has a high degree of specificity and sensitivity. SPAs are suitable for the detection of various targets and show great advantages and potential in the development of aptasensors, especially for the detection of small molecules. However, the development and application of SPA-based sensors still remain challenging. Currently, the major difficulty is how to improve the stability of SPA-target complexes. Herein, this review summarizes the SPAs, strategies of splitting aptamers, and their applications in the detection of small molecules, aiming to provide new ideas for the development of novel, sensitive, and specific aptasensors. © 2023, Youke Publishing Co.,Ltd. All rights reserved.     

Label-free, regenerative and sensitive surface plasmon resonance and electrochemical aptasensors based on graphene

Label-free, regenerative and sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and electrochemical aptasensors based on graphene for the detection of α-thrombin have been reported, which propose a new, simple way for protein recognition with high sensitivity and selectivity.     

Amplified fluorescence polarization aptasensors based on structure-switching-triggered nanoparticles enhancement for bioassays

We have developed an amplified fluorescence polarization aptasensor that relies on aptamer structure-switching-triggered nanoparticles (NPs) enhancement for biomolecules detection. This new type of assay exhibits higher detection sensitivity over traditional homogeneous aptasensors by two orders of magnitude and high specificity for target molecules.     

Single-walled carbon nanotubes chemiresistor aptasensors for small molecules: picomolar level detection of adenosine triphosphate

Here we report single walled-carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)-based chemiresistor aptasensors for highly sensitive and selective detection of weakly or uncharged molecules using the displacement format. As a proof-of-concept we demonstrate the detection of ATP, a small weakly charged molecule, by displacement of the ssDNA anti-ATP aptamer hybridized to a small capture oligonucleotide covalently attached on SWNTs, with picomolar sensitivity and selectivity over GTP.     

Nicking enzyme based homogeneous aptasensors for amplification detection of protein

A simple and highly sensitive homogeneous aptasensor is developed, which relies on nicking enzyme. The sensitivity of this newly proposed aptasensor is about three orders of magnitude higher than that of traditional homogeneous aptasensors. Furthermore, it is capable of detecting target protein in real samples.