Insights into Aptamer–Drug Delivery Systems against Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a common cancer in elderly males. Significant progress has been made in the drug therapies for prostate cancer in recent years. However, side effects are still problems that have not been overcome by the currently used anti-prostate cancer drugs. Novel technologies can be applied to reduce or even eliminate the side effects of drugs. An aptamer may be a sequence of nucleic acids or peptides that can specifically recognize proteins or cells. Taking advantage of this feature, scientists have designed aptamer–drug delivery systems for the development of anti-prostate cancer agents. Theoretically, these aptamer–drug delivery systems can specifically recognize prostate cancer cells and then induce cell death without attacking normal cells. We collected the relevant literature in this field and found that at least nine compounds have been prepared as aptamer–drug delivery systems to evaluate their precise anti-prostate cancer effects. However, the currently studied aptamer–drug delivery systems have not yet entered the market due to defects. Here, we analyze the published data, summarize the characteristics of these delivery systems, and propose ways to promote their application, thus promoting the development of the aptamer–drug delivery systems against prostate cancer.     

核酸功能化稀土基纳米材料在生物检测中的应用

体内一些生物分子和离子的水平通常与细胞、组织、器官等结构和功能的变化相关,从而直接影响到疾病的预防、诊断和治疗,因此对体内这些物质的生物检测在医疗和健康领域具有重要的意义.基于稀土基纳米材料构建的纳米荧光探针具有灵敏度高、简单高效、抗干扰能力强等优点,在生物检测方面具有巨大的潜力.对稀土基纳米材料的核酸功能化能够进一步为纳米荧光探针提供更好的特异性识别能力和生物相容性,从而增强其在复杂样品中的生物检测能力.本综述总结了核酸功能化的稀土基纳米材料作为纳米荧光探针在生物检测领域的研究进展,简要介绍了其主要种类和性能、检测机理及检测物质,最后对该领域面临的挑战及未来的发展方向进行了展望.     

Using the Intrinsic Fluorescence of DNA to Characterize Aptamer Binding

The reliable, readily accessible and label-free measurement of aptamer binding remains a challenge in the field. Recent reports have shown large changes in the intrinsic fluorescence of DNA upon the formation of G-quadruplex and i-motif structures. In this work, we examined whether DNA intrinsic fluorescence can be used for studying aptamer binding. First, DNA hybridization resulted in a drop in the fluorescence, which was observed for A30/T30 and a 24-mer random DNA sequence. Next, a series of DNA aptamers were studied. Cortisol and Hg²⁺ induced fluorescence increases for their respective aptamers. For the cortisol aptamer, the length of the terminal stem needs to be short to produce a fluorescence change. However, caffeine and adenosine failed to produce a fluorescence change, regardless of the stem length. Overall, using the intrinsic fluorescence of DNA may be a reliable and accessible method to study a limited number of aptamers that can produce fluorescence changes.     

免标记比色核酸适配体传感器同步快速检测孔雀石绿和无色孔雀石绿

研究以双特异性核酸适配体A3作为传感探针、纳米金(AuNPs)为指示剂、NaCl溶液为聚集诱导剂,构建了一种新型的免标记AuNPs比色生物传感器,可实现水产品中孔雀石绿(MG)和无色孔雀石绿(LMG)的同步、快速、可视化检测。该方法的检测原理是核酸适配体A3对MG和LMG有双特异性识别能力,可作为MG和LMG理想的识别受体。它可通过静电作用吸附到AuNPs表面,保护AuNPs并抑制高盐溶液诱导的聚集,AuNPs溶液颜色不变,即为红色;当加入靶标MG或LMG后,该核酸适配体能够与靶标特异性结合,并从AuNPs表面上解离,AuNPs失去保护作用而在高盐溶液诱导下发生聚集,溶液颜色由红变蓝。根据颜色变化,可通过肉眼定性或通过光谱仪定量分析MG和LMG的残留量。该方法首先将50μL的核酸适配体A3(终浓度150 nmol/L)与150μL的AuNPs(终浓度1.25 nmol/L)混合,室温孵育6 min。随后加入50μL待测液,室温孵育30 min。最后加入50μL NaCl(终浓度150 mmol/L), 4 min后观察溶液颜色变化,并分别测定MG和LMG在520 nm和650 nm下的...     

基于信号增强的电化学发光适配体传感器检测三磷酸腺苷

基于三磷酸腺苷(ATP)适配体与ATP分子作用后可以显著增强电化学发光信号的性能,研究了一种用于ATP含量检测的电化学发光适配体(ECL-aptamer)传感器。通过电沉积方法获得纳米金电极。3′端标记联吡啶钌发光分子的探针DNA通过5′端修饰的巯基自组装到纳米金电极表面,然后与5′端标记二茂铁分子的ATP核酸适配体互补杂交,形成刚性线形的双链DNA,由此构建的传感器产生较弱的电化学发光(ECL)信号。该传感器在ATP溶液中孵化后,由于ATP分子与ATP适配体强的特异性结合,使得适配体分子与探针DNA分子解离,从电极表面脱落进入溶液,此时电极表面的探针DNA在强电解质溶液中可以形成发卡型的茎环结构,产生显著增强的ECL信号。ECL信号强度与ATP浓度的对数值呈线性关系,线性范围为10.0～1.0×10⁵ pmol/L,相关系数r=0.995 9,检测限为5.0 pmol/L。该传感器的灵敏度与检测范围高于目前已报道的结果,显示出了ATP检测的应用潜力。     

基于氧化石墨烯荧光适体传感器的多巴胺检测

以修饰有荧光基团(FAM)的多巴胺核酸适体作为识别元件,氧化石墨烯为猝灭剂,构建了光学适体传感器用于检测多巴胺。通过π-π堆积作用力,氧化石墨烯以共振方式把核酸适体上FAM能量转移到其表面,荧光信号消失;加入多巴胺后荧光恢复,荧光强度恢复的大小与多巴胺浓度呈正相关关系。实验优化结果表明,在反应时间5 min和10μg/mL氧化石墨烯条件下,氧化石墨烯可以达到对FAM的最高猝灭效率;25min孵育后,多巴胺恢复荧光强度达到稳定;传感器线性检测范围为1~500μmol/L,检测限达到1μmol/L。所制备传感器具有检测范围宽、检测速度快、特异性强以及检测成本低等优点。     

适配体生物传感器在黄曲霉毒素B1检测中的应用

该文首先对黄曲霉毒素B1（AFB1）的相关性质及其传统检测方法进行了介绍,随后概述了近年来基于光学、电化学以及微流控芯片的适配体生物传感器的构建及其在AFB1检测领域中的应用,旨为适配体生物传感器的实际应用提供参考;并通过探讨目前开发的检测方法存在的问题,对适配体生物传感器前景和未来趋势进行了展望。     

Rapid determination of total hardness in water using fluorescent molecular aptamer beacon

A double-labelled synthetic oligonucleotide is used as a fluorescent molecular aptamer beacon for the reagentless determination of total hardness in tap and bottled waters. Modified thrombin binding aptamer (5′-NH-C3-GGTTGGTGTGGTTGG-C3-SH-3′) carrying 6-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) and 7-amino-4-methyl-coumarin labels at 5′ and 3′, respectively, was used for the simultaneous combined measurement of Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ cations. Interference from the K⁺ cation is eliminated via selective tuning of the assay conditions, increasing the temperature beyond the melting point of the potassium-stabilised quadruplex facilitating its liberation from the quadruplex, whilst maintaining the integrity of the magnesium/calcium-stabilised structure. No interference from other cations found in tap or bottled water was observed. The detection limit of the aptamer beacon is 0.04 mmol L⁻¹, with a dynamic linear range of 0-0.5 μM and is very reproducible, with an R.S.D. = 8%, n = 3. The fluorescent molecular beacon is applied to the determination of total hardness in tap and bottled waters and its’ performance compared to that of the standard method of complexiometric titration and atomic absorption spectroscopy, with an excellent correlation observed. Further work is focused on the immobilization of the aptamer for the development of a re-usable fluorescent/electrochemical aptasensor, for the determination of water hardness.     

Electrochemical Aptasensor Based on Poly(Neutral Red) and Carboxylated Pillar[5]arene for Sensitive Determination of Aflatoxin M1

Aptasensor for highly sensitive determination of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) was developed on the base of glassy carbon electrode (GCE) covered with polymeric Neutral red (NR) dye obtained by electropolymerization in the presence of polycarboxylated pillar[5]arene derivative. Aptamer against AFM1 and NR label were then covalently linked to the carboxylic groups of the carrier by carbodiimide binding. At presence of AFM1 the cathodic peak current related to the NR conversion decreases. AFM1 induced also an increase of the charge transfer resistance measured by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In optimal conditions, this make it possible to determine from 5 to 120 ng/L AFM1 in standard solutions with limit of detection (LOD) of 0.5 ng/L. The aptasensor was validated on the spiked samples of cow and sheep milk as well as in kefir after their methanol dilution. Reliable detection of the 40–160 ng/kg of mycotoxins was reached. This is below limited threshold value (50 μg/kg) established in EC.     

Self-locked aptamer probe mediated cascade amplification strategy for highly sensitive and selective detection of protein and small molecule

In this work, a novel self-locked aptamer probe mediated cascade amplification strategy has been constructed for highly sensitive and specific detection of protein. First, the self-locked aptamer probe was designed with three functions: one was specific molecular recognition attributed to the aptamer sequence, the second was signal transduction owing to the transduction sequence, and the third was self-locking through the hybridization of the transduction sequence and part of the aptamer sequence. Then, the aptamer sequence specific recognized the target and folded into a three-way helix junction, leading to the release of the transduction sequence. Next, the 3’-end of this three-way junction acted as primer to trigger the strand displacement amplification (SDA), yielding a large amount of primers. Finally, the primers initiated the dual-exponential rolling circle amplification (DE-RCA) and generated numerous G-quadruples sequences. By inserting the fluorescent dye N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM), enhanced fluorescence signal was achieved. In this strategy, the self-locked aptamer probe was more stable to reduce the interference signals generated by the uncontrollable folding in unbounded state. Through the cascade amplification of SDA and DE-RCA, the sensitivity was further improved with a detection limit of 3.8 × 10⁻¹⁶ mol/L for protein detection. Furthermore, by changing the aptamer sequence of the probe, sensitive and selective detection of adenosine has been also achieved, suggesting that the proposed strategy has good versatility and can be widely used in sensitive and selective detection of biomolecules.