A Novel Screening Method for Competitive FRET-Aptamers Applied to E. coli Assay Development

A novel high-throughput screening method is described in which a family of DNA aptamers selected against E. coli outer membrane proteins (OMPs) is subjected to PCR in the presence of fluorophore-dUTP conjugates using Deep Vent® exo- polymerase. The fluorophore-doped aptamers and their complementary strands are then heated to render them single-stranded and screened in filter well microtiter plates for fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) assay potential. Using this system, a superior competitive FRET-aptamer designated EcO 4R was identified and the location of its putative binding pocket was determined by individually testing FRET potential in each of the secondary loop structures. By labeling the binding pocket with Alexa Fluor (AF) 647 and binding the aptamer to heavily Black Hole Quencher-3 (BHQ-3)-labeled E. coli bacteria, detection of as few as 30 live unlabeled E. coli per ml was achieved in a competitive displacement FRET assay format. The far red fluorescence emission enables detection in largely blue-green autofluorescent matrices. In addition, the competitive transfer of AF 647-EcO-4R aptamer to unlabeled E. coli cells after a 15 min equilibration period was verified by fluorescence microscopy. The present study also demonstrated that high aptamer affinity is not well correlated with competitive FRET potential.