Aptamers: A prospective tool for infectious diseases diagnosis

Abstract

It is well known that people's health is seriously threatened by various pathogens (such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Treponema pallidum, Novel coronavirus, HIV, Mucor, etc.), which leads to heavy socioeconomic burdens. Therefore, early and accurate pathogen diagnosis is essential for timely and effective therapies. Up to now, diagnosing human contagious diseases at molecule and nano levels is remarkably difficult owing to insufficient valid probes when it comes to determining the biological markers of pathogens. Aptamers are a set of high‐specificity and high‐sensitivity plastic oligonucleotides screened in vitro via the selective expansion of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). With the advent of aptamer‐based technologies, their merits have aroused mounting academic interest. In recent years, as new detection and treatment tools, nucleic acid aptamers have been extensively utilized in the field of biomedicine, such as pathogen detection, new drug development, clinical diagnosis, nanotechnology, etc. However, the traditional SELEX method is cumbersome and has a long screening cycle, and it takes several months to screen out aptamers with high specificity. With the persistent development of SELEX‐based aptamer screening technologies, the application scenarios of aptamers have become more and more extensive. The present research briefly reviews the research progress of nucleic acid aptamers in the field of biomedicine, especially in the diagnosis of contagious diseases.

Screening and characterization of aptamers recognizing the periodontal pathogen Tannerella forsythia

“…Diagnostic aptamers have been developed mainly for the detection of highly pathogenic bacteria that cause acute disease states or represent a serious threat to public health, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis , Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella enterica [ 24 ]. Periodontal disease is a more challenging diagnostic target because the oral microbiome in humans contains up to 700 bacterial species and its composition varies according to a combination of geographical and socio‐economic factors [ 25 ].…”

Moving towards Personalized Medicine—The Broad Use of Aptamers for Targeted Theranostic

“…One application of aptamers in microbiota research is the identification and quantification of specific microbial species or strains [115]. Aptamers can be designed to specifically bind to the surface molecules or antigens of certain bacteria or other microorganisms, facilitating the identification and quantification of those organisms [115].…”

“…One application of aptamers in microbiota research is the identification and quantification of specific microbial species or strains [115]. Aptamers can be designed to specifically bind to the surface molecules or antigens of certain bacteria or other microorganisms, facilitating the identification and quantification of those organisms [115]. This method can be particularly useful in identifying and monitoring specific pathogenic or beneficial microorganisms in complex microbial communities, with studies by Hu et al and Song et al describing this novel approach in strains like Bifidobacterium bifidum (CCFM641-5) and Lactobacillus casei, at the same time, demonstrating the potential of aptamer-based strategies for the rapid and accurate detection and quantification of bacteria in food products [116,117].…”

Unveiling the unusual i-motif-derived architecture of a DNA aptamer exhibiting high affinity for influenza A virus

“…The conformation of aptamers is susceptible to reversible thermal denaturation and regulation of their activity through the presence of toehold oligonucleotide strands. These unique properties make aptamers valuable tools in the fields of therapeutics and diagnostics [2][3][4][5][6].…”