Evolution of abiotic cubane modified aptamers as potent biomarkers

What is it about?

Aptamers are single stranded nucleic acids that mimick protein antibodies by binding to targets with high affinity and specificity. Aptamers hold great promise in numerous applications including biotechnology, diagnostic tools, and as therapeutic agents. However, aptamers consisting of natural nucleic acids suffer from limitations including rapid degradation by nucleases, poor binding affinity to certain targets, and poor cellular internalization. In this article, we have used a chemical modification totally alien to biology to improve the specificity of aptamers for an important malaria biomarker. We have also investigated the aptamer-target complex by X-ray crystallography and observed an unprecedented binding mechanism. We have also shown that this chemically modified aptamer can be used as biosensor for the specific detection of P. vivax.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Aptamers consisting of unmodified DNA have been isolated against the same protein biomarker but were unable to distinguish the target stemming from P. vivax from that of P. falciparum. Thanks to the chemical modification that was included in the identification of the aptamer this distinction was made possible which bodes well for the development of sensitive biosensors for the detection of different forms of malaria. In addition, this modification also conveys an unprecedented binding interaction between nucleic acids and protein and could generally be applied for the isolation of other potent aptamers.

Perspectives