The cocaine aptamer is a DNA three-way junction that binds cocaine at its helical junction. We studied the global conformation and overall flexibility of the aptamer in the absence and presence of cocaine by pulsed electron-electron double resonance (PELDOR) spectroscopy, also called double electron-electron resonance (DEER). The rigid nitroxide spin label Ç was incorporated pairwise into two h...

Several protein-targeted RNA aptamers have been identified for a variety of applications and although the affinities of numerous protein-aptamer complexes have been determined, the structural details of these complexes have not been widely explored. We examined the structural accommodation of an RNA aptamer that binds bacterial r-protein S8. The core of the primary binding site for S8 on helix ...

Development of RNA and DNA aptamers for diagnostic and therapeutic applications is a rapidly growing field. Aptamers are identified through iterative rounds of selection in a process termed SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment). High-throughput sequencing (HTS) revolutionized the modern SELEX process by identifying millions of aptamer sequences across multiple rounds...

The current antibody-mediated numeration assays of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) require multiple steps and are time-consuming. To overcome these technical limitations, a cancer cell-activatable aptamer-reporter was formulated by conjugating a biomarker-specific aptamer sequence with paired fluorochrome-quencher molecules. In contrast to the antibody probes, the intact aptamer-reporter was opt...

The conformational dynamics induced by ligand binding to the tetracycline-binding aptamer is monitored via stopped-flow fluorescence spectroscopy and time-correlated single photon counting experiments. The fluorescence of the ligand is sensitive to changes within the tertiary structure of the aptamer during and after the binding process. In addition to the wild-type aptamer, the mutants A9G, A1...

We designed an in vitro signal amplification circuit that takes a short RNA input that catalytically activates the Spinach RNA aptamer to produce a fluorescent output. The circuit consists of three RNA strands: an internally blocked Spinach aptamer, a fuel strand, and an input strand (catalyst), as well as the Spinach aptamer ligand 3,5-difluoro-4-hydroxylbenzylidene imidazolinone (DFHBI). The ...

We report on the direct electrochemical detection of aptamer-protein interactions, namely between a DNA aptamer and lysozyme (LYS) based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique. First, the affinity of the aptamer to LYS and control proteins was presented by using filter retention assay. An amino-modified version of the DNA aptamer-recognizing lysozyme was covalently immobilize...

We have developed an optical microsphere resonator biosensor using aptamer as receptor for the measurement of the important biomolecule thrombin. The sphere surface is modified with anti-thrombin aptamer, which has excellent binding affinity and selectivity for thrombin. Binding of the thrombin at the sphere surface is monitored by the spectral position of the microsphere’s whispering gallery m...

We proposed a new three-way DNA junction-driven strand displacement mode and fabricated an aptamer-based label-free fluorescent sensing platform on the basis of this mechanism. Assembling the aptamer sequence into the three-way DNA junction makes the platform sensitive to the target of the aptamer. A label-free signal readout method, split G-quadruplex enhanced fluorescence of protoporphyrin IX...

A novel aptamer-based suspension array detection platform was designed for the sensitive, specific and rapid detection of human α-thrombin as a model. Thrombin was first recognized by a 29-mer biotinylated thrombin-binding aptamer (TBA) in solution. Then 15-mer TBA modified magnetic beads (MBs) captured the former TBA-thrombin to form an aptamer-thrombin-aptamer sandwich complex. The median flu...