Replacing antibodies with aptamers in lateral flow immunoassay

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Analytical Chemistry
• Molecular Diagnostics

Background:

• Aptamers, selected via SELEX, offer high sensitivity and specificity.
• Aptamers present advantages over antibodies in biosensing due to their nucleic acid nature and structure-switching properties.
• Current aptamer applications in diagnostics lag behind antibody-based methods, highlighting a need for advancement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review aptamer selection, advantages over antibodies, and opportunities in lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA).
• To summarize recent advances in aptamer-based lateral flow biosensing assays.
• To provide guidance for designing aptamer-based LFIA.

Main Methods:

• Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) for aptamer selection.
• Review of literature on aptamer-based biosensors and LFIA.
• Analysis of aptamer performance advantages in LFIA compared to antibodies.

Main Results:

• Aptamers exhibit superior properties over antibodies for biosensing applications.
• Aptamer-based LFIA demonstrates significant potential for rapid, user-friendly diagnostics.
• Recent advancements show increasing feasibility of aptamer-based lateral flow assays.

Conclusions:

• Aptamer-based LFIA is a promising platform for commercial aptamer-based diagnostics.
• Further development and research in aptamer-based LFIA are crucial for clinical translation.
• Aptamers represent a viable and advantageous alternative to antibodies in rapid diagnostic technologies.