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Aptamers for Viral Detection and Inhibition
Banani Chakraborty1, Sreyashi Das2, Arushi Gupta1
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka 560012, India.
ACS Infectious Diseases
|February 28, 2022
Summary
This review explores aptamers for detecting and inhibiting viral infections in humans, animals, and plants. Aptamers offer a promising alternative to antibodies for viral diagnostics and treatment strategies.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Molecular Biology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Viral infections pose significant threats to humans, animals, and plants.
- Current diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for viral diseases have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide a comprehensive literature review on aptamers for viral infection detection and inhibition.
- To highlight the advantages of aptamers over traditional antibody-based methods.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of aptamers selected via SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment).
- Analysis of aptasensor mechanisms for viral detection and therapy.
- Compilation of existing virus-targeting aptamers and characterization tools.
Main Results:
- Aptamers have been successfully developed for detecting and inhibiting viral infections across diverse hosts.
- Aptasensors demonstrate efficient viral detection through various read-out tools.
- Aptamers offer advantages in stability, specificity, and ease of modification compared to antibodies.
Conclusions:
- Aptamers represent a versatile platform for advancing viral diagnostics and therapeutics.
- Future directions include DNA nanotechnology-based aptamer applications for combating viral diseases.
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