Surface acoustic wave-assisted microfluidic isolation of aptamers

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Molecular Biology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Aptamers are nucleic acid molecules with high target affinity and specificity.
• Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) is a common aptamer isolation method.
• Microfluidic technology enhances SELEX efficiency and reduces costs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To improve affinity selection in microfluidic SELEX using surface acoustic waves.
• To accelerate the identification of high-affinity aptamer candidates.
• To demonstrate the efficacy of acoustic streaming in aptamer discovery.

Main Methods:

• Utilized surface acoustic waves to generate acoustic streaming.
• Applied acoustic streaming to enhance oligonucleotide-target interactions in microfluidics.
• Integrated acoustic streaming into microfluidic SELEX for aptamer isolation.

Main Results:

• Successfully isolated a DNA aptamer targeting immunoglobulin E.
• Achieved specific binding to the target protein with an equilibrium dissociation constant of ~22.6 nM.
• Completed aptamer isolation within three rounds of selection in 5 hours.

Conclusions:

• Surface acoustic waves significantly enhance microfluidic SELEX efficiency.
• The developed method allows for rapid and efficient isolation of high-affinity aptamers.
• This approach offers a promising tool for aptamer-based diagnostics and therapeutics.