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Updated: Jul 22, 2025
In Vitro Selection of Aptamers to Differentiate Infectious from Non-Infectious Viruses
Published on: September 7, 2022
Diverse SARS-CoV-2 aptamers overcome variant antigenic shift.
Yihao Huang1, Jialu Zhang1, Wencheng Wang1
1The MOE Key Laboratory of Spectrochemical Analysis & Instrumentation, the Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology of Fujian Province, State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Department of Chemical Biology, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China. 394132572@qq.com.
New aptamers show promise for neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 variants. This study evaluates 14 aptamers, offering insights to improve diagnostic and therapeutic tools against the rapidly mutating virus.
Area of Science:
- Molecular biology
- Virology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) rapidly mutates, leading to variants like Omicron.
- Omicron variant alters recognition epitopes, contributing to immune evasion and reduced efficacy of existing neutralizing antibodies.
- Aptamers offer potential as SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing agents due to their unique molecular properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the performance of 14 SARS-CoV-2 aptamers.
- To provide a comprehensive analysis of aptamer activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- To guide the development of aptamer-based tools for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics and therapeutics.
Main Methods:
- Performance evaluation of 14 SARS-CoV-2 aptamers.
- Comprehensive analysis of aptamer activity.
- Assessment against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
Main Results:
- Varied performance observed among the 14 evaluated SARS-CoV-2 aptamers.
- Identification of aptamers with potential neutralizing activity against SARS-CoV-2 variants.
- Data provides a basis for comparing aptamer efficacy under consistent assay conditions.
Conclusions:
- Standardized evaluation is crucial for comparing aptamer performance.
- Aptamers hold potential for developing next-generation diagnostics and therapeutics for SARS-CoV-2.
- Further research can optimize aptamer selection and design for variant targeting.
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