Sandwich-type aptasensor employing modified aptamers and enzyme-DNA binding protein conjugates

The use of aptamers in various analytical applications as molecular recognition elements and alternative to antibodies has led to the development of various platforms that facilitate the sensitive and specific detection of targets ranging from small molecules and proteins to whole cells. The goal of this work was to design a universal and adaptable sandwich-type aptasensor exploiting the unique properties of DNA binding proteins. Specifically, two different enzyme-DNA binding protein conjugates, GOx-dHP and HRP-scCro, were used for the direct detection of a protein using two aptamers for target capture and detection. The specific dsDNA binding sequence for each DNA binding protein tag was incorporated in the form of a hairpin at one end of each aptamer sequence during the synthesis step. Detection was accomplished by an enzymatic (GOx/HRP) cascade reaction after the binding of each enzyme conjugate to its corresponding binding sequence on each aptamer. The proposed sandwich-type aptasensor was validated for the detection of thrombin, which is one of the most commonly used model targets with known dual aptamers. The limit of detection accomplished was 0.92 nM which is comparable with other colorimetric platforms reported in the literature. The sensitivity of the aptasensor was easily modulated by changing the number of dsDNA binding sites incorporated in the aptamer sequences, thus controlling the enzyme stoichiometry. Finally, the potential use of the proposed sensing approach for real sample testing was demonstrated using spiked human plasma and no significant matrix effects were observed when up to 2% plasma was used.