Aptamer Display on Diverse DNA Polyhedron Supports

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 7; p. 1695
• Main Authors: Shiu, Simon Chi-Chin, Fraser, Lewis A, Ding, Yifan, Tanner, Julian A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 11.07.2018; MDPI
• Subjects: aptamer; Aptamers; Aptamers, Nucleotide - chemistry; Deoxyribonucleic acid; diagnostics; DNA; DNA - chemistry; DNA nanostructure; L-Lactate dehydrogenase; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase - blood; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase - metabolism; Lactate dehydrogenase; Lactic acid; Malaria; Nanostructures - chemistry; Nucleic acids; Plasmodium falciparum - enzymology; Polyhedra; Prisms; Pyramids; Recombinant Proteins - blood; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; Sensitivity; structural optimization; Vector-borne diseases; DNA nanostructure; diagnostics; malaria; aptamer; structural optimization
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules23071695

DNA aptamers are important tools for molecular recognition, particularly for a new generation of tools for biomedicine based on nucleic acid nanostructures. Here, we investigated the relative abilities of different shapes and sizes of DNA polyhedra to display an aptamer which binds to the malaria biomarker lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH). The aptamer was shown to perform an Aptamer-Tethered Enzyme Capture (APTEC) assay with the hypothesis that the display of the aptamer above the surface through the use of a polyhedron may lead to better sensitivity than use of the aptamer alone. We compared different numbers of points of contact, different shapes, including tetrahedron, square, and pentagon-based pyramids, as well as prisms. We also investigated the optimal height of display of the structure. Our results demonstrated that the display of an aptamer on an optimized nanostructure improved sensitivity up to 6-fold relative to the aptamer alone in the APTEC assay. Other important factors included multiple basal points of contact with the surface, a tetrahedron proved superior to the more complex shaped structures, and height above the surface only made minor differences to efficacy. The display of an aptamer on a nanostructure may be beneficial for higher sensitivity aptamer-mediated malaria diagnosis. Aptamer displays using DNA nanostructure polyhedron supports could be a useful approach in a variety of applications.