Aptamer-Based Biosensing Techniques for Targeted Applications

Aptamer-based biosensing exploits short, single-stranded nucleic acids selected for high affinity and specificity to molecular or cellular targets. These synthetic ligands rival antibodies in selectivity while offering advantages of chemical stability, ease of modification and low immunogenicity. Biosensor platforms integrate aptamers with electrochemical, optical, colourimetric or mass-sensitive transducers to convert binding events into quantifiable signals. Signal modalities include fluorescence turn-on, surface plasmon resonance shifts, impedance changes and microcantilever deflections. Recent innovations couple aptamers with microfluidic chips and smartphone readouts to enable point-of-care diagnostics for disease biomarkers, environmental toxins and food contaminants. In parallel, fluorogenic aptamers permit real-time imaging of intracellular targets. Advances in selection strategies, post-SELEX modification and nanomaterial integration have expanded dynamic range, sensitivity and multiplexing capacity, supporting applications from rapid pathogen detection to proteomic profiling and personalised therapy monitoring.

Research from Nature Portfolio

High-affinity RNA Mango fluorogenic aptamers have been engineered via microfluidics-guided selection to rival enhanced green fluorescent protein in brightness when bound to a cognate fluorogen. These aptamers accurately image subcellular localisation of small non-coding RNAs in live and fixed mammalian cells, preserving native RNA function. By combining structural optimisation with cell-compatible fluorogens, the study establishes a modular platform for live-cell RNA sensing and dynamic tracking, illustrating the potential of fluorogenic aptamers as biosensors for the real-time visualisation of nucleic acid targets.

Aptamer-Based Biosensing Techniques for Targeted Applications publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in aptamer-based biosensing techniques for targeted applications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Aptamer: A short single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotide that folds into a three-dimensional structure to bind a specific target with high affinity and specificity.

SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment): An iterative in vitro process for isolating aptamers from large random libraries through repeated binding, partitioning and amplification cycles.

Fluorogenic aptamer: An aptamer engineered to induce or enhance fluorescence upon binding to a small-molecule fluorogen, enabling optical detection of target molecules.

Multiplexed proteomic assay: A high-throughput analytical method that uses multiple aptamers to simultaneously detect and quantify a broad panel of protein biomarkers in a single sample.

References

1. Recent Advances in Aptamer Discovery and Applications. Molecules (2019).
2. Aptamer-Based Multiplexed Proteomic Technology for Biomarker Discovery. PLOS ONE (2010).
3. Small-Molecule Binding Aptamers: Selection Strategies, Characterization, and Applications. Frontiers in Chemistry (2016).
4. Fluorogenic RNA Mango aptamers for imaging small non-coding RNAs in mammalian cells. Nature Communications (2018).