Rational Design of a User-Friendly Aptamer/Peptide-Based Device for the Detection of Staphylococcus aureus(310 views) Ronda L, Tonelli A, Sogne E, Autiero I, Spyrakis F, Pellegrino S, Abbiati G, Maffioli E, Schulte C, Piano R, Cozzini P, Mozzarelli A, Bettati S, Clerici F, Milani P, Lenardi C, Tedeschi G, Gelmi ML
Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, 43125 Parma, Italy.
Institute of Biophysics, National Research Council, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
DNAPhone s.r.l., 43126 Parma, Italy.
CIMAINA and Department of Physics, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Molecular Horizon s.r.l, 06084 Perugia, Italy.
Institute of Biostructures and Bioimaging, National Research Council, 80145 Naples, Italy.
Department of Drug Science and Technology, University of Turin, 10125 Turin, Italy.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Milan, 20133 Milan, Italy.
Department of Food and Drug, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy.
References: Not available.
Rational Design of a User-Friendly Aptamer/Peptide-Based Device for the Detection of Staphylococcus aureus
The urgent need to develop a detection system for Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most common causes of infection, is prompting research towards novel approaches and devices, with a particular focus on point-of-care analysis. Biosensors are promising systems to achieve this aim. We coupled the selectivity and affinity of aptamers, short nucleic acids sequences able to recognize specific epitopes on bacterial surface, immobilized at high density on a nanostructured zirconium dioxide surface, with the rational design of specifically interacting fluorescent peptides to assemble an easy-to-use detection device. We show that the displacement of fluorescent peptides upon the competitive binding of S. aureus to immobilized aptamers can be detected and quantified through fluorescence loss. This approach could be also applied to the detection of other bacterial species once aptamers interacting with specific antigens will be identified, allowing the development of a platform for easy detection of a pathogen without requiring access to a healthcare environment.
Rational Design of a User-Friendly Aptamer/Peptide-Based Device for the Detection of Staphylococcus aureus