Selection of DNA aptamers that bind to four organophosphorus pesticides

Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamers against four organophosphorus pesticides (phorate, profenofos, isocarbophos and omethoate) were simultaneously isolated from an immobilized random ssDNA library by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) technique. After 12 rounds of in vitro selection, five ssDNA aptamer candidates were selected and their binding affinities were identified by a novel method using a molecular beacon. Two of the five ssDNA sequences, SS2-55 and SS4-54, demonstrated higher affinities and specificities to the four organophosphorus pesticides. They were defined as broad-spectrum aptamers binding to four different targets and their simulated secondary structures showed highly distinct features with typical stem and loop structures. The dissociation constant of SS2-55 and SS4-54 binding to the four organophosphorus pesticides ranged from 0.8 to 2.5?μM. These aptamers offered application potential in the analysis and/or neutralization of the residues of the four organophosphorus pesticides.     

In vitro selection of DNA aptamers that bind L-tyrosinamide

We have applied SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment), a combinatorial method that employs biopolymers for drug discovery, to identify single stranded DNA sequences able to bind L-Tyrosinamide, a simple mimic of Tyrosine, an amino acid essential to the catalytic activity of several enzymes of pharmaceutical interest. After 15 SELEX cycles using L-Tyrosinamide immobilized on an affinity chromatography column, the percentage of aptamers specifically eluted from the affinity column with free L-Tyrosinamide was 55% of the total. Aptamers were subcloned and sequenced, allowing the identification of a highly conserved consensus sequence, and showed a K(d) value for L-Tyrosinamide of 45 microM. The identified aptamer sequence will constitute the basis for further in vitro evolution protocols and structure-based drug design.     

ssDNA aptamers that selectively bind oxytetracycline

Single stranded DNA aptamers that bind with high affinity and specificity to the oxytetracycline (OTC) were identified by selection from an oligonucleotide library of 10(15) molecules. The binding affinities of four aptamers were in nanomolar range. The aptamers were highly selective in that, lack of -OH group at 5-position in tetracycline and -H group in place of -OH at 6-position in doxycycline determined the specificity of these aptamers to bind OTC. Three aptamers designated as No. 4, 5, and 20 shared strong affinities with K(d)=9.61, 12.08, and 56.84 nM, respectively, as well as selectivity to bind OTC (72-76%). Aptamer No. 4 had strong affinity among all with high selectivity, whereas No. 2 had relatively weak affinity (K(d)=121.1 nM) and moderate selectivity (52%). Our results indicated that the aptamers No. 4, 5, and 20 with variable 40-base oligonucleotides can be good candidates for selectively binding to OTC with high molecular discrimination over its analogs such as tetracycline and doxycycline.     

In vitro selection of single-stranded DNA aptamers that bind human pro-urokinase

Single-chain pro-urokinase is an inactive proenzyme form of human urokinase (urinary plasminogen activator) with a Mr of 50,000 which is converted to the active two-chain form by catalytic amounts of plasmin. It is used for thrombolytic therapy of acute myocardial infarction and acute ischemic stroke. We have isolated single-stranded DNA molecules with significantly increased binding affinity for human pro-urokinase by SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) procedure from a pool of 10(15) molecules containing 24 randomized positions which are flanked by defined regions. ssDNA from this library was hybridized with helper "fixture", thus allowing the central random chain to fold into complex three-dimentional shapes. Sequencing data from pro-urokinase aptamers obtained after 12 selection cycles displayed a highly conserved 12-14 base region.     

Selection of DNA aptamers that bind to influenza A viruses with high affinity and broad subtype specificity

Many cases of influenza are reported worldwide every year. The influenza virus often acquires new antigenicity, which is known as antigenic shift; this results in the emergence of new virus strains, for which preexisting immunity is not found in the population resulting in influenza pandemics. In the event a new strain emerges, diagnostic tools must be developed rapidly to detect the novel influenza strain. The generation of high affinity antibodies is costly and takes time; therefore, an alternative detection system, aptamer detection, provides a viable alternative to antibodies as a diagnostic tool. In this study, we developed DNA aptamers that bind to HA1 proteins of multiple influenza A virus subtypes by the SELEX procedure. To evaluate the binding properties of these aptamers using colorimetric methods, we developed a novel aptamer-based sandwich detection method employing our newly identified aptamers. This novel sandwich enzyme-linked aptamer assay successfully detected the H5N1, H1N1, and H3N2 subtypes of influenza A virus with almost equal sensitivities. These findings suggest that our aptamers are attractive candidates for use as simple and sensitive diagnostic tools that need sandwich system for detecting the influenza A virus with broad subtype specificities.     

RNA aptamers that bind to and inhibit the ribosome-inactivating protein, pepocin

Pepocin, isolated from Cucurbita pepo, is a ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP). RIPs site-specifically recognize and depurinate an adenosine at position 4324 in rat 28 S rRNA, rendering the ribosome incapable of interacting with essential elongation factors. Aptamers that target pepocin were isolated from a degenerate RNA pool by in vitro selection. A conserved hairpin motif, quite different from the sequence of the toxin-substrate domain in rat 28 S rRNA, was identified in the aptamer sequences. The aptamers selectively bind to pepocin with dissociation constants between 20 and 30 nM and inhibit the N-glycosidase activity of pepocin on rat liver 28 S rRNA. Competitive binding experiments using aptamer variants suggest that the conserved hairpin region in the anti-pepocin aptamer binds near the catalytic site on pepocin and prevents the interaction of pepocin and 28 S rRNA. Anti-RIP aptamers have potential use in diagnostic systems for the detection of pepocin or could be used as therapy to prevent the action of pepocin in mammalian cells.     

RNA aptamers that bind the nucleocapsid protein contain pseudoknots

We screened two independent RNA libraries consisting of molecules of 50 nucleotides of random sequence, one of which had additional viral psi-sequences to isolate RNA aptamers that bound to the mature form of the nucleocapsid (NC) protein of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type-1 (HIV-1). Surface Plasmon Resonance measurements and gel shift assays showed that the RNA aptamers bound with high affinity and specificity. We employed RNase footprinting to characterize the RNA structures and to map their protein binding sites. Most of the selected RNA aptamers contained a plausible pseudoknot in addition to the characteristic stem-loop structure. Moreover, the pseudoknots were part of the NC binding sites. We propose that higher order structures such as pseudoknots may constitute binding motifs for nucleic acid binding proteins, especially for NC protein, which is a nucleic acid chaperone.     

In vitro selection of DNA aptamers which bind to cholic acid

DNA aptamers which bind to cholic acid have been identified by in vitro selection from a pool of approximately 9x10(14) DNA molecules. After 13 rounds of selection, 19 clones with 95-100 nucleotide length were sequenced. Deletion-mutant experiments and computational sequence analysis suggested that all clones contained cholic acid binding sequences which could fold into three-way junction structures. By comparing the sequences involved in the predicted three-way junction structure of these 19 clones, it was determined that the nucleotide sequences and lengths of three stem and loop regions have no similarity. The most conserved structure seems to have three base pairs flanking the junction of the three stems and they may form a hydrophobic cavity in which they interact with cholic acid.     

DNA aptamers that bind to PrP(C) and not PrP(Sc) show sequence and structure specificity

DNA aptamers were selected against recombinant human (rhu) cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) 23-231 by systematic evolution of ligands via a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential (SELEX) enrichment procedure using lateral flow chromatography. The SELEX procedure was performed with an aptamer library consisting of a randomized 40-nucleotide core flanked by 28-mer primer-binding sites that, theoretically, represented approximately 10(24) distinct nucleic acid species. Sixty nanograms of rhuPrP(C)23-231 immobilized in the center of a lateral flow device was used as the target molecule for SELEX. At the end of 6 iterations of SELEX, 13 distinct candidate aptamers were identified, of which, 3 aptamers represented 32%, 8%, and 5% of the sequences respectively. Eight aptamers, including the three most frequently occurring candidates, were selected for further evaluation. Selected aptamers bound to rhuPrP(C)23-231 at 10(-6) M to 10(-8) M concentrations. Two of the eight aptamers bound at higher concentrations to rhuPrP(C)90-231. Theoretical thermodynamic modeling of selected aptamer sequences identified several common motifs among the selected aptamers that could play a role in PrP binding. Binding affinity to rhuPrP(C)23-231 was both aptamer sequence and structure dependent. Further, selected aptamers bound to mammalian PrPs derived from brain of healthy sheep, calf, piglet, and deer, and to PrP(C) expressed in mouse neuroblastoma cells. None of the aptamers bound to proteinase K-digested scrapie-infected mouse neuroblastoma cells or untreated PrP-null cells, which further confirmed the PrP(C) specificity of the aptamers. In summary, we enriched and selected DNA aptamers that bind specifically to rhuPrP(C) and mammalian PrP(C) with varying affinities and can be applied to biological samples for PrP(C) enrichment and as diagnostic tools in double ligand assay systems.     

RNA aptamers that specifically bind to a 16S ribosomal RNA decoding region construct

RNA–RNA recognition is a critical process in controlling many key biological events, such as translation and ribozyme functions. The recognition process governing RNA–RNA interactions can involve complementary Watson–Crick (WC) base pair binding, or can involve binding through tertiary structural interaction. Hence, it is of interest to determine which of the RNA–RNA binding events might emerge through an in vitro selection process. The A-site of the 16S rRNA decoding region was chosen as the target, both because it possesses several different RNA structural motifs, and because it is the rRNA site where codon/anticodon recognition occurs requiring recognition of both mRNA and tRNA. It is shown here that a single family of RNA molecules can be readily selected from two different sizes of RNA library. The tightest binding aptamer to the A-site 16S rRNA construct, 109.2-3, has its consensus sequences confined to a stem–loop region, which contains three nucleotides complementary to three of the four nucleotides in the stem–loop region of the A-site 16S rRNA. Point mutations on each of the three nucleotides on the stem–loop of the aptamer abolish its binding capacity. These studies suggest that the RNA aptamer 109.2-3 interacts with the simple 27 nt A-site decoding region of 16S rRNA through their respective stem–loops. The most probable mode of interaction is through complementary WC base pairing, commonly referred to as a loop–loop ‘kissing’ motif. High affinity binding to the other structural motifs in the decoding region were not observed.     

In vitro selection of RNA aptamers that selectively bind danofloxacin

Danofloxacin is a synthetic fluoroquinolone with broad spectrum antibacterial activity that is used for the treatment of respiratory diseases in animal husbandry. However, danofloxacin has many adverse reactions and is toxic to humans. Especially, it detrimentally affects muscle, central nerve system, peripheral nerve system, liver, and skin in those who ingest foods in which danofloxacin has accumulated. Prescreening and determination of the level of danofloxacin in foods or food products is necessary for human health. Aptamers are composing of oligonucleotides that specifically interact with target molecules. They are emerging as detection/diagnostic ligands. Here, we used the SELEX in vitro selection technology to identify specific and high-affinity RNA aptamers with 2′-fluoro-2′-deoxyribonucleotide modified pyrimidine nucleotides against danofloxacin. Selected RNA aptamers bound specifically to danofloxacin, but not to tetracycline. Truncation of RNA aptamer up to 36 mer did not comprise specificity and affinity. The truncated RNA aptamer specifically bound to target chemical, allowing the discrimination of danofloxacin from other fluoroquinolones. The isolated specific aptamer could be a potential agent used for the rapid and cost-effective detection and sensing of danofloxacin, replacing instrumental methods including the more expensive and time-consuming methods of high performance liquid chromatography and liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.     

Proteins that bind to double-stranded regions of telomeric DNA

In budding yeast, the DNA-binding protein Rap1p orchestrates a negative feedback on regulation of telomere length and the organization of a heterochromatin-like telomeric compartment. Recent studies have led to the identification of functionally related telomeric proteins from fission yeast and mammals. These advances underline the key role played by the proteins that bind to the duplex part of telomeric DNA and reveal an important structural diversity among telomeric proteins.     

Peptide aptamers that bind to a geminivirus replication protein interfere with viral replication in plant cells

The AL1 protein of tomato golden mosaic virus (TGMV), a member of the geminivirus family, is essential for viral replication in plants. Its N terminus contains three conserved motifs that mediate origin recognition and DNA cleavage during the initiation of rolling-circle replication. We used the N-terminal domain of TGMV AL1 as bait in a yeast two-hybrid screen of a random peptide aptamer library constrained in the active site of the thioredoxin A (TrxA) gene. The screen selected 88 TrxA peptides that also bind to the full-length TGMV AL1 protein. Plant expression cassettes corresponding to the TrxA peptides and a TGMV A replicon encoding AL1 were cotransfected into tobacco protoplasts, and viral DNA replication was monitored by semiquantitative PCR. In these assays, 31 TrxA peptides negatively impacted TGMV DNA accumulation, reducing viral DNA levels to 13 to 64% of those of the wild type. All of the interfering aptamers also bound to the AL1 protein of cabbage leaf curl virus. A comparison of the 20-mer peptides revealed that their sequences are not random. The alignments detected seven potential binding motifs, five of which are more highly represented among the interfering peptides. One motif was present in 18 peptides, suggesting that these peptides interact with a hot spot in the AL1 N terminus. The peptide aptamers characterized in these studies represent new tools for studying AL1 function and can serve as the basis for the development of crops with broad-based resistance to single-stranded DNA viruses.     

Single-stranded DNA aptamers that bind differentiated but not parental cells: subtractive systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment

In this paper, single-stranded (ss)DNA aptamers with capability to distinguish differentiated PC12 cells from normal PC12 cells were selected by subtractive systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) method. Before each round of selection, randomized ssDNAs were incubated with regular PC12 cells to eliminate those that recognize the common cellular components of both differentiated and undifferentiated PC12 cells. After six rounds of cell-based selection, both of individual aptamers and aptamers of the sixth round pool were found binding to differentiated PC12 cells, but not to the parental PC12 cells. The aptamers of the starting pool showed no such binding. Sequence analysis illustrated that the amount of G content in central random region of these aptamers was much higher than that of the starting pool, which would be expected to be average. The aptamers obtained from this method were also able to identify differentiated PC12 cells from a mixture of both normal and differentiated cells. The results indicate that subtractive SELEX is a useful tool in finding ligands to specific biological markers that distinguish a subtype of cells from cells of homologous origin, such as carcinoma cells among normal epithelial tissues. Both these aptamers and their markers may play important roles in basic research and clinical diagnosis.     

RNA aptamers that bind L-arginine with sub-micromolar dissociation constants and high enantioselectivity.

A completely randomized RNA pool as well as a degenerate pool comprised of an RNA sequence which binds citrulline with a dissociation constant of 0 muM were used to select for tight binding arginine specific RNA aptamers. A modified in vitro selection scheme, based on affinity chromatography was applied to allow the enrichment of high affinity solution binders. The selection scheme included a negative selection with the non-cognate ligand citrulline, and a heat denaturation step prior to affinity elution with an excess of the cognate ligand arginine. After 20 cycles the majority of the pools bound specifically to the arginine matrix even after denaturation/renaturation in the presence of 20 mM of a non-cognate amino acid. When denatured and eluted in the presence of 20 mM arginine, the selected RNAs quantitatively washed off the column. These RNA aptamers were cloned and sequenced. Equilibrium dialysis performed with the most abundant clone among the selected sequence revealed Kd values of 330 nM for the RNA/arginine affinity, which is nearly a 200-fold improvement over the tightest binding arginine binding RNAs known to date. Arginine recognition by this RNA is highly enantioselectice: L- arginine is bound 12 000-fold better than D-arginine. Chemical modification analysis revealed that the secondary structure of the aptamer might contain a pseudoknot motif. Our tight binding arginine aptamers join a number of natural and in vitro selected RNAs which recognize arginine. The RNAs described here compare in their binding affinity with the tightest binding RNA aptamers for low molecular weight molecules isolated in other in vitro selection experiments.     

Chip-based detection of hepatitis C virus using RNA aptamers that specifically bind to HCV core antigen

The development of reagents with high affinity and specificity to the antigens of hepatitis C virus (HCV) is important for the early stage diagnosis of its infection. Aptamers are short, single-stranded oligonucleotides with the ability to specifically recognize target molecules with high affinity. Herein, we report the selection of RNA aptamers that bind to the core antigen of HCV. High affinity aptamers were isolated from a 10(15) random library of 60 mer RNAs using the SELEX procedure. Importantly, the selected aptamers specifically bound to the core antigen, but not to another HCV antigen, NS5, in a protein chip-based assay. Using these aptamers, we developed an aptamer-based biosensor for HCV diagnosis and detected the core antigen from HCV infected patients' sera with good specificity. This novel aptamer-based antigen detection sensor could be applied to the early diagnosis of HCV infection.     

Development of HBsAg-binding aptamers that bind HepG2.2.15 cells via HBV surface antigen

Hepatitis B virus surface antigen(HBsAg),a specific antigen on the membrane of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected cells,provides a perfect target for therapeutic drugs.The development of reagents with high affinity and specificity to the HBsAg is of great significance to the early-stage diagnosis and treatment of HBV infection.Herein,we report the selection of RNA aptamers that can specifically bind to HBsAg protein and HBsAg-positive hepatocytes.One high affinity aptamer,HBs-A22,was isolated from an initial 115 mer library of ~1.1×10 15 random-sequence RNA molecules using the SELEX procedure.The selected aptamer HBs-A22 bound specifically to hepatoma cell line HepG2.2.15 that expresses HBsAg but did not bind to HBsAg-devoid HepG2 cells.This is the first reported RNA aptamer which could bind to a HBV specific antigen.This newly isolated aptamer could be modified to deliver imaging,diagnostic,and therapeutic agents targeted at HBV-infected cells.     

RNA aptamers targeted to domain II of hepatitis C virus IRES that bind to its apical loop region

The internal ribosome entry site (IRES) is important for translation of hepatitis C virus (HCV) mRNA and has a unique RNA structure containing conserved domains I to IV. To investigate the function of domain II, we selected RNA aptamers that bind to domain II of HCV IRES by applying a simple and convenient selection method using a hybridized tag for fixing domain II RNA on magnetic beads instead of synthesizing long RNA. In addition, we employed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technology to measure the binding affinity of each generation and to obtain detailed kinetic constants. The selected aptamers have a consensus sequence, 5'-UAUGGCU-3', which is complementary to the apical loop of domain II. The loop-loop interaction between the consensus sequence and domain II was confirmed by mutagenesis and nuclease mapping analyses. Binding affinities were dependent on the local structure containing the conserved sequence. The aptamers could inhibit IRES-dependent translation.