Advances in aptamer screening and aptasensors' detection of heavy metal ions

• Published in: Journal of nanobiotechnology Vol. 19; no. 1; p. 166
• Main Authors: Guo, Wenfei, Zhang, Chuanxiang, Ma, Tingting, Liu, Xueying, Chen, Zhu, Li, Song, Deng, Yan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 01-06-2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Antibodies; Aptamer; Aptamers; Aptamers, Nucleotide - isolation & purification; Aptasensor; Binding sites; Bioaccumulation; Biosensing Techniques - methods; Biosensors; Chromatography; Construction methods; Copper; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Design and construction; Detection; DNA; Environmental aspects; Environmental health; Enzymes; Exploitation; Forecasts and trends; Graphene; Health aspects; Health risks; Heavy metals; Heavy metals ion; Humans; Identification and classification; Industrial development; Ions; Ions - isolation & purification; Metal detectors; Metal ions; Metals, Heavy - isolation & purification; Methods; Molecular weight; Nucleic acid aptamers; Pollution detection; Pore size; Resource exploitation; Review; Scientific imaging; Screening; SELEX; SELEX Aptamer Technique - methods; Sensors; China; Heavy metals ion; Screening; Aptamer; Detection; Aptasensor; SELEX
• ISSN: 1477-3155; 1477-3155
• DOI: 10.1186/s12951-021-00914-4

Heavy metal pollution has become more and more serious with industrial development and resource exploitation. Because heavy metal ions are difficult to be biodegraded, they accumulate in the human body and cause serious threat to human health. However, the conventional methods to detect heavy metal ions are more strictly to the requirements by detection equipment, sample pretreatment, experimental environment, etc. Aptasensor has the advantages of strong specificity, high sensitivity and simple preparation to detect small molecules, which provides a new direction platform in the detection of heavy metal ions. This paper reviews the selection of aptamers as target for heavy metal ions since the 21th century and aptasensors application for detection of heavy metal ions that were reported in the past five years. Firstly, the selection methods for aptamers with high specificity and high affinity are introduced. Construction methods and research progress on sensor based aptamers as recognition element are also introduced systematically. Finally, the challenges and future opportunities of aptasensors in detecting heavy metal ions are discussed.