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Review
. 2018 Oct 25;10(11):427.
doi: 10.3390/toxins10110427.

Aptamers and Aptasensors for Highly Specific Recognition and Sensitive Detection of Marine Biotoxins: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Lianhui Zhao  1 , Yunfei Huang  2 , Yiyang Dong  3 , Xutiange Han  4 , Sai Wang  5 , Xingguo Liang  6   7
Affiliations
Review

Aptamers and Aptasensors for Highly Specific Recognition and Sensitive Detection of Marine Biotoxins: Recent Advances and Perspectives

Lianhui Zhao et al. Toxins (Basel). .

Abstract

Marine biotoxins distribute widely, have high toxicity, and can be easily accumulated in water or seafood, exposing a serious threat to consumer health. Achieving specific and sensitive detection is the most effective way to prevent emergent issues caused by marine biotoxins; however, the previous detection methods cannot meet the requirements because of ethical or technical drawbacks. Aptamers, a kind of novel recognition element with high affinity and specificity, can be used to fabricate various aptasensors (aptamer-based biosensors) for sensitive and rapid detection. In recent years, an increasing number of aptamers and aptasensors have greatly promoted the development of marine biotoxins detection. In this review, we summarized the recent aptamer-related advances for marine biotoxins detection and discussed their perspectives. Firstly, we summarized the sequences, selection methods, affinity, secondary structures, and the ion conditions of all aptamers to provide a database-like information; secondly, we summarized the reported aptasensors for marine biotoxins, including principles, detection sensitivity, linear detection range, etc.; thirdly, on the basis of the existing reports and our own research experience, we forecast the development prospects of aptamers and aptasensors for marine biotoxins detection. We hope this review not only provides a comprehensive summary of aptamer selection and aptasensor development for marine biotoxins, but also arouses a broad readership amongst academic researchers and industrial chemists.

Keywords: aptamer; aptasensor; food safety; marine biotoxin; rapid detection.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Principle of aptamer selection (SELEX process).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Procedure of positive selection process in Mag-beads-SELEX.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Procedure of positive selection process in Microwell-SELEX. T, target. BSA, bovine serum albumin.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Procedure of positive selection in Graphene-SELEX (GO-SELEX).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Biolayer Interferometry (BLI)-based aptasensors for marine biotoxin detection. (a) Scheme of a label-free BLI-based aptasensor for GTX1/4 detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description of Ref. [72]); (b) Scheme of a label-free and competitive BLI-based aptasensor for STX detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Figure 2 of Ref. [80]); (c) Scheme of a competitive and signal-amplified BLI-based aptasensor for PTX detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Figure 2 of Ref. [61]).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Electrochemistry (EC)-based aptasensors based on gold electrodes. (a) Scheme of a label-free EC-based aptasensor for OA detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Scheme 1 of Ref. [62]). (b) Scheme of a competitive EC-based aptasensor for BTX-2 detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Scheme 1 of Ref. [63]). EIS, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Scheme of a competitive gap-based electrochemical aptasensor for OA detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Figure 1 of Ref. [84]).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Scheme of a photoelectrochemical aptasensor for detection of microcystin-LR (MC-LR) (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Scheme 1 of Ref. [85]).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Fluorescence (FL)-based aptasensors using up-conversion fluorescence or down-conversion fluorescence. (a) Scheme of a Fe3O4/aptamer/CDs nanocomposites-based aptasensor for okadaic acid (OA) detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Scheme 1 of Ref. [66]). CDs, carbon dots. UCF, up-conversion fluorescence. (b) Scheme of a CS-UCNPs and MoS2-assisted FL-based aptasensor for MC-LR detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Scheme 1 of Ref. [91]). (c) Scheme of a dual FRET aptasensor for simultaneous detection of MC-LR and OA (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Figure 1 of Ref. [92]).
Figure 10
Figure 10
Scheme of a single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)-assisted fluorescence (FL)-based aptasensor for MC-LR detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Scheme 1 of Ref. [93]).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Scheme of a competitive fluorophore-linked aptasensor based on rolling circle amplification (RCA) for okadaic acid (OA) detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description and the original Figure 1 of Ref. [94]).
Figure 12
Figure 12
Scheme of an indirect competitive enzyme-linked aptamer assay (ELAA)-based aptasensor for BTX-2 detection (Scheme was drawn according to the text description of Ref. [64]).
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