title: Design strategies for aptamer-based biosensors.
abstract: Aptamers have been widely used as recognition elements for biosensor construction, especially in the detection of proteins or small molecule targets, and regarded as promising alternatives for antibodies in bioassay areas. In this review, we present an overview of reported design strategies for the fabrication of biosensors and classify them into four basic modes: target-induced structure switching mode, sandwich or sandwich-like mode, target-induced dissociation/displacement mode and competitive replacement mode. In view of the unprecedented advantages brought about by aptamers and smart design strategies, aptamer-based biosensors are expected to be one of the most promising devices in bioassay related applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and National Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China. hank@sibet.ac.cn
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Nandi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D004867:Equipment Design
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide