title: Exploration of structure-switching in the design of aptamer biosensors.
abstract: The process of "structure-switching" enables biomolecular switches to function as effective biosensing tools. Biomolecular switches can be activated or inactivated by binding to a specific target that triggers a precise conformational change in the biomolecules involved. Although many examples of aptamer-based biomolecular switches can be found in nature, substantial effort has been made in the last decade to engineer structure-switching aptamer sensors by coupling aptamers to a signal transduction method to generate a readout signal upon target binding to the aptamer domain. This chapter focuses on the progress of research on engineered structure-switching aptamer sensors. We begin by discussing the origin of the structure-switching aptamer design, highlight the key developments of structure-switching DNA aptamers for fluorescence-, electrochemistry-, and colorimetry-based detection, and introduce our recent efforts in exploring RNA aptamers to create structure-switching molecular sensors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, and Michael D. DeGroote Infectious Disease Research Institute, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada.
authors.forename: Pui Sai
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Yingfu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics*; D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000379:methods*; D003217:Conductometry / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000379:methods; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide