title: DNA aptamers for selective identification and separation of flame retardant chemicals.
abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are group of chemicals which are representative persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and used as brominated flame retardants for many consumer products. PBDEs were phased out since 2009 but are still frequently observed in various environmental matrices and human body. Here, we report ssDNA aptamers which bind to BDE47, one of the PBDE congeners commonly found in various environmental matrices, and show affinity to other major tri-to hepta- BDE congeners. The PBDE specific aptamers were isolated from random library of ssDNA using Mag-SELEX. Two out of 15 sequences, based on their alignment and hairpin loop structures, were chosen to determine dissociation constant with BDE47 and showed from picomolar to nanomolar affinities (200 pM and 1.53 nM). The aptamers displayed high selectivity to the original target, BDE47, and implying general specificity to PBDE backbone with varying affinities to other congeners. Further, we showed that the use of two aptamers together could enhance the separation efficiency of BDE47 and other BDE congeners when dissolved in a solvent compared to use of single aptamer. These aptamers are expected to provide a tool for preliminary screening or quick separation of PBDEs in environmental samples prior to trace quantitative analysis.
authors: Center for Environment, Health and Welfare Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Hwarangno 14-gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea.
authors: Un-Jung
authors: UJ
authors: Kim
authors: Center for Environment, Health and Welfare Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Hwarangno 14-gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea; Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Science and Technology (UST), Hwarangno 14-gil 5, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 02792, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: bchankim@kist.re.kr.
authors: Byoung Chan
authors: BC
authors: Kim
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D005411:Flame Retardants / Q000032:analysis*; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000032:analysis*; D015394:Molecular Structure
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D005411:Flame Retardants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers
keywords: BDE47; Brominated flame retardant (BFR); Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs); Quick separation; Screening; ssDNA aptamers