Whole-Bacterium SELEX Aptamer Selection of Fusobacterium nucleatum and Application to Colorectal Cancer Noninvasive Screening in Human Feces

In terms of cancer diagnoses andcancer-related deaths worldwide,colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the third most common malignancy. Thedrawbacks of current screening methods are their exorbitant costs,difficult procedures, and lengthy implementation timelines. The benefitsof fecal screening for CRC are ease of operation, noninvasiveness,cost-effectiveness, and superior sensitivity. As a result of its enrichmentin the malignant tissues and feces of CRC patients, Fusobacteriumnucleatum (F. nucleatum) has emerged asa crucial biomarker for the incipient detection, identification, andprognostic prediction of CRC. Here, for the first time, the whole-bacteriumSELEX method was used to screen the highly specific and affinity aptamersagainst F. nucleatum by 13 cycles of selection. TheApt-S-5 linear correlation equation is y = 0.7363x (2.8315) (R (2) = 0.9864)with a limit of detection (LOD) of 851 CFU/mL. The results of theexperiment using fecal samples revealed a substantial disparity betweenthe microorganisms in the CRC patients' feces and those inthe feces of healthy individuals and were consistent with those ofqPCR. The aptamers may therefore offer a crucial approach to identifying F. nucleatum and hold tremendous promise for CRC diagnosisand prognostic prediction.

Automated summary

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is now the third most common malignancy worldwide. Current screening methods for CRC have disadvantages such as high costs, difficult procedures, and long implementation timelines. Fecal screening for CRC offers advantages of ease of operation, noninvasiveness, cost-effectiveness, and superior sensitivity. In this study, aptamers were developed using the whole-bacterium SELEX method to specifically target Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum), which is a crucial biomarker for early detection and prognosis of CRC. The aptamers showed high specificity and affinity, and hold promise for CRC diagnosis and prognostic prediction.