Selection of specific aptamer against enrofloxacin and fabrication of graphene oxide based label-free fluorescent assay

Specific ssDNA aptamers for the antibiotic enrofloxacin (ENR) were isolated from an enriched nucleotide library by SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential enrichment) method with high binding affinity. After seven rounds, five aptamers were selected and identified. Apt58 with highest affinity and sensitivity (K-d = 14.19 nM) was employed to develop a label-free fluorescent biosensing approach based on aptamer, graphene oxide (GO) and native fluorescence of ENR for determination of ENR residue in raw milk samples. Under optimized experimental conditions, the linear range was from 5 nM to 250 nM and LOD was calculated to be 3.7 nM, and the recovery rate was between 94.1% and 108.5%. The integration of aptamer and GO in this bioassay provides a promising way for rapid, sensitive and cost-effective detection of ENR in real samples like raw milk.