Electrochemical Aptameric Recognition System for a Sensitive Protein Assay Based on Specific Target Binding-Induced Rolling Circle Amplification

A reusable aptameric recognition system was described for the electrochemical detection of the protein PDGF-BB based on the target binding-induced rolling circle amplification (RCA). A complementary DNA (CDNA), linear padlock probe, and primer probe were utilized to introduce a RCA process into the aptamer-target binding event while a new aptamer was elegantly designed via lengthening the original aptamer by the complement to the CDNA. The aptameric sensing system facilitates the integration of multiple functional elements into a signaling scheme: a unique electrochemical technique, an attractive RCA process, reversible DNA hybridization, and desirable aptameric target recognition. This RCA-based electrochemical recognition system not only exhibits excellent performance (e.g., a detection limit of 6.3 x 10(-11) M, a linear dynamic range of 2 orders of magnitude, high specificity, and satisfactory repeatability) but also overcomes the limitations associated with conventional aptameric biosensors (e.g., dependence of signaling target binding on specific aptamer sequence or requirement of sandwich assays for two or more binding sites per target molecule). A recovery test demonstrated the feasibility of the developed target protein assay. Given the attractive characteristics, this aptameric recognition platform is expected to be a candidate for the detection of proteins and other ligands of interest in both fundamental and applied research.