Mohammad Reza Mardani,1Arastoo Vojdani,2Arian Amali,3Zahra Meshkat,4Aida Gholoobi,5,*
1. Student Research Committee, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. 2. Student Research Committee, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. 3. Student Research Committee, Paramedical Department, Mashhad Medical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran. 4. Antimicrobial Resistance Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. 5. Medical Genetics Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Introduction: The use of point-of-care devices has been extensively promoted in the past few decades. One of its common types is lateral flow assays (LFA), a portable, simple, and low-cost method that can be an appropriate candidate for diagnostic testing. This method is generally employed in food, agriculture, and biomedicine. Furthermore, numerous studies have been done on aptamers and their applications. Aptamers are short single-stranded oligonucleotide sequences with a 3D conformational structure to bind to the designated targets, and due to their low production cost and acceptable stability, they could be a proper alternative to antibodies. Therefore, combining the potential of aptamer and LFA can create a suitable platform for developing point-of-care devices. Compared with antibodies, aptamer-based LFAs have been less frequently used in a commercial setting. This review discusses aptamer-based LFA, its applications, advantages and, drawbacks.
Methods: According to the results of the search in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases, aptamer-based LFA, and more specifically, its advantages, disadvantages, and the necessary steps for its commercialization, have been discussed in some papers.
Results: Aptamers can be a suitable alternative to antibodies due to their low production cost and high stability. This method is used to rapidly detect antibodies, β-conglutin, hormones such as salivary cortisol, etc. However, one of the disadvantages of utilizing aptamers is that their affinity can be reduced by changing environmental variables such as pH.
Conclusion: The combination of aptamer potential with point-of-care approaches such as LFA has significantly contributed to advancements in diagnostic procedures. The presence of different targets, ease of application, and quick response have drawn attention to the use of this method. Numerous improvements have been made in aptamer-based LFAs during the past few years, but unfortunately, none have made this method commercially applicable. One possible way to commercialize this technique is to use it in line with the diagnostic tests of Covid-19. It can be expected that aptamers in LFA will increase compared with antibodies.