Advantages of aptamers as ligands upon protein detection by AFM-based fishing.

A combined AFM/MS method was employed for protein registration in solution. This method is based on reversible specific capturing of a target protein from a large volume of analyzed solution onto a small sensor area of a chip with immobilized aptamer ligands. Fishing of the core antigen of hepatitis C virus (HCVcoreAg) from 10 M solution of this protein in buffer was carried out.

Detection of Hepatitis C Virus Core Protein in Serum Using Aptamer-Functionalized AFM Chips.

In the present study, we demonstrate atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) particles in serum samples using a chip with aptamer-functionalized surface (apta-based AFM chip). The target particles, containing core antigen of HCV (HCVcoreAg protein), were biospecifically captured onto the chip surface from 1 mL of test solution containing 10 µL of serum collected from a hepatitis C patient. The registration of aptamer/antigen complexes on the chip surface was performed by AFM.

The detection of hepatitis c virus core antigen using afm chips with immobolized aptamers.

In the present study, the possibility of hepatitis C virus core antigen (HCVcoreAg) detection in buffer solution, using atomic force microscope chip (AFM-chip) with immobilized aptamers, has been demonstrated. The target protein was detected in 1mL of solution at concentrations from 10М to 10М. The registration of aptamer/antigen complexes on the chip surface was carried out by atomic force microscopy (AFM).