Development of an Innovative Quantification Assay Based on Aptamer Sandwich and Isothermal Dumbbell Exponential Amplification

Detecting blood biomarkers such as proteins with high sensitivity and specificity is of the utmost importance for early and reliable disease diagnosis. As molecular probes, aptamers are raising increasing interest for biosensor applications as an alternative to antibodies, which are used in classical enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assays (ELISA). We have developed a sensitive and antibody-free molecular quantification assay that combines the specificity of aptamers and the sensitivity of the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). For the proof-of-concept, we consider two types of biomarkers: (i) a model of oligonucleotide mimicking nucleic acid targets and (ii) the thrombin involved in the complex coagulation cascade as a model protein for which two relevant aptamers form a stable sandwich. The assay protocol is based on a few successive steps, similar to sandwich ELISA. First, aptamer-coated magnetic beads are added to the sample to specifically capture the targets. Then, the sandwich complex is formed by adding the second aptamer. This secondary aptamer is integrated in a larger oligonucleotide dumbbell sequence designed for LAMP detection using only two primers. After a proper rinsing step, the isothermal dumbbell exponential amplification is performed to detect and quantify a low amount of targets (limit of detection similar to 1 pM for the oligonucleotide and similar to 100 pM for thrombin). This study demonstrates that our innovative aptamero-LAMP assay could be relevant for the detection of different types of biomarkers and their quantification at physiological levels. This may also pave the way for antibody-free molecular assays.