Electronic aptamer-based sensors.

The selection of aptamers-nucleic acids that specifically bind low-molecular-weight substrates or proteins-by the SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) procedure has attracted recent efforts directed to the development of new specific recognition units. In particular, extensive activities have been directed to the application of aptamers as versatile materials for the design of biosensors. The Minireview summarizes the recent accomplishments in developing electronic aptamer-based sensors (aptasensors), which include electrochemical, field-effect transistor, and microgravimetric quartz crystal microbalance sensors, and describes methods to develop amplified aptasensor devices and label-free aptasensors.