Bioinformatics Group, Hochschule Mittweida - University of Applied Sciences, Mittweida, Germany.
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2014 Feb;351(2):162-9. doi: 10.1111/1574-6968.12366. Epub 2014 Jan 13.
The genetically and antigenically diverse group of noroviruses is the major cause of human viral epidemic gastroenteritis worldwide. Virus detection and control are thus crucial topics when aiming at containing and preventing the resulting large and often persisting outbreaks. Aptamers provide a promising alternative to antibodies concerning their ability to bind and thus detect and influence bio-active molecules. These small, single-stranded oligonucleotides are able to bind to a multitude of possible target molecules with high affinity. For a specific target the highest affinity aptamers are found by screening a randomized library. In this work a DNA aptamer capable of binding to the norovirus genotype II.4 capsid protein VP1 was found. The general approach is thereby not limited to norovirus capsid, but could be extended to almost any kind of biologically relevant molecule. The development of the library enrichment was further computationally analyzed in order to describe the enrichment during screening. This is the basis for a later extensive characterization of both target and aptamers that could lead to insights regarding the functional coherence of both partners. An abstract model describing this coherence could be utilized to generate a target-specific library, from which future aptamer screening runs could benefit.
诺如病毒是一组具有遗传和抗原多样性的病毒，是导致全球人类病毒性胃肠炎的主要原因。因此，病毒检测和控制是控制和预防由此产生的大规模且经常持续爆发的关键主题。与抗体相比，适体在结合、检测和影响生物活性分子方面具有很大的优势。这些小分子、单链寡核苷酸能够以高亲和力结合多种可能的靶分子。通过筛选随机文库，可以找到针对特定靶标的最高亲和力适体。在这项工作中，发现了一种能够与诺如病毒基因型 II.4 衣壳蛋白 VP1 结合的 DNA 适体。因此，这种方法不仅限于诺如病毒衣壳，还可以扩展到几乎任何种类的生物相关分子。为了描述筛选过程中的富集情况，进一步对文库富集的开发进行了计算分析。这是对靶标和适体进行广泛表征的基础，这可能有助于了解两者之间的功能一致性。描述这种一致性的抽象模型可以用于生成针对特定靶标的文库，未来的适体筛选运行将从中受益。
