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Discovery of Aptamers Targeting the Receptor-Binding Domain of the SARS-CoV‑2 Spike Glycoprotein
journal contribution
posted on 2020-07-03, 06:44 authored by Yanling Song, Jia Song, Xinyu Wei, Mengjiao Huang, Miao Sun, Lin Zhu, Bingqian Lin, Haicong Shen, Zhi Zhu, Chaoyong YangThe
World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of a novel
coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-nCoV) as a global pandemic. However,
the mechanisms behind the coronavirus infection are not yet fully
understood, nor are there any targeted treatments or vaccines. In
this study, we identified high-binding-affinity aptamers targeting
SARS-CoV-2 RBD, using an ACE2 competition-based aptamer selection
strategy and a machine learning screening algorithm. The Kd values of the optimized CoV2-RBD-1C and CoV2-RBD-4C
aptamers against RBD were 5.8 nM and 19.9 nM, respectively. Simulated
interaction modeling, along with competitive experiments, suggests
that two aptamers may have partially identical binding sites at ACE2
on SARS-CoV-2 RBD. These aptamers present an opportunity for generating
new probes for recognition of SARS-CoV-2 and could provide assistance
in the diagnosis and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 while providing a new
tool for in-depth study of the mechanisms behind the coronavirus infection.