Biochemistry and Microbiology

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Browsing Biochemistry and Microbiology by Subject "aptamer"

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    Biophysical characterization of the interaction between HIV-p24 protein and the conjugate HIV-p24 derived aptamer
    (University of Zululand, 2019) Molefe, PhilisiweFortunate
    The Human Immunodeficiency Virus epidemic is a serious world health concern. Reports show that 75% of people, who are aware of this disease, live with it, and the remaining 25%, which constitute over 9 million people are still in need of access to HIV testing services, with some waiting for the window period to subside. Early diagnosis is imperative for mitigating viral transmission. Unfortunately, available rapid tools are serologically based and may not detect the virus in time and moreover other methods, such as PCR methods and p24 antigen tests, have limitations resulting in diagnostic delays amongst others. The HIV-p24 protein is overexpressed during the early and last stages of viral infection. This makes it an important biomarker, requiring sensitive and efficient point-of-care diagnostic tools, which are based on biological agents that do not elicit immune response and therefore can diagnose the virus, especially before seroconversion. In this study, two DNA aptamers (agents that bind to their targets with high affinity and specificity) have been successfully synthesized, in vitro through systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) and studied in conjunction to the HIV p24 biomarker. Subsequently, bioinformatics was used to characterize the interaction between each aptamer and the target protein which displayed strong interactions. These interactions are crucial in the development of an alternative diagnostic tool which will detectthevirusatearlystageorwindowperiod
University of Zululand