TY - JOUR
T1 - Catching the Sugars: Electrochemical Aptasensors for the Detection of Cancer-Related Glycosylation Changes in Prostate-Specific Antigen
AU - Diaz-Fernandez, Ana
AU - Miranda-Castro, Rebeca
AU - Estrela, Pedro
AU - de los Santos Alvarez, Noemi
AU - Lobo Castanon, Maria Jesus
PY - 2020/11/2
Y1 - 2020/11/2
N2 - Prostate-specific Antigen (PSA) is the biomarker that is used for prostate cancer (PCa) detection, although its lack of specificity results in a high rate of false-positives and many unnecessary biopsies. Therefore, there is a need for more specific cancer biomarkers for PCa. Recent studies have shown that the aberrant glycosylation of proteins is a common feature of the presence of cancer. In the case of prostate cancer, there are changes in core-fucose and sialic acids in the glycan structure of PSA. In this work, we describe two different strategies to direct the selection of aptamers toward the glycans of PSA. From these strategies, we identified two aptamers (PSA-1 and PSAG-1) that bind to the glycan structure of PSA with high affinity. Both aptamers were applied in the design of electrochemical aptasensors, in sandwich and direct formats, in order to detect the changes in the glycosylation of PSA. The sensors responded to different levels of PSA in serum, and they showed higher potential to discriminate clinically-meaningful PCa than the ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test used in hospitals (reducing the number of false positives), although validation on more samples is needed.
AB - Prostate-specific Antigen (PSA) is the biomarker that is used for prostate cancer (PCa) detection, although its lack of specificity results in a high rate of false-positives and many unnecessary biopsies. Therefore, there is a need for more specific cancer biomarkers for PCa. Recent studies have shown that the aberrant glycosylation of proteins is a common feature of the presence of cancer. In the case of prostate cancer, there are changes in core-fucose and sialic acids in the glycan structure of PSA. In this work, we describe two different strategies to direct the selection of aptamers toward the glycans of PSA. From these strategies, we identified two aptamers (PSA-1 and PSAG-1) that bind to the glycan structure of PSA with high affinity. Both aptamers were applied in the design of electrochemical aptasensors, in sandwich and direct formats, in order to detect the changes in the glycosylation of PSA. The sensors responded to different levels of PSA in serum, and they showed higher potential to discriminate clinically-meaningful PCa than the ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test used in hospitals (reducing the number of false positives), although validation on more samples is needed.
KW - Prostate specific antigen
KW - SELEX Aptamer Technique/methods
KW - Aptamers
KW - Electrochemical Biosensor
KW - Glycoproteins
KW - Prostate cancer
U2 - 10.3390/IECB2020-07023
DO - 10.3390/IECB2020-07023
M3 - Conference article
SN - 2504-3900
VL - 60
JO - Proceedings — Open Access Journal
JF - Proceedings — Open Access Journal
IS - 1
M1 - 47
ER -