Improved detection of deeply invasive candidiasis with DNA aptamers specific binding to (1→3)-β-D-glucans from Candida albicans

Deeply invasive or disseminated candidiasis is a serious and often fatal complication that can occur frequently in immuno-compromised individuals. However, conventional diagnostic methods of Candida albicans display low sensitivity and lack of specificity; the development of rapid and accurate detection methods remains a high priority. Aptamers are single-strand DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that specifically bind to target molecules with high affinity. In this study, we sought to screen high-affinity DNA aptamers that specifically bound to (1→3)-β-D-glucans from cell wall of Candida albicans using a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) technique, and further evaluate the diagnostic potential for invasive or disseminated candidiasis with selected aptamers. (1→3)-β-D-glucans was purified from Candida albicans, and two single DNA aptamers (designated as AU1 and AD1) were selected. Analysis of dissociation constants and binding domains further revealed that these two selected single DNA aptamers (AU1 and AD1) showed high binding affinity (AD1: K_d = 79.76 nM, AD1: K_d = 103.7 nM) and did not bind to the same domain of (1→3)-β-D-glucans. Next, we further detected (1→3)-β-D-glucans in serum samples from different groups of patients with Candida albicans infection or simple bacterial infection by using a double-aptamer sandwich enzyme-linked oligonucleotide assay (ELONA). The results showed that the sensitivity and specificity of this aptamer-based sandwich ELONA were 92.31 % and 91.94 % respectively. Thus, our study suggests that AU1 and AD1 have potential application for the differentiate diagnosis of deeply invasive candidiasis and provide valuable clues for designing diagnostic agents for the identification of invasive fungal infection.