Rational Design of a User-Friendly Aptamer/Peptide-Based Device for the Detection of Staphylococcus Aureus

The urgent need to develop a detection system for Staphylococcus aureus, one of the most
common causes of infection, is prompting research towards novel approaches and devices, with a
particular focus on point-of-care analysis. Biosensors are promising systems to achieve this aim. We
coupled the selectivity and affinity of aptamers, short nucleic acids sequences able to recognize
specific epitopes on bacterial surface, immobilized at high density on a nanostructured zirconium
dioxide surface, with the rational design of specifically interacting fluorescent peptides to assemble
an easy-to-use detection device. We show that the displacement of fluorescent peptides upon the
competitive binding of S. aureus to immobilized aptamers can be detected and quantified through
fluorescence loss. This approach could be also applied to the detection of other bacterial species once
aptamers interacting with specific antigens will be identified, allowing the development of a
platform for easy detection of a pathogen without requiring access to a healthcare environment.