Functional Nucleic Acids As Modular Components Against SARS-CoV-2: From Diagnosis to Therapeutics

Overview

Journal Biosens Bioelectron

Specialties Biochemistry
Biotechnology

Date 2022 Jan 13

PMID 35026546

Authors

Wenxian Zhang

Na Liu

Jingjing Zhang

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), which poses an extremely serious global impact on human public healthcare, represents a high transmission and disease-causing viral infection caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is expanding at a rapid pace. Therefore, it is urgent for researchers to establish effective platforms for the assay and treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Functional nucleic acids (FNAs), comprising aptamers and nucleases, are of primary concern within the biological and medical communities owing of the distinctive properties of their target recognition and catalysis. This review will concentrate on the essential aspects of insights regarding FNAs and their technological expertise for the diagnostic and therapeutic utilization against COVID-19. We first offer a historical perspective of the COVID-19 pandemics, its clinical characteristics and potential biomarkers. Then, we briefly discuss the current diagnostic and therapeutic methodology towards COVID-19, highlighting the superiorities and existing shortcomings. After that, we introduce the key features of FNAs, and summarize recent progress of in vitro selection of FNAs for SARS-CoV-2 specific proteins and RNAs, followed by highlighting the general concept of translating FNAs into functional probes for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Then, we critically review the emerging FNAs-based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies that are fast, precise, efficient, and highly specific to fight COVID-19. Finally, we identify remaining challenges and offer future outlook of this emerging field.

Citing Articles

Nucleic Acid Framework-Enabled Spatial Organization for Biological Applications.

Zhang R, Zuo X, Yin F Chem Bio Eng. 2025; 2(2):71-86.

PMID: 40041004 PMC: 11873853. DOI: 10.1021/cbe.4c00164.

Rapid assays of SARS-CoV-2 virus and noble biosensors by nanomaterials.

Liu Y, Li Y, Hang Y, Wang L, Wang J, Bao N Nano Converg. 2024; 11(1):2.

PMID: 38190075 PMC: 10774473. DOI: 10.1186/s40580-023-00408-z.

CRISPR Assays for Disease Diagnosis: Progress to and Barriers Remaining for Clinical Applications.

Huang Z, Lyon C, Wang J, Lu S, Hu T Adv Sci (Weinh). 2023; 10(20):e2301697.

PMID: 37162202 PMC: 10369298. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202301697.

An ultra-sensitive one-pot RNA-templated DNA ligation rolling circle amplification-assisted CRISPR/Cas12a detector assay for rapid detection of SARS-CoV-2.

Zhu Z, Guo Y, Wang C, Yang Z, Li R, Zeng Z Biosens Bioelectron. 2023; 228:115179.

PMID: 36878066 PMC: 9974209. DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2023.115179.

Functional nucleic acids as potent therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Chen J, Li Y, Liu Z Cell Rep Phys Sci. 2023; 4(2):101249.

PMID: 36714073 PMC: 9869493. DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101249.

References

Fernandez N, Caceres D, Beer K, Irrazabal C, Delgado G, Farias L . Ventilator-associated pneumonia involving in a patient with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from Argentina. Med Mycol Case Rep. 2020; 31:19-23. PMC: 7335419. DOI: 10.1016/j.mmcr.2020.07.001. View

Zhang Z, Pandey R, Li J, Gu J, White D, Stacey H . High-Affinity Dimeric Aptamers Enable the Rapid Electrochemical Detection of Wild-Type and B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 in Unprocessed Saliva. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021; 60(45):24266-24274. PMC: 8596624. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202110819. View

Carter L, Garner L, Smoot J, Li Y, Zhou Q, Saveson C . Assay Techniques and Test Development for COVID-19 Diagnosis. ACS Cent Sci. 2020; 6(5):591-605. PMC: 7197457. DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.0c00501. View

Wu Z, McGoogan J . Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: Summary of a Report of 72 314 Cases From the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. JAMA. 2020; 323(13):1239-1242. DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.2648. View

Wrapp D, Wang N, Corbett K, Goldsmith J, Hsieh C, Abiona O . Cryo-EM structure of the 2019-nCoV spike in the prefusion conformation. Science. 2020; 367(6483):1260-1263. PMC: 7164637. DOI: 10.1126/science.abb2507. View

Sun M, Liu S, Wei X, Wan S, Huang M, Song T . Aptamer Blocking Strategy Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Virus Infection. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2021; 60(18):10266-10272. PMC: 8014204. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202100225. View

Schmitz A, Weber A, Bayin M, Breuers S, Fieberg V, Famulok M . A SARS-CoV-2 Spike Binding DNA Aptamer that Inhibits Pseudovirus Infection by an RBD-Independent Mechanism. Angew Chem Weinheim Bergstr Ger. 2021; 133(18):10367-10373. PMC: 8250900. DOI: 10.1002/ange.202100316. View

Koulgi S, Jani V, Uppuladinne M, Sonavane U, Nath A, Darbari H . Drug repurposing studies targeting SARS-CoV-2: an ensemble docking approach on drug target 3C-like protease (3CL). J Biomol Struct Dyn. 2020; 39(15):5735-5755. PMC: 7441806. DOI: 10.1080/07391102.2020.1792344. View

Shi R, Shan C, Duan X, Chen Z, Liu P, Song J . A human neutralizing antibody targets the receptor-binding site of SARS-CoV-2. Nature. 2020; 584(7819):120-124. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2381-y. View

10.

Zhao C, Qin G, Niu J, Wang Z, Wang C, Ren J . Targeting RNA G-Quadruplex in SARS-CoV-2: A Promising Therapeutic Target for COVID-19?. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020; 60(1):432-438. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202011419. View

11.

Smyrlaki I, Ekman M, Lentini A, Rufino de Sousa N, Papanicolaou N, Vondracek M . Massive and rapid COVID-19 testing is feasible by extraction-free SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. Nat Commun. 2020; 11(1):4812. PMC: 7511968. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18611-5. View

12.

Wang C, Horby P, Hayden F, Gao G . A novel coronavirus outbreak of global health concern. Lancet. 2020; 395(10223):470-473. PMC: 7135038. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30185-9. View

13.

Cao Y, Su B, Guo X, Sun W, Deng Y, Bao L . Potent Neutralizing Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Identified by High-Throughput Single-Cell Sequencing of Convalescent Patients' B Cells. Cell. 2020; 182(1):73-84.e16. PMC: 7231725. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.025. View

14.

McConnell E, Cozma I, Mou Q, Brennan J, Lu Y, Li Y . Biosensing with DNAzymes. Chem Soc Rev. 2021; 50(16):8954-8994. PMC: 9136875. DOI: 10.1039/d1cs00240f. View

15.

Zhang S, Cheng J, Shi W, Li K, Han D, Xu J . Fabrication of a Biomimetic Nanochannel Logic Platform and Its Applications in the Intelligent Detection of miRNA Related to Liver Cancer. Anal Chem. 2020; 92(8):5952-5959. DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.0c00147. View

16.

Pinto D, Park Y, Beltramello M, Walls A, Tortorici M, Bianchi S . Cross-neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 by a human monoclonal SARS-CoV antibody. Nature. 2020; 583(7815):290-295. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2349-y. View

17.

Chen H, Park S, Choi N, Kwon H, Kang T, Lee M . Sensitive Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Using a SERS-Based Aptasensor. ACS Sens. 2021; 6(6):2378-2385. DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.1c00596. View

18.

Zhu N, Zhang D, Wang W, Li X, Yang B, Song J . A Novel Coronavirus from Patients with Pneumonia in China, 2019. N Engl J Med. 2020; 382(8):727-733. PMC: 7092803. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2001017. View

19.

Huang C, Wen T, Shi F, Zeng X, Jiao Y . Rapid Detection of IgM Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Virus via Colloidal Gold Nanoparticle-Based Lateral-Flow Assay. ACS Omega. 2020; 5(21):12550-12556. PMC: 7241732. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.0c01554. View

20.

Yang K, Chaput J . REVEALR: A Multicomponent XNAzyme-Based Nucleic Acid Detection System for SARS-CoV-2. J Am Chem Soc. 2021; 143(24):8957-8961. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.1c02664. View