Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences Journal of Applied Biotechnology Reports 2322-1186 4 3 2017 09 01 Utilizing Cell-SELEX, as a Promising Strategy to Isolate ssDNA Aptamer Probes for Detection of Staphylococcus aureus 633 638 68665 EN Mitra Yazdi Yahyaabadi Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran Ghambar Sultan Dorraj Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran Mohammad Heiat Applied Biotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran Ali Mohammad Latifi 0000-0002-8952-5174 Journal Article 2017 06 06 <em>Staphylococcus  aureus</em>  is  one  of  the  most  important  pathogens  in  hospital acquired infections. Annually, many people are infected with <em>S. aureus</em> in hospitals. Rapid detection of this bacterium is extremely helpful in preventing and managing this bacterium mediated diseases. Aptamers are powerful probes, which can be used as a target explorer in a wide range of diagnostic systems. To isolate a specific aptamer against <em>S.  aureus</em>,  a  library  of  single-stranded  DNA  molecules  was designed,  and  enriched  through  Cell-SELEX  procedure.  In the Cell-SELEX, the DNA library was exposed to the <em>S.  aureus</em> bacterium in 8 reiterative quadruple rounds including: binding, separation, elution and amplification. After 8 rounds, the PCR product was cloned and sequenced. Cloned aptameric sequences were evaluated through enzyme-linked oligonucleotide assay (ELONA), and a sequence with the best outcomes was selected as ideal aptamer. Eight rounds of Cell-SELEX procedure led to isolation of a specific ssDNA aptamer against <em>S. aureus</em> and named as “STAPT” (conflation of STAphylococcus and APTamer). Using ELONA technique, the detection limit of this aptamer was determined as 4 × 10³ CFU/ml. The aptamer “STAPT” showed the promising and potent abilities and features to be utilized as a bio-detection element likely in advanced detection systems. Although more extended researches are needed for this purpose. https://www.biotechrep.ir/article_68665_d6a0775887032913b0cd9a82c4ced3e3.pdf