APTAMER FOR THE SPECIFIC RECOGNITION OF ENTEROTOXIN B OF STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND USES THEREOF

Abstract

The present invention relates to the most commonly used naturally occurring protein toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus (staphylococcal enterotoxin B [SEB]). Discovering new strategies for identifying these toxins is paramount. The process of selecting an aptamer is called Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX), which uses single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that possess high binding affinity and specificity against various target molecules. However, the tedium and rigor associated with certain steps in the SELEX process highlight the need to adopt alternative in silico molecular docking approaches alongside in vitro SELEX procedures to develop DNA and RNA aptamers. Using different bioinformatics tools, our objective was to select RNA and DNA aptamers and validate, through in silico molecular docking, aptamers for 3SEB produced by S. aureus.