Aptamer Detection of Neurodegenerative Disease Biomarkers

Neurodegenerative disease is a kind of disease caused by the degeneration of neurons and myelin sheaths. With the aging of the global population, the increase of the incidence of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Huntington’s disease (HD), has become a great challenge for society at large. Most of these diseases relate to misfolded proteins in the central nervous system, such as: amyloid-ß, tau, α-synuclein, huntingtin, and prion proteins. Additionally, there is a large amount of evidence linking vascular dysfunction and vascular risk factors with the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, such as vascular dementia (VAD). It is also possible to detect neurodegenerative diseases by detecting angiogenesis biomarkers. As biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases, detecting these proteins can potentially allow for the slowing down or prevent the onset of these diseases. Aptamers can be used to detect these neurodegenerative disease biomarkers. Aptamer, a small oligonucleotide sequence, is screened in vitro, which can bind to corresponding protein markers with high affinity and specificity. As an ideal biorecognition element for neurodegenerative disease detection, the chapter summarizes recent advances on aptamers and their application in the detection of neurodegenerative diseases.