Current progress in aptamer-based sensors for the detection of protein biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) have been a group of disorders characterized by neuronal death and functional loss including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD), etc. Since diagnostic methods for the NDs biomarkers have been based on traditional enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or Western Blotting, the antibody intrinsic drawbacks such as large molecular weight and high cost make early diagnosis of NDs quite challenging. The aptamers bridge this gap effectively and their versatile features such as small molecular weight, easy modification, high stability and low cost have been widely used to fabricate biosensors to diagnose NDs. Various aptamer-based biosensors have shown excellent performance in the early diagnosis of NDs. Several biomarkers including nucleic acid, protein, biomolecule, and exosome has been used as early diagnostic indicators for NDs. In this minireview, we aim to report the latest progress in aptasensors (including colorimetric, fluorescence, electrochemical and electrochemiluminescence, etc) for detecting NDs protein biomarkers, summarize principles of their functions along with challenges in the way to diagnose NDs and emphasize their future perspectives.