Measuring luteinising hormone pulsatility with a robotic aptamer-enabled electrochemical reader.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30787284.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-08799-6 and PMC identifier 6382769.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Normal reproductive functioning is critically dependent on pulsatile secretion of luteinising hormone (LH). Assessment of LH pulsatility is important for the clinical diagnosis of reproductive disorders, but current methods are hampered by frequent blood sampling coupled to expensive serial immunochemical analysis. Here, we report the development and application of a Robotic APTamer-enabled Electrochemical Reader (RAPTER) electrochemical analysis system to determine LH pulsatility. Through selective evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), we identify DNA aptamers that bind specifically to LH and not to related hormones. The aptamers are integrated into electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors on a robotic platform. E-AB enables rapid, sensitive and repeatable determination of LH concentration profiles. Bayesian Spectrum Analysis is applied to determine LH pulsatility in three distinct patient cohorts. This technology has the potential to transform the clinical care of patients with reproductive disorders and could be developed to allow real-time in vivo hormone monitoring.