A broad-spectrum aptamer affinity column for purification and enrichment of five guanosine analogues

Abstract

Guanosine analogues (GAs) have been frequently and illegally used as a veterinary drug in the disease prevention and treatment of livestock and poultry, which has becoming one of the major consequences for fatality to human health. Herein, an affinity column for the enrichment and purification of five GAs was fabricated based on a broad-spectrum aptamer. The aptamer affinity column (AAC) was prepared by linking biotin labeled aptamers to streptavidin agarose and loading into an extraction column. When it was applied to sample solution, the GAs would be retained in the AAC due to the high affinity between GAs and aptamers. Following by eluting with organic solvent, the GAs were dissociated from AAC and collected for analysis by UPLC/MS. Under the optimal conditions, the AAC exhibited a maximum column capacity of 200 ng of GAs and can be reused at least 11 times. The AAC was further applied to the analysis of GAs in chicken samples with good recoveries in the range of 83.6–93.5%. These findings demonstrate that this broad-spectrum aptamer affinity column may serve as a promising new platform for effective simultaneous supervision of five GAs.