Abstract
Aptamers are a novel technology enabling the continuous measurement of analytes in blood and other body compartments, without the need for repeated sampling and the associated reagent costs of traditional antibody-based methodologies. Aptamers are short single-stranded synthetic RNA or DNA that recognise and bind to specific targets. The conformational changes that can occur upon aptamer–ligand binding are transformed into chemical, fluorescent, colour changes and other readouts. Aptamers have been developed to detect and measure a variety of targets in vitro and in vivo. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a pulsatile hypothalamic hormone that is essential for normal fertility but difficult to measure in the peripheral circulation. However, pulsatile GnRH release results in pulsatile luteinizing hormone (LH) release from the pituitary gland. As such, LH pulsatility is the clinical gold standard method to determine GnRH pulsatility in humans. Aptamers have recently been shown to successfully bind to and measure GnRH and LH, and this review will focus on this specific area. However, due to the adaptability of aptamers, and their suitability for incorporation into portable devices, aptamer-based technology is likely to be used more widely in the future.
Highlights
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is decapeptide secreted into the hypophyseal portal system by specialised hypothalamic neurons, to reach its site of action at the pituitary gland
Apart from during the pre-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle, GnRH and luteinizing hormone (LH) secretion are inhibited by sex steroids [3]
During the pre-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle, oestrogen exerts positive feedback on GnRH and LH secretion, leading to increased LH secretion and the production of the LH surge required for ovulation [3]
Summary
Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is decapeptide secreted into the hypophyseal portal system by specialised hypothalamic neurons, to reach its site of action at the pituitary gland. LH, FSH and sex steroid levels are abnormally low, with few or absent pulses. The detection and quantification of hormones (e.g., LH) have been reliant on antibody-based techniques for many decades Problems with these methods include suboptimal inter-assay reliability and reproducibility, high cost of reagents, high sample volumes required (limiting the number of samples that can be taken from a single subject) and the time-consuming nature of antibody-based assays [18]. To overcome these problems, alternative methods of analyte detection and quantification have been developed. We highlight the major types of aptamers in development and outline possible applications for aptamer-based technology in the assessment of GnRH/LH pulsatility
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