Aptamer-functionalized magnetic supports for sample preparation

Abstract

In the last few years, aptamer-functionalized materials have been used as promising affinity sorbents for sample preparation purposes. These selective materials have attracted much attention due to their excellent molecular recognition properties, high stability, and the possibility of incorporation onto the surface of different supporting materials, such as nanoparticles, polymers, etc. On the other hand, current trends in extraction techniques encompass the use of miniaturized devices integrated with advanced affinity-based sorbents. Within these sample preparation devices, magnetic nanoparticles have become excellent candidates for the preparation of new functional nanomaterials for the solid-phase extraction processes. In addition to this approach, magnetic elements can be integrated in extraction devices (e.g., stir bars, stir cakes, etc.) to provide efficient extraction/stirring integrated techniques able to simplify the extraction and improve the performance. This review gives an overview of the literature published regarding aptamer-based sorbents using as host supports magnetic nanoparticles and integrated stirred units. For this purpose, the most relevant developments and applications achieved in the last seven years (from 2017 to 2023) in sample preparation by the integration of these affinity-based materials in extraction techniques such as magnetic solid-phase extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction will be reviewed.