diagnostics Review Aptamer-Based Diagnostic Systems for the Rapid Screening of TB at the Point-of-Care Darius Riziki Martin 1,2 , Nicole Remaliah Sibuyi 1 , Phumuzile Dube 1 , Adewale Oluwaseun Fadaka 1 , Ruben Cloete 2, Martin Onani 3, Abram Madimabe Madiehe 1 and Mervin Meyer 1,* 1 DSI/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre-Biolabels Node, Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa;
[email protected] (D.R.M.);
[email protected] (N.R.S.);
[email protected] (P.D.);
[email protected] (A.O.F.);
[email protected] (A.M.M.) 2 South African Medical Research Council Bioinformatics Unit, South African National Bioinformatics Institute, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa;
[email protected] 3 Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +27-219-592-032 Abstract: The transmission of Tuberculosis (TB) is very rapid and the burden it places on health care systems is felt globally. The effective management and prevention of this disease requires that it is detected early. Current TB diagnostic approaches, such as the culture, sputum smear, skin tuberculin, and molecular tests are time-consuming, and some are unaffordable for low-income countries. Rapid tests for disease biomarker detection are mostly based on immunological assays that use antibodies which are costly to produce, have low sensitivity and stability. Aptamers can replace antibodies in these diagnostic tests for the development of new rapid tests that are more cost effective; more stable at high temperatures and therefore have a better shelf life; do not have batch-to-batch variations, and Citation: Martin, D.R.; Sibuyi, N.R.; Dube, P.; Fadaka, A.O.; Cloete, R.; thus more consistently bind to a specific target with similar or higher specificity and selectivity and Onani, M.; Madiehe, A.M.; Meyer, M.