Detection of thrombin with an aptamer-based macromolecule biosensor using bacterial ghost system.

A rapid on-site detection of exogenous proteins without the need for equipped laboratories or skilled personnel would benefit many areas. We built a rapid protein detection platform based on aptamer-induced inner-membrane scaffolds dimerization by virtue of bacterial ghost system. When the detection platform was coincubated with two kinds of aptamers targeting two different sites of thrombin, green fluorescence or β-lactamase activity were yielded with two different designs. The latter was detected by commercially available testing strips.