RNA-Based Aptamer Targeting Clusterin Protein as a Diabetes Biomarker

Clusterin protein is primarily used as a diabetes biomarker and can be used to detect cell density in diabetes. A lower β cells are an early sign of type 1 diabetes. Aptamers are single-stranded nucleotides that bind the target protein and are prevalent in disease diagnosis and targeted therapy. Recently, aptamer targeting clusterin protein has been developed as a biomarker of the β cells. We hypothesize that the rigid clusterin protein should have specific amino acids interacting with the particular aptamers. In this research work, we have performed in silico simulations to find the optimal aptamer capable of binding to the clusterin protein and can be used as a biomarker in diabetes. Specifically, we have performed molecular docking simulations to find the clusterin-aptamer binding complexes. These aptamers were selected based on their interactions with the clusterin protein. Phylogenetic analysis shows that the aptamers class is bifurcated into two sections. All the results were validated using the GrASP web server, which shows the aptamer binding region on the protein's surface. The finding indicates that the aptamer binds to clusterin and could potentially be used as a diabetes biomarker.