Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites invade and remodel human red ... (b) A schematic of the I-SELEX procedure showing: (1) negative ...SkiptomaincontentThankyouforvisitingnature.com.YouareusingabrowserversionwithlimitedsupportforCSS.Toobtainthebestexperience,werecommendyouuseamoreuptodatebrowser(orturnoffcompatibilitymodeinInternetExplorer).Inthemeantime,toensurecontinuedsupport,wearedisplayingthesitewithoutstylesandJavaScript.AdvertisementnaturescientificreportsarticlesarticleIdentificationofmalariaparasite-infectedredbloodcellsurfaceaptamersbyinertialmicrofluidicSELEX(I-SELEX)DownloadPDFSubjectsBiomedicalengineeringMalariaAbstractPlasmodiumfalciparummalariaparasitesinvadeandremodelhumanredbloodcells(RBCs)bytraffickingparasite-synthesizedproteinstotheRBCsurface.Whiletheseproteinsmediateinteractionswithhostcellsthatcontributetodiseasepathogenesis,theinfectedRBCsurfaceproteomeremainspoorlycharacterized.Hereweuseanovelstrategy(I-SELEX)todiscoverhighaffinityaptamersthatselectivelyrecognizedistinctepitopesuniquelypresentonparasite-infectedRBCs.Basedoninertialfocusinginspiralmicrofluidicchannels,I-SELEXenablesstringentpartitioningofcells(efficiency ≥ 106)fromunboundoligonucleotidesathighvolumethroughput(~2 × 106 cells min−1).UsinganRBCmodeldisplayingasingle,non-nativeantigenandlivemalariaparasite-infectedRBCsastargets,weestablishsuitabilityofthisstrategyfordenovoaptamerselections.Wedemonstraterecoveryofadiversesetofaptamersthatrecognizedistinct,surface-displayedepitopesonparasite-infectedRBCswithnanomolaraffinity,includinganaptameragainsttheproteinresponsibleforplacentalsequestration,var2CSA.ThesefindingsvalidateI-SELEXasabroadlyapplicableaptamerdiscoveryplatformthatenablesidentificationofnewreagentsformappingtheparasite-infectedRBCsurfaceproteomeathighermolecularresolutiontopotentiallycontributetomalariadiagnostics,therapeuticsandvaccineefforts.DownloadPDFIntroductionMalariaisaninfectiousdiseaseforwhichnearlyhalfoftheglobalpopulationisatrisk.Thereareanestimated219mi