Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans
Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü, Biological Sciences, Türkiye
Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2022
Tezin Dili: İngilizce
Öğrenci: FUNDA ZEKİYE ARDIÇ
Asıl Danışman (Eş Danışmanlı Tezler İçin): Ayşe Gül Gözen
Eş Danışman: Müslüm İlgü
Özet:
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is potentially lethal and mostly infected
by ticks. CCHF virus (CCHFV) is a Nairoviridae family member of the
Orthonairovirus genus, and in general, cases are reported from Asia, Africa, the
Middle East, and Eastern Europe. The fatality rate ranges from 30 to 50% worldwide, but it is reported as 5% by the Turkish Ministry of Health, and it varies between 1.7
and 26.5% for children. ELISA kits used for the detection of infection are time-consuming, expensive, and labor-intensive; because ELISAs detecting IgG and
IgM antibodies are produced against the virus, and don’t specifically detect virus
presence; these techniques may cause some inaccurate diagnoses, and also they have
no reusability. The diagnosis cost will be a lot higher when considering the cost of
extra microbiological tests for infectious diseases (Viral hepatitis, typhoid,
leptospirosis, and Hantavirus infectious, etc.) that are misdiagnosed with CCHF. As
a result, more effective and faster diagnostic technology is required. Aptamers are
tiny nucleic acids that can be selected in vitro and have a high affinity and
selectivity for their relevant targets. They can contain ssDNA or RNA backbones,
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and they fold into their three-dimensional structure naturally. Aptamers can also be
changed to improve their structural stability while maintaining their affinity. Because
of these characteristics, they can be used for both therapeutic and diagnostic
purposes. CCHFV binding aptamers were successfully selected in this study, and
they will be further optimized for CCHF diagnosis
Keywords: Aptamer, RNA, SELEX,