Selection of RNA-aptamer against human influenza B virus.

Abstract

Developing specific probes that distinguishes types and subtypes of viruses by a single probe will have a great impact not only in developing specific diagnostic reagents but also in developing tailor-made drugs and dosage requirements depending upon the genotype that cause the infection. We have selected aptamers specific for hemagglutinin protein of human influenza virus B/Johannesburg/05/1999. The selected aptamer, Class A-20, bind specifically to hemagglutinin of B/Johannesburg/05/1999 and able to discriminate it from hemagglutinin of human influenza A virus.