Selecting Antibacterial Aptamers Against The Bama Protein In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa By Incorporating Genetic Algorithm To Optimise Computational Screening Method

This study demonstrated the potential of DNA aptamers as novel antimicrobial agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major pathogen that has rapidly developed antibiotic resistance. A computational screen for aptamers that could bind to the essential outer membrane protein, BamA in Gram-negative bacteria was conducted. The top hits of aptamers with good binding to BamA protein were synthesised to investigate their in vitro antibacterial activity. Among all aptamers, Apt31 exhibited the highest binding affinity and resulted in a significant reduction in P. aeruginosa growth.