Preparation and property of stimuli-responsive hydrogel conjugated with DNA aptamer

The property of a hydrogel conjugated with DNA aptamer was investigated. We prepared the acrylamide gel in which thrombin aptamer was embedded. The swelling ratio of hydrogel was measured by using stereo microscope. The hydrogel immobilized with thrombin aptamer was swelled in the buffer including thrombin aptamer after definite period of time. On the other hand, the swelling change was not observed in the case of using non-immobilized hydrogel. In addition, the aptamer other than thrombin aptamer did not cause swelling change to the hydrogel immobilized with thrombin aptamer. Consequently, it seemed that the interaction between aptamer and target protein took place in hydrogel.