Soft-shelled turtle iridovirus (STIV) causes devastating virus disease in farmed soft-shelled turtles (Trionyx sinensis). Aptamers with remarkably high specificity and affinity have been widely applied in diseases diagnosis and therapies. In this study, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) aptamers were generated against STIV-infected Fathead minnow (FHM) cells via Cell-SELEX (Cell based-Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential enrichment technology). Aptamers could form stable stem-loop structures and specifically recognize STIV-infected FHM cells, with calculated dissociation constants (Kd) of 191 ± 12 and 497 ± 39 nM for aptamers LYST1and LYST2, respectively, which indicated that they could serve as specific delivery system for antiviral therapies. Both aptamers displayed antiviral activities in vitro. The targets of aptamers LYST1and LYST2 in cell membranes could be membrane proteins, which were trypsin-sensitive. FAM-labeled aptamer LYST1 could identify STIV infection in diseased turtle tissues. It is the first time that aptamers against STIV-infected cells have been selected and characterized. The aptamers have great potential in development of rapid diagnostic assays and targeted antiviral drugs against STIV in aquaculture.

甲鱼虹膜病毒（STIV）在养殖甲鱼（Trionyx sinensis）中引起毁灭性病毒病。具有显着高的特异性和亲和力的适体已被广泛应用于疾病的诊断和治疗。在这项研究中，单链DNA（ssDNA）适体是通过Cell-SELEX（通过指数富集技术的基于细胞的配体系统进化）针对STIV感染的Fathead minnow（FHM）细胞生成的。适体可以形成稳定的茎环结构和特异性识别STIV感染FHM细胞，用计算出的解离常数（ķd）适体LYST1和LYST2分别为191±12和497±39 nM，这表明它们可以用作抗病毒治疗的特异性递送系统。两种适体均在体外显示出抗病毒活性。细胞膜中适体LYST1和LYST2的靶标可能是对胰蛋白酶敏感的膜蛋白。FAM标记的适体LYST1可以识别患病的乌龟组织中的STIV感染。这是首次选择并鉴定了抗STIV感染细胞的适体。适体在开发水产养殖中针对STIV的快速诊断测定和靶向抗病毒药物方面具有巨大潜力。