Aptamers applications

B., and Duconge, E, Aptamers against extracellular targets for in vivo applications, Biochimie 87,921-930,2005. It is noted that the term intramer is used to describe intracellular aptamers (see Famulok, M., Blind, M., and Mayer, G., Intramers as promising new tools in functional proteomics, Chem. Biol. 8, 931-939, 2(X)1 Famulok, M. and Mayer, G., Intramers and aptamers applications in protein-function analyses and protential for drug screening, ChemBioChem 6, 19-26, 2005). 

A very sophisticated application of aptamers aims at the development of logic gates (AND/OR) (Yoshida and Yokobayashi, 2007) and related smart materials, where aptamer targets are used as the chemical stimuli for controllable cooperativeness of aptamer-coated nanomaterials (Lin and Lu, 2006). Some examples of aptamer applications are compiled in Table 2.2. 

Levy-Nissenbaum, E., Radovic-Moreno, A.F., Wang, A.Z., Langer, R., and Farokhzad, O.C. Nanotechnology and aptamers Applications in drug delivery. Trends in Biotechnology 26,442-449, 2008. 

Ulrich H, Trujillo CA, Nery AA, Alves JM, Majumder P, Resende RR, Martins AH (2006) DNA and RNA aptamers from tools for basic research towards therapeutic applications. Comb Chem Fligh Throughput Screen 9 619-632... 

S. Tombelli, M. Minunni, and M. Mascini, Analytical applications of aptamers. Biosens. Bioelectron. 20, 2424-2434 (2005). 

Proske, D., Blank, M., Buhmann, R., and Resch, A. 2005. Aptamers - basic research, drug development, and clinical applications. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 69(4), 367-374. 

This chapter describes the synthesis, properties, and biomedical applications of cyanine and squaraine dyes encapsulated in CDs, CBs, Leigh-type tetralactam macrocycles, aptamers, and micro- or nano-particles. The optical and photochemical properties of supramolecular guest-host nanostructures that are based on intra-and intermolecular complexes of crown-containing styryl dyes with metal cations, and aggregates of carbocyanine dyes are discussed in a separate review [18]. 

As we will soon discover, microarray-based technologies have found utility in a number of fields. While DNA arrays are the most technically mature and have the broadest application portfolio, we have witnessed the ever-increasing generation of new kinds of probe arrays antibody, antigen, enzyme, aptamer, carbohydrate, tissue, cell, and small molecule microarrays. The list undoubtedly will continue to expand. We can also describe microarrays in terms of prognostic, diagnostic, and predictive roles. A few examples that examine these applications are provided. 

Enrichment of high affinity candidates is usually achieved in 8 to 15 rounds of SELEX. Each rotmd takes approximately 2 days to perform. The process has been automated using robotic liquid handlers both for DNA (SomaLogic) and RNA aptamers (Cox, 2002). Next, the sequenced aptamer is prepared in bulk by conventional DNA synthesis chemistry and purified, then the aptamer arrayed onto a solid support. Thus, an aptamer is ready for application within 2 to 3 mo. Because the sequence is known, preparation of additional aptamer is easily accomplished using conventional oligonucleotide chemical synthesis. 

A simple protocol detailed in this chapter was established to develop RNA aptamers that bind to the electric organ nAChR and that are displaced by cocaine (8) (see Fig. 1 for a scheme). This protocol can be easily transferred to SELEX applications with other receptors or cell-surface epitopes, given that these are enriched in membrane preparations. 

A more recent application of redox labeled ODNs is redox-active aptamers that exploit molecular recognition between the aptamer and a target analyte. Briefly, aptamers are functional nucleic acids that selectively bind to a variety of targets. Due to a well-defined three-dimensional structure, aptamers can achieve selectivity comparable to that of antibodies but are readily accessible taking advantage of well-known nucleic acid chemistry, polymeric chain reaction and contemporary separation methods, followed by aptamer selection from random pools of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) by in vitro selection process called systematic evolution of ligands by... 

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