title: A small aptamer with strong and specific recognition of the triphosphate of ATP.
abstract: We report the in vitro selection of an RNA-based ATP aptamer with the ability to discriminate between adenosine ligands based on their 5' phosphorylation state. Previous selection of ATP aptamers yielded molecules that do not significantly discriminate between ligands at the 5' position. By applying a selective pressure that demands recognition of the 5' triphosphate, we obtained an aptamer that binds to ATP with a Kd of approximately 5 muM, and to AMP with a Kd of approximately 5.5 mM, a difference of 1100-fold. This aptamer demonstrates the ability of small RNAs to interact with negatively charged moieties.
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Sazani
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Larralde
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Szostak
mesh_terms: D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate; D012313:RNA; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate