title: Enhancing aptamer function and stability via in vitro selection using modified nucleic acids.
abstract: Nucleic acid aptamers have emerged as a promising alternative to antibodies for use as recognition elements in therapeutics, bioimaging, and analytical applications. A key benefit that aptamers possess relative to antibodies is their ability to be chemically synthesized. This advantage, coupled with the broad range of modified nucleotide building blocks that can be constructed using chemical synthesis, has enabled the discovery and development of modified aptamers having extraordinary affinity, specificity, and biostability. Early efforts to generate modified aptamers focused on selection of a native DNA or RNA aptamer, followed by post-selection trial-and-error testing of modifications. However, recent advances in polymerase engineering and templated nucleic acid synthesis have enabled the direct selection of aptamers having modified backbones and nucleobases. This review will discuss these technological advances and highlight the improvements in aptamer function that have been realized through in vitro selection of non-natural nucleic acids.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and the Center for Cell and Genome Science, University of Utah, 315 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States.
authors.forename: Kirsten N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Meek
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and the Center for Cell and Genome Science, University of Utah, 315 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States.
authors.forename: Alexandra E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Rangel
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and the Center for Cell and Genome Science, University of Utah, 315 S 1400 E, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, United States. Electronic address: heemstra@chem.utah.edu.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Heemstra
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
keywords: Affinity reagent; Aptamer; In vitro selection; Nucleic acid; Polymerase engineering; Templated synthesis