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Updated: May 17, 2026
A Method for Selecting Structure-switching Aptamers Applied to a Colorimetric Gold Nanoparticle Assay
Published on: February 28, 2015
X-aptamers: a bead-based selection method for random incorporation of druglike moieties onto next-generation aptamers
Weiguo He1, Miguel-Angel Elizondo-Riojas, Xin Li
1Center for Proteomics and Systems Biology, The Brown Foundation Institute for Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases, The University of Texas Health Science Center, 1825 Pressler Street, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Abstract:
By combining pseudorandom bead-based aptamer libraries with conjugation chemistry, we have created next-generation aptamers, X-aptamers (XAs). Several X-ligands can be added in a directed or random fashion to the aptamers to further enhance their binding affinities for the target proteins. Here we describe the addition of a drug (N-acetyl-2,3-dehydro-2-deoxyneuraminic acid), demonstrated to bind to CD44-HABD, to a complete monothioate backbone-substituted aptamer to increase its binding affinity for the target protein by up to 23-fold, while increasing the drug's level of binding 1-million fold.
