Villum Fonden - Teknisk og naturvidenskabelig forskning - Direct in vitro selection of L-DNA aptamers

As the antibodies of the nucleic acid world, aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides (ONs) able to target metabolites, peptides, proteins, organelles, virus or live cells by virtue of their well-configurated three-dimension geometry. Aptamers are selected through an amplification-evolution process in the presence of interesting biological targets. However, the progress with respect to in vivo applications has been severely hampered by the poor biostability of evolved aptamers composed of natural nucleosides, necessitating heavy modifications in post-selection processes. Herein the applicant proposes a direct in vitro selection of biostable L-DNA aptamers, the mirror image of natural DNA (D-DNA), against a full spectrum of targets using L-DNA polymerase for amplification and peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) for chirality transformation. The vision is to advance the aptamer technology to a new era.