Nucleic Add and Peptide Aptamers: Fundamentals ami Bioanalytical Aspects

摘要

In recent years new nucleic acid and protein-based combinatorial molecules have attracted the attention of researchers working in various areas of science, ranging from medicine to analytical chemistry. These molecules, called aptamers, have been proposed as alternatives to antibodies in many different applications. The aim of this Review is to illustrate the peculiarities of these combinatorial molecules which have initially been explored for their importance in molecular medicine, but have enormous potential in other biotech-nological fields historically dominated by antibodies, such as bio-assays A description of these molecules is given, and the methods for their selection and production are also summarized. Moreover, critical aspects related to these molecules are discussed.