Abstract
For many years, different probing techniques have mainly relied on antibodies for molecular recognition. However, with the discovery of aptamers, this has changed. The science community is currently considering using aptamers in molecular targeting studies because of the many potential advantages they have over traditional antibodies. Some of these possible advantages are their specificity, higher binding affinity, better target discrimination, minimized batch-to-batch variation, and reduced side effects. Overall, these characteristics of aptamers have attracted scholars to use them as molecular probes in place of antibodies, with some aptamer-based targeting products being now available in the market. The present review is aimed at discussing the potential of aptamers as probes in molecular biology and in super-resolution microscopy.
Highlights
Nucleic acids (NAs) were for a long time considered compounds whose major functions were related to the storage of inherited information (DNA) and its transfer from gene to protein through RNA [1,2]
Aptamers are small, often ranging between 20 to 60 nucleotides, single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides that are capable of binding target molecules with high specificity and with high affinity [8,9,10,11,12]
Some of these developments tackled the ssDNA/RNA library improvement, while many others addressed the development of the systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process
Summary
Nucleic acids (NAs) were for a long time considered compounds whose major functions were related to the storage of inherited information (DNA) and its transfer from gene to protein through RNA [1,2]. Studies have over time confirmed that NAs perform other functions such as enzymatic catalysis and the regulation of transcription The discovery of these additional functions of NAs has compelled the scholarly community to reconsider its original position concerning the functions of NAs [1]. This change has led the scientific community to propose the “RNA world theory” [3,4,5]. Some of these developments tackled the ssDNA/RNA library improvement, while many others addressed the development of the SELEX process. Cell-SELEX technology has become increasingly important in medical research
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