1. Selection of Aptamers for Metabolite Sensing and Construction of Optical Nanosensors
Yi Long, Franziska Pfeiffer, Günter Mayer, Tine Daa Schrøder, Veli Cengiz Özalp, and Lars Folke Olsen
2. SELEX of Cell-Specific RNA Aptamers
Katharina Berg, Eileen Magbanua, and Ulrich Hahn
3. Developing Aptamers by Cell-Based SELEX
Silvia Catuogno, Carla Lucia Esposito, and Vittorio de Franciscis
4. DNA Aptamer Generation by Genetic Alphabet Expansion SELEX (ExSELEX) Using an Unnatural Base Pair System
Michiko Kimoto, Ken-Ichiro Matsunaga, and Ichiro Hirao
5. Capillary Electrophoresis for the Selection of DNA Aptamers Recognizing Activated Protein C
Nasim Shahidi Hamedani and Jens Müller
6. Preparation of SELEX Samples for Next-Generation Sequencing
Fabian Tolle and Günter Mayer
7. Next Generation Analysis of Deep Sequencing Data: Bringing Light into the Black Box of SELEX Experiments
Michael Blank
Part II: Characterization
8. Aptamer Binding Studies Using MicroScale Thermophoresis
Dennis Breitsprecher, Nina Schlinck, David Witte, Stefan Duhr, Philipp Baaske, and Thomas Schubert
9. Label-Free Determination of the Dissociation Constant of Small Molecule-Aptamer Interaction by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry
Marc Vogel and Beatrix Suess
10. Applications of Aptamers in Flow and Imaging Cytometry
Isis C. Nascimento, Arthur A. Nery, Vinicius Bassaneze, José E. Krieger, and Henning Ulrich
11. In Vitro and In Vivo Imaging of Fluorescent Aptamers
Ioanna Théodorou, Nam Nguyen Quang, Karine Gombert, Benoit Thézé, Benoit Lelandais, and Frédéric Ducongé
12. Crystallographic Pursuit of a Protein-RNA Aptamer Complex
John J.G. Tesmer
Part III: Application
13. Voltammetric Aptasensor Based on Magnetic Beads Assay for Detection of Human Activated Protein C
Arzum Erdem, Gulsah Congur, and Ece Eksin
14. Apta-PCR
Alessandro Pinto, Pedro Nadal Polo, Marketa Svobodova, Teresa Mairal Lerga, and Ciara K. O’Sullivan
15. Aptamer-Based Enzyme-Capture-Assay for Measurement of Plasma Thrombin Levels
Jens Müller, Tobias Becher, Günter Mayer, and Bernd Pötzsch
16. Application of Aptamers in Histopathology
Sarah Shigdar, Li Lv, Lifen Wang, and Wei Duan
17. Aptamer Stainings for Super-Resolution Microscopy
Maria Angela Gomes de Castro, Burkhard Rammner, and Felipe Opazo
18. Synthesis and Characterization of Aptamer Targeted SNALPs for the Delivery of siRNA
Samantha E. Wilner and Matthew Levy
19. Screening of Genetic Switches Based on the Twister Ribozyme Motif
Michele Felletti, Benedikt Klauser, and Jörg S. Hartig
This volume provides protocol references covering recent developments in the aptamer field. Within the last decade, aptamers have become more and more popular, and their sophisticated biophysical properties together with their ability to be easily modified and, thus, adapted to various regimens makes them a very promising class of compounds. Divided into three sections, the book covers selection, a series of analytical methods to assess biophysical properties of aptamer-target interactions, as well as various applications of aptamers. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step, readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips on troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls.
Practical and easy to follow, Nucleic Acid Aptamers: Selection, Characterization, and Application provides a state-of-the-art summary of recent developments in the aptamer field and will be a helpful resource for scientists in the life sciences working with aptamers as tools to elucidate biological systems.