TY - JOUR A2 - Kuwahara, Masayasu AU - McKeague, Maureen AU - DeRosa, Maria C. PY - 2012 DA - 2012/10/24 TI - Challenges and Opportunities for Small Molecule Aptamer Development SP - 748913 VL - 2012 AB - Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to targets with high affinity and selectivity. Their use as molecular recognition elements has emerged as a viable approach for biosensing, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Despite this potential, relatively few aptamers exist that bind to small molecules. Small molecules are important targets for investigation due to their diverse biological functions as well as their clinical and commercial uses. Novel, effective molecular recognition probes for these compounds are therefore of great interest. This paper will highlight the technical challenges of aptamer development for small molecule targets, as well as the opportunities that exist for their application in biosensing and chemical biology. SN - 2090-0201 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/748913 DO - 10.1155/2012/748913 JF - Journal of Nucleic Acids PB - Hindawi Publishing Corporation KW - ER -