Challenges and Opportunities for Small Molecule Aptamer Development
Figure 4
(a) Confirmation of aptamer-mediated inhibition of hemozoin formation within parasite lysates. Heme-binding DNA aptamers (OKA 26-5 and 26-3; PS26, PS21, and PS2M) inhibit hemozoin formation but control oligonucleotides (PS2M_Mod and PS2R) have no effect. (b) The growth of parasites incubated in red blood cells that had been preloaded with nuclease resistant DNA aptamers (PS2M_idT and PS26-idT) is significantly inhibited in comparison to those exposed to red blood cells loaded with control oligonucleotides (PS2M_Mod-idT). Used with permission from PNAS.
