One story embedded in One Thousand and One Nights is the story of Aladdin. A poor boy, that one day outsmarts the evil sorcerer and get hold of the magic lamp. Inside the lamp lives the genie, who will grant him all his wishes.
Now, if you were an antibody, what would your wishes be?
- To be chemically synthesized instead of produced in cells.
- To be capable of being PCR amplified.
- To be small enough to undergo allosteric shifts when binding to a target.
Three pretty simple wishes, that I bet have occurred to almost everyone that works with antibodies. Of course, you know where I am going with this, for these reasons antibodies really wish they were aptamers.
Chemical synthesis means reliable production from lot to lot. This also means that no animals are involved or sacrificed during the process. Also, the ability to be synthesized removes the need for production schedules. This allows just in time inventory.
PCR amplifiability allows for highly sensitive detection. Once a target binds to a detection aptamer, If the amount of detection aptamer could be quantified in a qPCR assay, this would be the method of choice for all diagnostic assays for everything. This is the basis for next generation proteomics, translating information from protein abundance to DNA code. (see NVB Europe for more on this).
Smaller size enables change or displacement of structures upon binding to targets. This is the basis of fluorescent switch and electrochemistry applications. Fluorescent switch platforms are the assay of choice for high throughput analysis in bioproduction. There is no need to immobilize targets or ligands, results are rapid and sensitive. Electrochemistry is the future for point of care applications (POC). This will be enabled with the cost-effective production of consistent gold surfaces, bringing this promising technology to commercial reality.
If you asked an aptamer what it wished for, what would it answer?
It will only want to be a Neomer, so it could enjoy all the perks of being an aptamer plus the specificity of an antibody.
Neomers:a new aptamer selection method developed by NeoVentures
Le Dr. Gregory Penner a suivi une formation académique qui mêlait une théorie très pratique en matière de sélection végétale à la biologie moléculaire. Il a utilisé cette combinaison de biologie et de mathématiques pour développer et diriger une équipe de recherche en biotechnologie céréalière au sein du gouvernement du Canada, puis en tant que leader mondial de la recherche chez Monsanto Inc. Il a été un leader d'opinion en développement d'aptamères à l'échelle mondiale au cours des vingt dernières années en tant que PDG et président de NeoVentures. Il a dirigé cette entreprise vers la stabilité financière sans investissement extérieur grâce à une approche intégrée de la découverte et de la commercialisation des aptamères. En 2015, il a co-fondé une deuxième entreprise, NeoNeuro à Paris en France, axée sur une approche innovante pour identifier les Aptamarkers pour les maladies complexes.
Connectez-vous avec le Dr. Penner sur LinkedIn ou pour les mises à jour de l'entreprise, suivez NeoVentures.
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