Aptamers : a definition
Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acids (DNA or RNA) that fold into complex structures. They are able to bind with high affinity and specificity to a pre-determined target. They can be defined as “artificial antibodies”. Aptamers are selected from a randomly synthesized oligonucleotide library containing about 1015 different sequences through an iterative in vitro selection process alternating binding and amplification steps.