Aptamer News and Research

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Researchers take first steps towards development of biosensor for detection of bacteria

Researchers from UPM have taken the first steps towards the development of a sensor for the detection of bacterial meningitis in real time by combining gravimetric sensors with synthetic antibodies giving, as a result, a sensitive, rapid and affordable method.

15 Sep 2017

Nexmos, Base Pair Biotechnologies create new class of DNA-aptamer based oxidation inhibitors

Base Pair Biotechnologies, Inc., The Aptamer Discovery Company, and Nexmos, Inc., the Aptamer Application R&D Company, announce the creation of a new class of DNA-aptamer based oxidation inhibitors.

30 Dec 2016

New TSRI study offers surprising twist on how life began on Earth

A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) offers a twist on a popular theory for how life on Earth began about four billion years ago.

30 Sep 2016

Scientists engineer therapeutic system with two arms to get better hold on cancer target

Scientists have engineered a sort of biological barbell that can get inside cancer cells and do damage to two proteins that work independently and together to enable cancer's survival and spread.

3 Aug 2016

New RNA aptamer can prevent pathogenic protein misfolding

Several diseases occur when mutations cause misfolding of proteins. These include "serpinopathies" which is a group of rare heritable diseases. They are caused by mutations of so-called "serpin" inhibitors of proteolytic enzymes involved in blood coagulation, tissue remodeling, and other important physiological functions.

10 Jun 2016

New sensor can detect estrogen levels in liquids

Estrogen is a tiny molecule, but it can have big effects on humans and other animals. Estrogen is one of the main hormones that regulates the female reproductive system - it can be monitored to track human fertility and is sometimes administered to livestock like cows and sheep to control the reproductive cycle.

25 Nov 2015

Novel strategy shows aptamer-based modular delivery of microRNA in endothelial, breast cancer cells

Researchers have shown that a novel delivery strategy can efficiently introduce a functional microRNA that has anti-cancer and angiogenic activities into two different types of cells--breast cancer cells to inhibit tumor growth and metastasis, and cells that line blood vessels to protect against atherosclerosis.

4 Jun 2015

Researchers report novel approach to combat multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens

With the threat of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens growing, new ideas to treat infections are sorely needed. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences report preliminary success testing an entirely novel approach -- tagging bacteria with a molecular "homing beacon" that attracts pre-existing antibodies to attack the pathogens.

7 May 2015

Five researchers selected to receive 2015 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS Research

With proposals ranging from innovative therapies to the development of unique organoid models of the brain, five scientists have been selected to receive the 2015 Avant-Garde Award for HIV/AIDS Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. The five scientists will each receive $500,000 per year for five years to support their research.

10 Feb 2015

New light-triggered strategy can provide accurate control over aptamer-based therapeutics

While aptamers—single-stranded nucleic acids—offer promise as drug-delivery tools for cancer treatment, it has proven difficult to get them to tumor cells at therapeutic levels.

4 Dec 2014

Regado receives Fast Track designation from FDA for REG1

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of actively controllable therapeutics, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has designated REG1 for anticoagulant therapy to be used in patients with coronary artery disease during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) as a Fast Track development program.

10 Mar 2014

FDA accepts Regado Biosciences' IND application for REG2

Regado Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the late-stage clinical development of its first-in-class, actively controllable antithrombotic drug system, REG1, today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has accepted the company's investigational new drug (IND) application for REG2. Regado previously completed a single escalating-dose Phase 1 clinical trial of REG2 and plans to conduct additional clinical testing in sub-acute venous thrombosis indications in the future.

13 Feb 2014

Researchers develop RNA aptamers that inhibit HCV replication

Treatments against hepatitis C virus have only been partially successful. A major problem is that antivirals generate drug resistance. Now Seong-Wook Lee of Dankook University, Yongin, Republic of Korea and his collaborators have developed agents that bind to the business end of a critical protein, disabling it so successfully that no resistance has arisen.

3 Jun 2013

Experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, restore drug-sensitivity

A new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) suggests that an unusual experimental drug can reduce breast-cancer aggressiveness, reverse resistance to the drug fulvestrant and perhaps improve the effectiveness of other breast-cancer drugs.

23 Apr 2013

New apatamer can boost therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines

A small compound called an aptamer that specifically targets and stimulates a human immune cell can greatly increase the effectiveness of an immunotherapeutic drug designed to destroy malignant or virus-infected cells. The development of a novel apatamer that recognizes activated T-lymphocytes and can boost the therapeutic effect of cell-based vaccines is described in an article in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. publishers.

23 Jan 2013

TU Darmstadt’s biosensor can diagnose African sleeping sickness before it breaks out

African sleeping sickness is an infectious disease that is widespread south of the Sahara Desert. Although the around sixty million people residing in tropical Africa run the risk of becoming infected with the disease every day, only around four million of them are monitored for the disease by disease-control authorities.

13 Dec 2012

Targeting RAD52 protein can block the process by which leukemia stem cells repair themselves

Despite treatment with imatinib, a successful drug that targets chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a deadly type of cancer, some patients may continue to be at risk for relapse because a tiny pool of stem cells is resistant to treatment and may even accumulate additional genetic aberrations, eventually leading to disease progression and relapse. These leukemia stem cells are full of genetic errors, loaded with potentially lethal breaks in DNA, and are in a state of constant self-repair.

10 Dec 2012

Ultrastable RNA nanoparticles may help treat cancer and viral infections

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows promise for developing ultrastable RNA nanoparticles that may help treat cancer and viral infections by regulating cell function and binding to cancers without harming surrounding tissue.

4 Sep 2012

New England Biolabs releases Q5 High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase

New England Biolabs (NEB) has released a novel DNA polymerase, Q5 High-Fidelity DNA Polymerase, that provides the highest fidelity amplification currently available, while also offering robust amplification across the broadest range of amplicons, including those that are GC- and AT-rich.

From New England Biolabs 9 Aug 2012

Gold nanostars can deliver drug directly to cancer cell nucleus

Nanotechnology offers powerful new possibilities for targeted cancer therapies, but the design challenges are many. Northwestern University scientists now are the first to develop a simple but specialized nanoparticle that can deliver a drug directly to a cancer cell's nucleus -- an important feature for effective treatment.

6 Apr 2012