Aptamer News and Research

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Researchers devise a way to deliver right therapy directly to tumors using aptamers

Finding and treating a tumor without disturbing normal tissue presents challenges - sometimes the most effective therapies can be invasive and harsh.

1 Dec 2009

Researchers engineer antidotes for blood-thinner aptamers

Imagine a surgical patient on a blood-thinning drug who starts bleeding more than expected, and an antidote that works immediately - because the blood thinner and antidote were designed to work together. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center have engineered a way to do this for an entire, versatile class of drugs called aptamers and published their findings in Nature Medicine.

4 Oct 2009

New patent grant for oligonucleotide modulators of blood coagulation factor aptamers

Regado Biosciences, a privately held company leading the development of antithrombotic aptamers with active control agents, announced today that the European Patent Office (EPO) has notified the Company of its intent to grant a patent with claims directed to oligonucleotide modulators of blood coagulation factor aptamers in EP 1401853. This new patent grant in the Company's portfolio extends the scope and breadth of Regado's intellectual property estate.

18 Sep 2009

Aptamer nanoflares for molecular detection in living cells

By combining a gold nanoparticle with a unique family of nucleic acids, researchers at Northwestern University have created a new type of intracellular reporting system that with a flash of light reveals the presence and quantity of a wide variety of biologically important molecules. These so-called nanoflares could provide cancer biologists with a highly sensitive method of tracking complex biochemical processes in real time without interfering with those processes.

7 Sep 2009

Reversible cell-specific drug delivery with aptamer-functionalized liposomes

For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug also must spare healthy cells, and ideally its effects will be reversible to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects. Investigators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign report that they have assembled a new cancer drug delivery system that, in cell culture, achieves all of the above.

7 Sep 2009

Iowa researchers modify siRNA for impacting targeted cells in cancer treatment

Small interfering RNA (siRNA), a type of genetic material, can block potentially harmful activity in cells, such as tumor cell growth. But delivering siRNA successfully to specific cells without adversely affecting other cells has been challenging.

28 Aug 2009

Regado Biosciences to commence Phase I study of a subcutaneous administration formulation of the REG1 anticoagulation system

Regado Biosciences, Inc, a privately held company leading the development of antithrombotic therapeutic aptamers with active control agents, today announced enrollment of the first patient in the first Phase I study of a subcutaneous administration formulation of the REG1 anticoagulation system.

25 Aug 2009

Reversible cell-specific drug delivery with aptamer-functionalized liposomes

For cancer drug developers, finding an agent that kills tumor cells is only part of the equation. The drug must also spare healthy cells, and - ideally - its effects will be reversible, to cut short any potentially dangerous side effects.

6 Aug 2009

Aptamers offer unique therapeutic advantages

A novel class of drugs composed of single strands of DNA or RNA, called aptamers, can bind protein targets with a high strength and specificity and are currently in clinical development as treatments for a broad range of common diseases, as described in a comprehensive review article published online ahead of print in Oligonucleotides.

5 Aug 2009

Key genetic mechanism a potential key to new class of antibiotics

Researchers have determined the structure of a key genetic mechanism at work in bacteria, including some that are deadly to humans, in an important step toward the design of a new class of antibiotics, according to an accelerated publication that appeared online today as a "paper of the week" in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

20 Apr 2009

New nanostructured biosensors

Research and industry are increasingly exploiting the potential of aptamers.

8 Apr 2009

Discovery of 'lock-like' molecule may provide new ways to starve cancer tumors or prevent drug side effects

Scientists have shed new light -- literally -- on a possible way to starve cancer tumors or prevent side effects from a wide range of drugs.

30 Mar 2009

Microfluidic devices capture and analyze single cancer cells

One of the grand goals in nanotechnology is to develop a single microfluidic device that integrates all of the components needed to perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based nucleic acid analyses. Experts predict that such a device would enable researchers to develop rapid assays for cancer and other life-threatening diseases while a patient is in the doctor's office.

18 Jan 2009