Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better?

Komarova, Natalia; Kuznetsov, Alexander

doi:10.3390/molecules24193598

Open AccessReview

Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better?

by

Natalia Komarova

^*

and

Alexander Kuznetsov

Scientific-Manufacturing Complex Technological Centre, 1–7 Shokin Square, Zelenograd, Moscow 124498, Russia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Molecules 2019, 24(19), 3598; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24193598

Submission received: 13 September 2019 / Revised: 4 October 2019 / Accepted: 4 October 2019 / Published: 7 October 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aptamers: Successes, Limitations and Future Directions)

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Abstract

Aptamers are small oligonucleotides that are capable of binding specifically to a target, with impressive potential for analysis, diagnostics, and therapeutics applications. Aptamers are isolated from large nucleic acid combinatorial libraries using an iterative selection process called SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment). Since being implemented 30 years ago, the SELEX protocol has undergone many modifications and improvements, but it remains a laborious, time-consuming, and costly method, and the results are not always successful. Each step in the aptamer selection protocol can influence its results. This review discusses key technical points of the SELEX procedure and their influence on the outcome of aptamer selection.

Keywords: aptamer; SELEX; nucleic acid library; PCR amplification; ssDNA regeneration; sequencing; next generation sequencing

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MDPI and ACS Style

Komarova, N.; Kuznetsov, A. Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better? Molecules 2019, 24, 3598. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24193598

AMA Style

Komarova N, Kuznetsov A. Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better? Molecules. 2019; 24(19):3598. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24193598

Chicago/Turabian Style

Komarova, Natalia, and Alexander Kuznetsov. 2019. "Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better?" Molecules 24, no. 19: 3598. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24193598

APA Style

Komarova, N., & Kuznetsov, A. (2019). Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better? Molecules, 24(19), 3598. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules24193598

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Inside the Black Box: What Makes SELEX Better?

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