Development and characterization of novel 2′-F-RNA aptamers specific to human total and glycated hemoglobins

Aptamers are short DNA and RNA fragments which bind their molecular targets with affinity and specificity comparable to those of antibodies. Here, we describe the selection of novel 2'-F-RNA aptamers against total human hemoglobin or its glycated form HbA1c. After SELEX and high-throughput sequencing of the enriched libraries, affinities and specificities of candidate aptamers and their truncated variants were examined by the solid-phase bioluminescent assay. As a result, we identified aptamers specific to both hemoglobins or only glycated HbA1c. The developed 2'-F-RNA aptamers have shown their applicability for detection of total and glycated hemoglobin in one sample.