Applications of aptamer affinity chromatography

Nucleic-acid aptamers are promising affinity ligands in affinity chromatography. The relatively small size of aptamers and their ease of chemical conjugation to chromatographic supports make high-density aptamer columns useful for affinity separation. Other key features of aptamers pertinent to their applications in affinity chromatography include their good stability, high purity, and desirable binding properties. This article describes the current status of aptamer affinity chromatography (AAC) in separation, extraction, purification and detection of targets of interest, ranging from small molecules to proteins and cells. Further development and applications of AAC can benefit from the recent advances in aptamer-selection techniques, chromatographic stationary-phase supports, nanomaterials and microfluidic manipulations. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.