Aptamers as tools for target validation

Synthetic nucleic acid ligands, called aptamers, bind to protein targets with high specificity and affinity. They are very potent inhibitors of protein function and their application can greatly enhance the process of target validation and drug development. An important benefit of this technology is the recent development of rapidly identifying these sophisticated ligands for almost any target molecule in multi-parallel, automated workstations. The aptamer technology is thus well-suited to addressing the growing demand for high-throughput analysis and functional validation of potential drug targets. Numerous examples have shown the potency of aptamers in inhibiting the function of proteins in cell culture and in vivo models. The technology is complementary to genetic knockout or siRNA approaches as it provides highly valuable information at the proteomic level. In addition, the aptamer technology has recently been extended to developing aptamer drugs and identifying functionally equivalent small molecule leads.