Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Exonuclease Digestion Assay For Streamlining Aptamer Characterization, Engineering, And Sensor Development, Juan Canoura

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aptamers are DNA or RNA oligonucleotide-based bioreceptors isolated in vitro through the Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment. Given the ease with which a selection can be customized, aptamers can be evolved to function in nearly any chemical environment, making them tailormade for their final application. However, the post-SELEX characterization of the 100-1000’s aptamer candidates remains a significant bottleneck as there are no suitable techniques for high-throughput characterization of each candidate’s affinity/specificity. Moreover, the final aptamer must be engineered to possess signal reporting functionality; this is often done via trail-and-error truncation to yield a structure-switching aptamer. This dissertation describes …