Aptabodies™ (NextGEN Aptamers)
What Is An Aptabody™?
An aptabody™ is a supramolecular form of an aptamer ligand containing a wide variety of functional groups. The aptamer component acts as a scaffold to hold into place one or more functional groups such as amino acids, fatty acids, carbohydrates, small molecules and/or metals in a unique orientation in 3-D space.
The order and proximity of these functional groups play a role in enhanced functionalities ranging from higher affinity and specificity over “naked” aptamers, to enzyme biomimetics, improved molecular targeting in vivo, cellular trafficking, pharmacokinetics/dynamics, and drug-like properties.
NOTE: Conventional antibodies have a chemical alphabet of the naturally occurring amino acids. AptabodiesTM, by definition, have a chemical alphabet of all amino acids, fatty acids, as well as synthetic compounds, co-factors, metal ions, etc…
Aptamers are best leveraged as research reagents or as diagnostic elements in biosensor platforms. Aptamers are not mature enough for therapeutics; however, they can be used for targeting, as the vehicle to deliver a drug payload. To overcome the limitations of aptamers as drug candidates, Aptagen has conceptualized the Aptabody™ for the therapeutic area.
It’s not an antibody. It’s not an aptamer.
It’s an “aptabody”.
NextGen Aptamer/Aptabody Flyer.pdf
Can aptabodies represent a class of artificial enzymes, biomaterials, and nanomaterials? Contact Us.
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