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Combinatorial selection of a RNA thioaptamer that binds to Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus capsid protein
Author(s) -
Kang Jonghoon,
Lee Myung Soog,
Watowich Stanley J.,
Gorenstein David G.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2007.04.072
Subject(s) - capsid , venezuelan equine encephalitis virus , virology , rna , alphavirus , chemistry , virus , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , computational biology , biochemistry , gene
A phosphorothioate RNA aptamer (thioaptamer) targeting the capsid protein of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) was isolated by in vitro combinatorial selection. The selected thioaptamer had a strong binding affinity (∼7 nM) and high specificity for the target protein. For the binding to the protein, the overall tertiary structure of the thioaptamer is required. We introduce two theoretical methods to examine the effect of phosphorothioate modification on the enhancement of binding affinity and one experimental method to examine the nature of the multiple bands of thioaptamer in a native gel.