13th August 2019
Under pathophysiological conditions, transcription of proteins can lead to changes in amino acid structure known as that can either destroy their activity or impart them with new functionality. These transformations can be indicators of disease occurrence or progression and therefore point mutations on proteins can serve as useful biomarkers for disease. However, their […]
6th August 2019
Proteins can undergo post-translational modifications (PTM) of their amino acids which can lead to a change in their activity and increase their functional repertoire. The most common of these modifications include phosphorylation, glycosylation, ubiquitination, citrullination, acetylation, methylation, and hydroxylation (Figure A). PTM on proteins can therefore serve as useful biomarkers for disease. However, their […]
30th July
Blood contains a range of protein biomarkers that could be used in the early detection of disease. One important biomarker is human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) which is overexpressed in the most common breast cancer. Various HER2 detection techniques have been reported, including FISH or IHC based assays, however, these techniques require […]
23rd July 2019
Aptamer based ‘gain of signal’ assay for small molecule detection
Detecting small molecules represents a challenge for In vitro diagnostics (IVD) due to sensitivity and specificity limits of many detection methods. Our specially designed displacement approach allows us to select aptamers that can readily be used in various IVD and point of care (POC) […]
17th July 2019
Small molecules present an ongoing challenge for antibody production and detection. Development of biosensors for the detection of small molecules is difficult due to the lack of suitable antibodies and the relatively small signals. Tools to detect and quantify them are therefore in high demand.
At Aptamer Group we select aptamers that bind to […]
9th July 2019
Traditionally, immuno-fluorescence polarization-based assays are used to detect small molecules by using antibodies and fluorescently labelled small-molecules. However, the assays do meet limitations such as complex antibody preparation, cost, and most importantly stability. Also the preparation of fluorescently labelled small molecules is challenging. The use of aptamers overcomes the limitations and brings new […]
2nd July 2019
Detecting and quantifying small molecule analytes can be difficult. Our specially designed displacement approach allows us to select aptamers which can directly be used in various biosensor platforms for the detection of small molecules. Binding of the aptamer to the analyte gives a ‘signal amplification’ effect which can be used as a basis for small […]
25th June 2019
Small molecule targets (such as antibiotics, many drugs, toxins, food additives etc) are often perceived as difficult targets to obtain a suitable affinity ligand. They represent a challenge for traditional aptamer selection approaches which rely on immobilisation of the target molecule for efficient partitioning. Modification of the small molecule to facilitate immobilisation often […]
18th June 2019
Kanamycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic isolated from Streptomyces kanamyceticus and is widely used to treat various infectious diseases in humans and animals. However, like other aminoglycoside antibiotics, kanamycin exhibits comparatively narrow safety margin as high doses can cause ototoxicity, nephrotoxicity and allergic reactions.
The current methods used for analysis for detecting kanamycin levels in […]
11th June 2019
There is a misconception that aptamer can only be used across a limited range of conditions or matrices. At Aptamer Group we start our aptamer selections with the end application in mind and generate our aptamers using conditions which closely resemble the end application. However, this shouldn’t restrict the possibilities of where an […]
