Multivalent Circular Aptamers: Versatile Nanostructures for Biomedical Applications

Nucleic acid aptamers are moving towards genuine competitiveness in therapeutic, diagnostic and biomaterials applications. We have introduced a major new aptamer class multivalent circular aptamers or ‘captamers’ that combines aptameric recognition with multitasking nucleic acid functions through the use of modular engineering principles derived from DNA nanotechnology. DNA captamers have been demonstrated in 2-, 3and 4-headed versions, focussing upon the pleiotropic activity that can be obtained by combining different functions together. Several multitasking applications are described here. Development of captamer therapeutic candidates is moving towards a practical implementation of autonomous biomolecular computing that offers the potential to create a powerful class of smart nucleic acid drugs.