Communications Chemistry, Published online: 15 September 2025; doi:10.1038/s42004-025-01629-5Chemical modifications of aptamers can enhance binding properties, however, the design of suitable functional groups remains challenging. Here, the authors introduce cyclooctatetraene (COT)-modified nucleotides in SELEX experiments, identifying COT-aptamers with low nM dissociation constants, highlighting the potential of three-dimensional ligands in aptamer discovery.

The inclusion of chemical modifications into oligonucleotides stabilizes their backbones against nuclease mediated degradation and improves their biological activity. Even though cellular, tissue, and...

Et si notre organisme devenait une usine à médicaments, capable de produire lui-même des anticorps pour lutter contre les virus ?

Storage of genetic information in DNA occurs through a unique ordering of canonical base pairs. However, this would not be possible in the absence of the sugar–phosphate backbone which is essential fo...

Storage of genetic information in DNA occurs through a unique ordering of canonical base pairs. However, this would not be possible in the absence of the sugar–phosphate backbone which is essential fo...

Innovative use of non-porous solid supports allows synthesis of very long oligonucleotides

Decoration of aptamers with chemical modifications at the level of nucleobases grants access to alternative binding modes which often result in improved binding properties. Most functional groups invo...

Les travaux révolutionnaires de la biochimiste Katalin Karikó et du médecin Drew Weissman ont ouvert la voie à l’utilisation thérapeutique de l’ARNm avec un premier cas mondialement reconnu : celui de...

The longest oligos that can be chemically synthesized are considered to be 200-mers. Here, we report direct synthesis of an 800-mer green fluorescent protein gene and a 1728-mer Φ29 DNA polymerase gen...