Molecular assembly for high-performance bivalent nucleic acid inhibitor.

It is theorized that multivalent interaction can result in better affinity and selectivity than monovalent interaction in the design of high-performance ligands. Accordingly, biomolecular engineers are increasingly taking advantage of multivalent interactions to fabricate novel molecular assemblies, resulting in new functions for ligands or enhanced performance of existing ligands. Substantial efforts have been expended in using small molecules or epitopes of antibodies for designing multifunctional or better-performing ligands. However, few attempts to use nucleic acid aptamers as functional domains have been reported. In this study, we explore the design of bivalent nucleic acid ligands by using thrombin and its aptamers as the model by which to evaluate its functions. By assembling two thrombin-binding aptamers with optimized design parameters, this assembly has resulted in the successful development of a nucleic acid-based high-performance bivalent protein inhibitor. Our experimentation proved (i) that the simultaneous binding of two aptamers after linkage achieved 16.6-fold better inhibition efficiency than binding of the monovalent ligand and (ii) that such an improvement originated from changes in the kinetics of the binding interactions, with a k(off) rate approximately 1/50 as fast. In addition, the newly generated aptamer assembly is an excellent anticoagulant reagent when tested with different samples. Because this optimized ligand design offers a simple and noninvasive means of accomplishing higher performance from known functional aptamers, it holds promise as a potent antithrombin agent in the treatment of various diseases related to abnormal thrombin activities.