Center for Aptamer Research and Development

该项目的目的是在波恩大学可持续地建立适体研究与发展中心，并在非营利性基础上为科学界提供适体选择服务。为了实现这一目标，我们将建立一个能够自动选择适体的平台。我们将在本项目中开发的协议将为适配体生成服务铺平道路，该服务涵盖用于选择目的的所有常见类型的核酸，即DNA，核碱基修饰的DNA， RNA和修饰的RNA，并允许处理大多数常见的目标类型，例如蛋白质，肽，小分子和细胞。最终目标是为寻求将适体用于个体研究、诊断和治疗目的的研究人员提供适体研究和开发方面的专业知识和支持。CARD将缩短获得适体的时间，许多研究人员可以使用，并将大大减少与适体开发有关的成本和分配的资源，使适体以与公开研究预算相适应的可负担的成本为广大社区提供。进一步的目标是扩展该中心，建立一个适体研究和开发的国家和机构间网络，例如通过将CARD与弗劳恩霍夫细胞治疗和免疫学研究所的“功能性核酸适体”实验室连接起来。这一扩展将为建立一个覆盖适体研究和开发的所有方面的国家能力和参考中心铺平道路。

The aim of the project is to sustainably establish the Center of Aptamer Research and Development (CARD) at the University of Bonn and to offer aptamer-selection services for the scientific community on a non-profit basis. To achieve this aim we will establish a platform that enables the automated selection of aptamers. The protocols we will develop within this project will pave the way towards aptamer-generation services covering all common types of nucleic acids used for selection purposes, i.e. DNA, nucleobase-modified DNA, RNA and modified RNA and which will allow to address most of the usual target types, e.g. proteins, peptides, small molecules and cells. An ultimate goal is to provide expertise and support in aptamer research and development to the growing community of researchers seeking to use aptamers for individual research, diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. CARD will reduce the time-to-aptamer, will be accessible to many researchers and will significantly decrease the costs and allocated resources related to aptamer development making aptamers accessible for a broad community at affordable costs compatible with publicly available research budgets. A further aim is to extend the center towards building a national and inter-institutional network on aptamer research and development, for example by connecting CARD to the laboratory for "Functional Nucleic Acids Aptamers" at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Cell Therapies and Immunology with CARD. This extension will pave the way towards a national competence and reference center covering all aspects of aptamer research and development.