Binding kinetics of aptamers to gp120 derived from HIV-1 subtype C

Abstract

Aptamers are artificial nucleic acid ligands that can be engineered to bind with high specificity to a macromolecule. Their binding specificity and small size allow for a range of therapeutic applications. One avenue of research is to develop aptamers with specific and strong affinity to the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 and act as novel HIV-1 entry inhibitor drugs or as targeted drug delivery systems to HIV-1 infected cells. Prior to any downstream applications, novel gp120 aptamers need to be biophysically characterised with regards to their target binding characteristics.