Principle behind Spiegelmers (IMAGE)

Aarhus University

Principle behind Spiegelmers

Caption

To the left is an illustration of the principle behind Spiegelmers. Normal aptamers are formed from D-nucleotides also used for RNA and DNA, whereas the Spiegelmers are constructed from L-nucleotides. The two molecules are therefore perfect mirror-images of each other. To the right is shown the three-dimensional structure of the Spiegelmer from the German company NOXXON Pharma AG bound to the inflammatory protein C5a determined by the scientists at Aarhus University through X-ray crystallography.

Credit

Laure Yatime, Aarhus University

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Credit to Laure Yatime, Aarhus University

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