Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acids (ssDNA and RNA) of short length, selected from a large random sequence pool (Szostak et al 1990) that, depending on the sequence and environmental conditions, adopt defined three-dimensional structures, which enables them to bind stably and highly specific for their targets, ranging from small molecules to complex multimeric structures.
Relatively easy and reproducible production and labelling, cost-effectiveness and stability during long-term storage, aptamers technology is an innovative alternative and much less known than that of monoclonal antibodies.