Aptamers, where are you?

Aptamers for testing and treatment. Getting an antibody useful in testing can be a long process. Getting a component or components of the virus capable of eliciting a potent vaccine response may be elusive.

A more efficient approach to generating test components might reside with molecules known as aptamers, which may be small lengths of DNA, RNA or modification of each to increase stability. The actual development and identification of aptamers which may be of use can occur much more rapidly than can the development and identification of antibodies.

Aptamers which may be of use can be identified using a "shotgun" approach using a patented process known as SELEX.

After identification and narrowing of the most probable candidates, those candidates may be modified to improve function rather more efficiently compared to antibodies.

The developed aptamers should then be coupled either with lateral flow devices-test strips-or with simple automated but non-dedicated high throughput instruments such as Dynex' Agility or more portable instruments like Bruker's Portable Detection System Modified for COVID 19 specifically, but which can be modified to offer easy modifications as the viral threat changes. In fact all three test systems, should be flexible enough to easily substitute specific aptamers to the new viral threats.

As with the example of vaccines to Anthrax, vaccines may not be that effective. Designing an aptamer or antibody to disrupt or prevent viral processes or components may be more effective than vaccinations or serve as an adjunct to the vaccines.

The strategy should be to prevent viral entry into the cell, vaccines should be able to do this but therapies-aptamers, small proteins ( AII) or antiobodies-with the target of binding to the S1 or S2 proteins should specifically inhibit binding and membrane fusion respectively and prevent or drastically reduce cell damage and prevent viral transduction.

The same aptamer targeted to S1 or S2 can be used for both testing (with modfication) and treatment.

The speed of development, selection and the flexibility of modification associated with aptamers should provide aptamers an edge in the development of tests and treatments for the current threats and the viral threats yet to evolve. This is where the time, effort and money should go

Despite suggestion of testing vaccine efficacy in humans, no phase 2 testing of a vaccine or treatment should go forward in humans without strong supporting evidence from animal studies! The same ethics supporting animal rule should not be substituted and the exculpatory language in informed consent must not be abrogated!