The rate constant for SOMAmer:protein complex dissociation was determined for each aptamer by measuring the fraction of pre-formed aptamer:protein complexes that remain bound after addition of a competitor as a function of time. Radiolabled SOMAmer was renatured as described above. Approximately 5×10–11 M SOMAmer was equilibrated in SB18T (40 mM HEPES, 100 mM NaCl, 5 mM KCl, 5 mM MgCl2, 0.05% Tween-20 at pH 7.5) at 37°C with protein at a concentration 10X greater than the measured Kd value. Samples were then diluted 2X with 40 nM non-labeled SOMAmer or 0.3 mM dextran sulfate in SB18T at various time points. Complexes were partitioned to separate free aptamer from protein:aptamer complexes. The type of partitioning was dependent upon the protein used since not all proteins bind to the same type of partitioning resin. For LBP and Histone H1.2, Zorbax PSM-300A (Agilent Technologies) resin was used for partitioning; for Kallistatin, MyOne TALON beads were used; for biotinylated-TIG2, MyOne Streptavidin beads were used. Complexes were captured on the appropriate resin, and the sample was passed through a MultiScreen HV Plate under vacuum. The samples were washed with SB18T. The MultiScreen HV Plates were phosphorimaged and the amount of radioactivity in each sample quantified using a FUJI FLA-3000. The fraction of complex remaining was plotted as a function of time, and the dissociation rate constant was determined by fitting the data to an analytic expression for bimolecular dissociation kinetics using non-linear regression.
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