NOXXON Pharma AG, a company from Berlin, is trying to develop clinically useful aptamers of nucleic acids, a mirror image L-oligonucleotides branded as Spiegelmers®. (“spiegel” is mirror in German.) The company was just recently awarded a research grant from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to further advance the firm’s promising technology.
A Spiegelmer® is a mirror-image oligonucleotide that can bind to a pharmacologically relevant target molecule in a manner conceptually similar to an antibody that recognizes an antigen. The mirror image configuration of the oligonucleotide confers tremendous stability in all biological environments, as naturally occurring nucleases cannot degrade Spiegelmers.
Identification of Spiegelmers involves screening of extremely large combinatorial libraries containing over 1015 different molecules. NOXXON’s technology combines the SELEX process (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential Enrichment) – the method to screen such a library – with chemical mirroring technology (see flash animation). Employing NOXXON’s technology Spiegelmers® can be rapidly generated against a wide variety of target molecules.
Unlike antibodies Spiegelmer are chemical entities unknown to nature and do not require complex biological production processes. Instead Spiegelmers can be synthesized in the laboratory using a process that is easily scalable. NOXXON has established optimized production and quality control methods…
Spiegelmers possess the high affinity binding characteristics of the best aptamers and antibodies in the low nanomolar and picomolar range, while defying enzymatic degradation that severely limits the utility of aptamers. Data indicate that Spiegelmers are stable in human plasma for over 60 hours at 37 °C.
Spiegelmers should not be confused with antisense RNAs in that they do not directly interfere with protein synthesis of their target molecules. They are designed to bind specifically to extracellular molecules, either a receptor or its ligand, similar to the behavior of a monoclonal antibody, aptamer or peptide. However, recent findings by NOXXON demonstrate that Spiegelmers are capable of entering cells and interfering with intracellular processes as well.
Product page: Spiegelmers technology…
Press release: NOXXON Receives Research Grant from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (.pdf)…