Regulation of Thrombin Activity with a Bifunctional Aptamer and Hemin: Development of a New Anticoagulant and Antidote Pair

Abstract

Through thick and thin: A bifunctional aptamer (BA) and hemin have been designed as an anticoagulant and antidote pair. BA, as anticoagulant, inhibits thrombin by forming a BA–thrombin complex. Because of the higher affinity between hemin and BA, once hemin is added, it replaces thrombin to form a BA–hemin complex. Thrombin is then released and reactivated to exhibit blood-clotting activity. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.