The minimum aptamer publication standards (MAPS guidelines) for de novo aptamer selection

REVIEW ARTICLE

ISSN: 2514-3247
Aptamers (2022), Vol 6, 10-18

Published online: 24 May 2022

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Maureen McKeague^{1, 2}, Victoria Calzada³, Laura Cerchia⁴, Maria DeRosa⁵, Jennifer M Heemstra⁶, Nebojsa Janjic⁷, Philip E Johnson⁸, Leon Kraus⁹, Janice Limson¹⁰, Günter Mayer^{11, 12}, Marit Nilsen-Hamilton^{13, 14, 15}, David Porciani^{16, 17}, Tarun Kumar Sharma^{18, 19,20}, Beatrix Suess⁹, Julian A Tanner^{21, 22}, Sarah Shigdar^{23, 24*}

¹Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3G 1Y6, Canada

²Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, McGill University, Montreal, QC H3A 0B8, Canada

³Área de Radiofarmacia, Centro de Investigaciones Nucleares, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, Montevideo 11400, Uruguay

⁴Institute of Experimental Endocrinology and Oncology “Gaetano Salvatore”, CNR, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

⁵Department of Chemistry, 203 Steacie Building, Carleton University, 1125, Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada

⁶Department of Chemistry, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States

⁷SomaLogic, Inc., 2945 Wilderness Place, Boulder, CO 80301, USA

⁸Department of Chemistry & Centre for Research on Biomolecular Interactions, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M3J 1P3

⁹Department of Biology, TU Darmstadt, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany

¹⁰Biotechnology Innovation Centre, Rhodes University, Makhanda, 6140, South Africa

¹¹Chemical Biology & Chemical Genetics, Life and Medical Sciences (LIMES) Institute, University of Bonn, 53121 Bonn, Germany

¹²Center of Aptamer Research & Development (CARD), University of Bonn, 53121 Bonn, Germany

¹³Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA

¹⁴Ames Laboratory, US DOE (United States Department of Energy), Ames, IA 50011, USA

¹⁵Aptalogic Inc., Ames, IA 50014, USA

¹⁶Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, MO 65212, USA

¹⁷Bond Life Sciences Center, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65201, USA

¹⁸Department of Medical Biotechnology, Gujarat Biotechnology University, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat 382355, India

¹⁹AptaBharat Innovation Pvt Ltd, BBB Bionest Bioincubator, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad – Gurgaon Expressway, PO box #04, Faridabad 121001, India

²⁰Translational Research Group, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, NCR Biotech Science Cluster, 3rd Milestone, Faridabad- Gurgaon Expressway, PO box #04, Faridabad- 121001, India

²¹School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China

²²Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre, Hong Kong Science Park, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR 999077, China

²³School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia

²⁴Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3220, Australia

*Correspondence to: Sarah Shigdar, Email: sarah.shigdar@deakin.edu.au (on behalf of the International Society on Aptamers and the Aptamer Consortium)

Received: 16 March 2022 | Revised: 06 May 2022 | Accepted: 18 May 2022

© Copyright The Author(s). This is an open access article, published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0). This license permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction of this article, provided the original work is appropriately acknowledged, with correct citation details.

ABSTRACT

Aptamers were first described in 1990 and since then many aptamers have been reported in the literature for numerous applications in both diagnostics and therapeutics. However, as with most fields, missing or unclear information presented in the publication makes it difficult to replicate some of the work described in the literature. To increase the reproducibility of the data and facilitate academic laboratories and industrial companies to develop reliable aptamer work, essential guidelines should be proposed and followed in any aptamer publication, especially in those that highlight de novo aptamer sequences. Here, we provide suggestions for authors, reviewers, and editors to follow when performing and reporting their aptamer work to ensure that we meet the minimum standards for publication of future aptamer sequences.

KEYWORDS: aptamers, guidelines, in vitro selection, minimum standards, reproducibility, SELEX