Service 03 · Characterize

Profile the aptamer you already have.

Buffer-realistic folding, G-quadruplex detection, family placement, and clean Kd — the structural picture your paper (or your investors) needs, on candidates you already hold.

Turnaround
2–4 days
Pricing
Per candidate
You send
Sequences
Output
PDF report
The tools you're using lie

Right sequence, wrong structure.

Wrong ions, wrong fold

mfold and UNAFold assume 1 M Na⁺ and no Mg²⁺ — not the divalent buffer your assay actually runs in.

G-quadruplex or duplex?

Classic tools draw a stem-loop where CD says G-quadruplex — and you can't tell which structure actually does the binding.

Kd by spreadsheet

Fitting binding curves in a spreadsheet macro is slow, fragile, and hard to drop cleanly into a figure.

How it works

From sequence to report, in four steps.

01

Send sequences

Your candidate sequences and the buffer you assay in — plus a titration series if you want Kd fit.

02

Fold, for real

Structure under explicit Na⁺/Mg²⁺/K⁺/Ca²⁺ and temperature, with native G-quadruplexes detected and drawn.

03

Fit the Kd

A strict quadratic binding model fit to your titration data, exported as a clean, figure-ready curve.

04

Get the report

Structures, G4 calls, Kd, and where each candidate sits among its binding family — in one PDF.

What you get

A report you can publish.

The structural and binding picture your manuscript reviewers — or a due-diligence team — will ask for, generated correctly the first time.

  • Secondary structure under your real assay conditions
  • G-quadruplexes detected and rendered, not missed
  • Clean Kd curve fit from your titration data
  • Where the candidate sits among its structural family
  • Figure-ready outputs (PDF / PNG / data)
Sample deliverable
characterization.pdf
› fold @ your buffer + temp
› G4 detected + drawn
› Kd = [X] nM, R²=[..]
› family placement
› figures — publication-ready
Pricing

Per candidate. Cheaper in a batch.

Single candidate
Contact for price

Full structural + binding report for one sequence, including Kd fitting if you provide the titration data.

Batch
Per candidate

A reduced per-candidate rate for a set — a whole family, a screen, or a manuscript's worth of characterization. Contact for pricing.

Questions

The obvious ones.

What do you need from me?

The sequences and your assay buffer. For a Kd, add your concentration/signal titration data — we fit it and return the curve.

Do you do the binding experiment too?

Characterize works from data you already have. If you need the wet-lab binding run itself, that's Discovery.

Is this an add-on or standalone?

Both. It's included when we run a Rescue or Discovery, and available on its own for candidates from any source.

Can I just run the software myself?

Yes — the folding and Kd tools are free for academics. Characterize is for when you'd rather have the finished, checked report.

Send us the candidates you need profiled.

Request a report →
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