Before revision:  Steps a and b allow a global binding score of the ligand-receptor complexes , based on the distribution of the "effective affinity", i.e. the sum of the conformational and the docking energies . Step c. employes a complex network approach (Proteotronics) to characterize the electrical properties of the aptamers and the complexes. Finally, a comparison of the theoretical results with the measurements obtained for the same aptamers in experiments on the SPR biosensor is performed, revealing a good agreement .
After revision:  Steps a and b allow a global binding score of the ligand-receptor complexes , based on the distribution of the "effective affinity", i.e. the sum of the conformational and the docking energies . Step c. employes a complex network approach (Proteotronics) to characterize the electrical properties of the aptamers and the ligand-receptor complexes. The test-bed is represented by a group of anti- Angiopoietin-2 aptamers. In a previous literature these aptamers were processed both in vitro and in silico, by using an approach different from that here presented, and finally tested with a SPS experiment. Computational expectations and experimental outcomes did not agree, while our results show a good agreement with the known measurements. The devised procedure is not aptamer-specific and, integrating structure production with structure selection, candidates itself as a quite complete theoretical approach for aptamer selection .