Patent ID: 7258980

Claim:
A method for determining whether at least one non-nucleic acid molecule from a library of candidate non-nucleic acid molecules binds to a specific site on a target, wherein said non-nucleic acid molecule has unknown affinity for said target, comprising: a) preparing a nucleic acid ligand that binds to said specific site on said target by the method comprising: i) preparing a candidate mixture of nucleic acids; ii) contacting the candidate mixture of nucleic acids with said target, wherein nucleic acids having an increased affinity to said target relative to the candidate mixture form complexes with said target; iii) partitioning said complexes from the remainder of the candidate mixture; iv) contacting said complexes with a competitor molecule known to bind to said target at said specific site, wherein the competitor molecule competes with the increased affinity nucleic acids for binding to said target at said specific site and disrupts the complex and liberates the increased affinity nucleic acids; and v) amplifying the increased affinity nucleic acids liberated in step iv) to yield a mixture of nucleic acids enriched for nucleic acids with relatively higher affinity and specificity for binding to said specific site of said target, whereby a nucleic acid ligand may be identified for binding to said specific site of said target; b) labeling said nucleic acid ligand; c) immobilizing said target to a solid support; d) contacting said labeled nucleic acid ligand with said target wherein binding of the labeled nucleic acid ligand to said specific site of said target occurs to form a complex; e) adding a non-nucleic acid molecule to the complex wherein the non-nucleic acid molecule competes with the labeled nucleic acid ligand for binding to said target at said specific site and disrupts the complex and liberates the labeled nucleic acid ligand; and f) detecting the liberation of labeled nucleic acid ligand thereby determining that said non-nucleic acid molecule binds to said target at said specific site.