Patent ID: 7087735

Claim:
A bivalent binding molecule to a 7 transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor, wherein said bivalent binding molecule comprises an aptamer to a first epitope coupled to a non-aptamer binding domain which binds to a second epitope of the same receptor, wherein the bivalent binding molecule is identified according to a method comprising: a) preparing a blended candidate mixture of bivalent binding molecules comprising a candidate mixture of nucleic acid sequences coupled to a non-aptamer binding domain which binds to said second epitope of the receptor; b) contacting said 7 transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor with said blended candidate mixture of bivalent binding molecules, wherein bivalent binding molecules having an increased affinity to the 7 transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor relative to the blended candidate mixture may be partitioned from the remainder of the candidate mixture; c) partitioning the increased affinity bivalent binding molecules from the remainder of the blended candidate mixture; and d) amplifying the increased affinity bivalent binding molecules to yield an enriched mixture of bivalent binding molecules, whereby bivalent binding molecules to a 7 transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor may be identified.