Figure 3.

Mass spectral data showing successful aptamer-3'-ibuprofen conjugation (A,B) versus the surprisingly fragmented DNA resulting from a carbodiimide-mediated approach (C). The successful approach involved the use of a custom N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS)-ibuprofen linker synthesized by Sigma-Aldrich Corp. (D) resulting in >98% yields of the correct conjugates (actual vs. theoretical molecular weights matched for aptamer-ibuprofen conjugates as determined by mass spectra in panels A and B).