The present invention relates to: An aptamer comprising a circular
oligonucleotide defining one to four target binding regions; An aptamer
comprising an oligonucleotide defining two, three or four thrombin
binding quadruplex regions separated by at least partially duplex
regions, wherein the quadruplex regions comprise a GGTMGGXGGTTGG sequence
wherein M represents A or T and X represents a sequence of two to five
nucleotides and/or nucleotide analogues; An aptamer represented by
formula (I): 5'D.sub.1, wQxD.sub.1D.sub.2yQzD.sub.2,3'--the variables are
as defined in the specification; and Aptamers selected from specific
sequences.