An Aptamer-Nanotrain Assembled from Six-Letter DNA Delivers Doxorubicin Selectively to Liver Cancer Cells.
Liqin ZhangSai WangZunyi YangShuichi HoshikaSitao XieJin LiXigao ChenShuo WanLong LiSteven A BennerWeihong TanPublished in: Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) (2019)
Expanding the number of nucleotides in DNA increases the information density of functional DNA molecules, creating nanoassemblies that cannot be invaded by natural DNA/RNA in complex biological systems. Here, we show how six-letter GACTZP DNA contributes this property in two parts of a nanoassembly: 1) in an aptamer evolved from a six-letter DNA library to selectively bind liver cancer cells; and 2) in a six-letter self-assembling GACTZP nanotrain that carries the drug doxorubicin. The aptamer-nanotrain assembly, charged with doxorubicin, selectively kills liver cancer cells in culture, as the selectivity of the aptamer binding directs doxorubicin into the aptamer-targeted cells. The assembly does not kill untransformed cells that the aptamer does not bind. This architecture, built with an expanded genetic alphabet, is reminiscent of antibodies conjugated to drugs, which presumably act by this mechanism as well, but with the antibody replaced by an aptamer.
Keyphrases
- circulating tumor
- gold nanoparticles
- cell free
- sensitive detection
- single molecule
- magnetic nanoparticles
- drug delivery
- cancer therapy
- nucleic acid
- label free
- induced apoptosis
- emergency department
- circulating tumor cells
- photodynamic therapy
- healthcare
- quantum dots
- gene expression
- dna methylation
- cell proliferation
- cell death
- transcription factor
- drug induced
- social media
- binding protein