Prostate-specific RNA aptamer: promising nucleic acid antibody-like cancer detection

Sci Rep. 2015 Jul 15:5:12090. doi: 10.1038/srep12090.

Abstract

We described the selection of a novel nucleic acid antibody-like prostate cancer (PCa) that specifically binds to the single-stranded DNA molecule from a 277-nt fragment that may have been partially paired and bound to the PCA3 RNA conformational structure. PCA3-277 aptamer ligands were obtained, and the best binding molecule, named CG3, was synthesized for validation. Aiming to prove its diagnostic utility, we used an apta-qPCR assay with CG3-aptamer conjugated to magnetic beads to capture PCA3 transcripts, which were amplified 97-fold and 7-fold higher than conventional qPCR in blood and tissue, respectively. Histopathologic analysis of 161 prostate biopsies arranged in a TMA and marked with biotin-labeled CG3-aptamer showed moderate staining in both cytoplasm and nucleus of PCa samples; in contrast, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) samples presented strong nuclear staining (78% of the cases). No staining was observed in stromal cells. In addition, using an apta-qPCR, we demonstrated that CG3-aptamer specifically recognizes the conformational PCA3-277 molecule and at least three other transcript variants, indicating that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is processed after transcription. We suggest that CG3-aptamer may be a useful PCa diagnostic tool. In addition, this molecule may be used in drug design and drug delivery for PCa therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Antinuclear / immunology
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / blood
  • Antigens, Neoplasm / genetics*
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / metabolism*
  • Base Sequence
  • DNA, Neoplasm / blood
  • DNA, Neoplasm / metabolism
  • DNA, Single-Stranded / immunology
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Male
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • Prostate / metabolism
  • Prostate / pathology
  • Prostatic Hyperplasia / genetics
  • Prostatic Hyperplasia / pathology
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / genetics
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • RNA / chemistry
  • RNA / metabolism
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / chemistry
  • RNA, Long Noncoding / metabolism
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Tissue Array Analysis

Substances

  • Antibodies, Antinuclear
  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide
  • DNA, Neoplasm
  • DNA, Single-Stranded
  • RNA, Long Noncoding
  • prostate cancer antigen 3, human
  • RNA