Development of a panel of DNA Aptamers with High Affinity for Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 25:5:16788. doi: 10.1038/srep16788.

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer costs nearly 40,000 lives in the U.S. each year and has one of the lowest survival rates among cancers. Effective treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is hindered by lack of a reliable biomarker. To address this challenge, aptamers were selected by cell-SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) targeting human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PL45). Five promising aptamers presenting low Kd values and good specificity were generated. Among these five aptamers, one was tailored into a nanostructure carrying a high drug payload for specific drug delivery. The results show a viability of almost 80% for negative cells while only 50% of the target cells remained alive after 48 h incubation. These results lead to the conclusion that further research could reveal protein biomarkers specific to pancreatic adenocarcinoma, with probes available for early detection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / chemistry
  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / pharmacology
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / chemistry*
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / metabolism
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / pharmacology
  • Base Sequence
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / metabolism
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / pathology
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / drug effects
  • Cell Survival / drug effects
  • Doxorubicin / chemistry
  • Doxorubicin / pharmacology
  • Drug Carriers / chemistry*
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Humans
  • Nanostructures / chemistry*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • SELEX Aptamer Technique

Substances

  • Antibiotics, Antineoplastic
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide
  • Drug Carriers
  • Doxorubicin