ssDNA Aptamer Specifically Targets and Selectively Delivers Cytotoxic Drug Doxorubicin to HepG2 Cells
Fig 1
Selection, identification, and optimization of aptamers specific for HCC tumor cells.
(a) Binding assay of selected pool for HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Flow cytometry assay to monitor the binding of selected pool with HepG2 cells (target cells) and SK-HEP-1 cells (control cells). The blue curves represent the background binding of the unselected DNA library. An increase in the binding capacity of the pool for HepG2 cells during the selection process was observed as opposed to small changes for the control SK-HEP-1 cells. (b) Representative aptamer sequences from each group, aptamers #1, #2, and #3, were synthesized and conjugated with a Cy3 fluorochrome reporter. Synthetic aptamers were incubated with cultured HCC (HepG2) and control cells (SK-HEP-1) and the resulting cell binding was quantified by flow cytometry. HCA#3 showed the highest binding affinity and specificity. (c) Individual aptamer sequence HCA#3; predicted 2D structure of aptamer HCA#3 including 5’- and 3’- primers, and the central core.