title: A novel aptamer developed for breast cancer cell internalization.
abstract: Breast cancer affects one in eight women in the United States, with a mortality rate that is second only to lung cancer. Although chemotherapy is widely used in breast cancer treatment, its side effects remain a challenge. One way to address this problem is through drug delivery by the internalization of cell-type-specific probes. Although nucleic acid aptamers are excellent probes for molecular recognition, only a few studies have demonstrated that aptamers can be internalized into living cells. Therefore, herein we report the development of a cancer-cell-specific DNA aptamer probe, KMF2-1a. By using the cell-SELEX method, this aptamer was selected against breast cancer cell line MCF-10AT1. Our results show that KMF2-1a is internalized efficiently and specifically to the endosome of target breast cancer cells. These results indicate that KMF2-1a is a promising agent for cell-type-specific intracellular delivery with both diagnostic and therapeutic implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA.
authors.forename: Kejing
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kwame
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sefah
authors.forename: Lili
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Zilong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Guizhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Mao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Weijia
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goodison
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D011992:Endosomes / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide