title: Intercellular Connections Related to Cell-Cell Crosstalk Specifically Recognized by an Aptamer.
abstract: Intercellular connections are an important pathway for cell-cell crosstalk. However, their formation mechanism and functions are far from being understood. The lack of molecular probes hampers the research in this area. Herein, we report a kind of intercellular connection that is specifically recognized by aptamer M17A2 generated by cell-SELEX against MCF-7R cells. These connections have different morphologies, but have the same skeleton composed of F-actin. The long filamentous connections were identified to be tunneling nanotubes (TNTs), a recently discovered cell-cell communication route. These connections could be built not only between MCF-7R cells, but also from MCF-7R to other cells after co-culture. Proteins could be transported between cells through these connections, suggesting their cell communication function. Aptamer M17A2 shows the potential to act as a new probe for investigating this kind of intercellular connection, as well as for studying cell-cell communication.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bing
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Luyao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rusheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.|University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiangjun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Meirong
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Health Cancer Center, UF Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7200, USA.|Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Biology and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, Health Cancer Center, UF Genetics Institute, McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611-7200, USA. tan@chem.ufl.edu.|Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Biology and College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, P.R. China. tan@chem.ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, P.R. China. sgdh@iccas.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Dihua
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5746-803X
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shangguan
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002450:Cell Communication; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D043942:Nanotubes; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique
keywords: aptamers; cell communication; fluorescent probes; intercellular connections; tunneling nanotubes