Aptamers Entirely Built from Therapeutic Nucleoside Analogues for Targeted Cancer Therapy

J Am Chem Soc. 2022 Feb 2;144(4):1493-1497. doi: 10.1021/jacs.1c09574. Epub 2022 Jan 24.

Abstract

Owing to the specific and high binding affinity of aptamers to their targets, aptamer-drug conjugates (ApDCs) have emerged as a promising drug delivery system for targeted cancer therapy. However, in a conventional ApDC, the aptamer segment usually just serves as a targeting moiety, and only a limited number of drug molecules are sequentially conjugated to the oligonucleotide, giving a relatively low drug loading capacity. To address this challenge, herein we employ four clinically approved nucleoside analogues, including clofarabine (Clo), ara-guanosine (AraG), gemcitabine (Ge), and floxuridine (FdU), to replace all natural nucleosides in aptamer sequences, generating a series of whole drug-constituted DNA-like oligomers that are termed drugtamers. Similar to their parent aptamers, the obtained drugtamers maintain the targeting capability and can specifically bind to the target receptors overexpressed on the cancer cell surface. With 100% drug loading ratio, active targeting capability, and enzyme-mediated release of active therapeutics, our drugtamers can strongly induce the apoptosis of cancer cells and inhibit the tumor progression, which enables a new potential for a better targeted cancer therapy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacokinetics
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Apoptosis / drug effects
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide / chemistry*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Clofarabine / chemistry
  • Clofarabine / pharmacokinetics
  • Clofarabine / pharmacology
  • Clofarabine / therapeutic use
  • Drug Carriers / chemistry
  • Floxuridine / chemistry
  • Floxuridine / pharmacokinetics
  • Floxuridine / pharmacology
  • Floxuridine / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Mice
  • Mucin-1 / genetics
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Nucleosides / analogs & derivatives
  • Nucleosides / pharmacokinetics
  • Nucleosides / pharmacology
  • Nucleosides / therapeutic use*
  • Tissue Distribution
  • Transplantation, Heterologous

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Aptamers, Nucleotide
  • Drug Carriers
  • Mucin-1
  • Nucleosides
  • muc1 protein, mouse
  • Floxuridine
  • Clofarabine