Issue 16, 2018

Stemmed DNA nanostructure for the selective delivery of therapeutics

Abstract

DNA has emerged as a biocompatible biomaterial that may be considered for various applications. Here, we report tumor cell-specific aptamer-modified DNA nanostructures for the specific recognition and delivery of therapeutic chemicals to cancer cells. Protein tyrosine kinase (PTK)7-specific DNA aptamer sequences were linked to 15 consecutive guanines. The resulting aptamer-modified product, AptG15, self-assembled into a Y-shaped structure. The presence of a G-quadruplex at AptG15 was confirmed by circular dichroism and Raman spectroscopy. The utility of AptG15 as a nanocarrier of therapeutics was tested by loading the photosensitizer, methylene blue (MB), to the G-quadruplex as a model drug. The generated MB-loaded AptG15 (MB/AptG15) showed specific and enhanced uptake to CCRF-CEM cells, which overexpress PTK7, compared with Ramos cells, which lack PTK7, or CCRF-CEM cells treated with a PTK7-specific siRNA. The therapeutic activity of MB/AptG15 was tested by triggering its photodynamic effects. Upon 660 nm light irradiation, MB/AptG15 showed greater reactive oxygen species generation and anticancer activity in PTK7-overexpressing cells compared to cells treated with MB alone, those treated with AptG15, and other comparison groups. AptG15 stemmed DNA nanostructures have significant potential for the cell-type-specific delivery of therapeutics, and possibly for the molecular imaging of target cells.

Graphical abstract: Stemmed DNA nanostructure for the selective delivery of therapeutics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
16 Nov 2017
Accepted
23 Feb 2018
First published
02 Mar 2018

Nanoscale, 2018,10, 7511-7518

Stemmed DNA nanostructure for the selective delivery of therapeutics

H. Jin, M. G. Kim, S. B. Ko, D. H. Kim, B. J. Lee, R. B. Macgregor, Jr., G. Shim and Y. K. Oh, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 7511 DOI: 10.1039/C7NR08558C

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