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Chen J, He J, Bing T, Feng Y, Lyu Y, Lei M, Tan W. Identification of the Binding Site between Aptamer sgc8c and PTK7. Anal Chem 2024; 96:10601-10611. [PMID: 38889444 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.4c01186] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
Aptamers are single-stranded RNA or DNA molecules that can specifically bind to targets and have found broad applications in cancer early-stage detection, accurate drug delivery, and precise treatment. Although various aptamer screening methods have been developed over the past several decades, the accurate binding site between the target and the aptamer cannot be characterized during a typical aptamer screening process. In this research, we chose a widely used aptamer screened by our group, sgc8c, and its target protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) as the model aptamer and target and tried to determine the binding site between aptamer sgc8c and PTK7. Through sequential protein truncation, we confirmed that the exact binding site of sgc8c was within the region of Ig 3 to Ig 4 in the extracellular domain of PTK7. Using in vitro expressed Ig (3-4), we successfully acquired the crystal of an sgc8c-Ig (3-4) binding complex. The possible sgc8c-binding amino acid residues on PTK7 and PTK7-binding nucleotide residues on sgc8c were further identified and simulated by mass spectrometry and molecular dynamics simulation and finally verified by aptamer/protein truncation and mutation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianghuai Chen
- Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory (MBL), State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Aptamer Engineering Center of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
- The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Jiaxuan He
- The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Tao Bing
- The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Yawei Feng
- Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory (MBL), State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Aptamer Engineering Center of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
- The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
| | - Yifan Lyu
- Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory (MBL), State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Aptamer Engineering Center of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
- Furong Laboratory, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
| | - Ming Lei
- Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Weihong Tan
- Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory (MBL), State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, College of Biology, Aptamer Engineering Center of Hunan Province, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan 410082, China
- The Cancer Hospital of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Zhejiang Cancer Hospital), Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310022, China
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2
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Pichon M, Hollenstein M. Controlled enzymatic synthesis of oligonucleotides. Commun Chem 2024; 7:138. [PMID: 38890393 PMCID: PMC11189433 DOI: 10.1038/s42004-024-01216-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Oligonucleotides are advancing as essential materials for the development of new therapeutics, artificial genes, or in storage of information applications. Hitherto, our capacity to write (i.e., synthesize) oligonucleotides is not as efficient as that to read (i.e., sequencing) DNA/RNA. Alternative, biocatalytic methods for the de novo synthesis of natural or modified oligonucleotides are in dire need to circumvent the limitations of traditional synthetic approaches. This Perspective article summarizes recent progress made in controlled enzymatic synthesis, where temporary blocked nucleotides are incorporated into immobilized primers by polymerases. While robust protocols have been established for DNA, RNA or XNA synthesis is more challenging. Nevertheless, using a suitable combination of protected nucleotides and polymerase has shown promises to produce RNA oligonucleotides even though the production of long DNA/RNA/XNA sequences (>1000 nt) remains challenging. We surmise that merging ligase- and polymerase-based synthesis would help to circumvent the current shortcomings of controlled enzymatic synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maëva Pichon
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR3523, Department of Structural Biology and Chemistry, Laboratory for Bioorganic Chemistry of Nucleic Acids, 28, Rue du Docteur Roux, 75724, Paris Cedex 15, France
| | - Marcel Hollenstein
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, CNRS UMR3523, Department of Structural Biology and Chemistry, Laboratory for Bioorganic Chemistry of Nucleic Acids, 28, Rue du Docteur Roux, 75724, Paris Cedex 15, France.
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3
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Majumdar B, Sarma D, Yu Y, Lozoya-Colinas A, Chaput JC. Increasing the functional density of threose nucleic acid. RSC Chem Biol 2024; 5:41-48. [PMID: 38179195 PMCID: PMC10763562 DOI: 10.1039/d3cb00159h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Chemical strategies that augment genetic polymers with amino acid residues that are overrepresented on the paratope surface of an antibody offer a promising route for enhancing the binding properties of nucleic acid aptamers. Here, we describe the chemical synthesis of α-l-threofuranosyl cytidine nucleoside triphosphate (tCTP) carrying either a benzyl or phenylpropyl side chain at the pyrimidine C-5 position. Polymerase recognition studies indicate that both substrates are readily incorporated into a full-length α-l-threofuranosyl nucleic acid (TNA) product by extension of a DNA primer-template duplex with an engineered TNA polymerase. Similar primer extension reactions performed using nucleoside triphosphate mixtures containing both C-5 modified tCTP and C-5 modified tUTP substrates enable the production of doubly modified TNA strands for a panel of 20 chemotype combinations. Kinetic measurements reveal faster on-rates (kon) and tighter binding affinity constants (Kd) for engineered versions of TNA aptamers carrying chemotypes at both pyrimidine positions as compared to their singly modified counterparts. These findings expand the chemical space of evolvable non-natural genetic polymers by offering a path for improving the quality of biologically stable TNA aptamers for future clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biju Majumdar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA +1 949-824-8149
| | - Daisy Sarma
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA +1 949-824-8149
| | - Yutong Yu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA +1 949-824-8149
| | - Adriana Lozoya-Colinas
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA +1 949-824-8149
| | - John C Chaput
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA +1 949-824-8149
- Department of Chemistry, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California Irvine CA 92697-3958 USA
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4
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Lozoya-Colinas A, Yu Y, Chaput JC. Functionally Enhanced XNA Aptamers Discovered by Parallelized Library Screening. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:25789-25796. [PMID: 37962593 PMCID: PMC10690791 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c09497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
In vitro evolution strategies have been used for >30 years to generate nucleic acid aptamers against therapeutic targets of interest, including disease-associated proteins. However, this process requires many iterative cycles of selection and amplification, which severely restricts the number of target and library design combinations that can be explored in parallel. Here, we describe a single-round screening approach to aptamer discovery that relies on function-enhancing chemotypes to increase the distribution of high-affinity sequences in a random-sequence library. We demonstrate the success of de novo discovery by affinity selection of threomers against the receptor binding domain of the S1 protein from SARS-CoV-2. Detailed biochemical characterization of the enriched population identified threomers with binding affinity values that are comparable to aptamers produced by conventional SELEX. This work establishes a highly parallelizable path for querying diverse chemical repertoires and may offer a viable route for accelerating the discovery of therapeutic aptamers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adriana Lozoya-Colinas
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of
California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3958, United States
| | - Yutong Yu
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of
California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3958, United States
| | - John C. Chaput
- Department
of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of
California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3958, United States
- Department
of Chemistry, University of California,
Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3958, United States
- Department
of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, University
of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3958, United States
- Department
of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California 92697-3958, United States
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5
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Kuprikova N, Ondruš M, Bednárová L, Riopedre-Fernandez M, Slavětínská L, Sýkorová V, Hocek M. Superanionic DNA: enzymatic synthesis of hypermodified DNA bearing four different anionic substituents at all four nucleobases. Nucleic Acids Res 2023; 51:11428-11438. [PMID: 37870471 PMCID: PMC10681718 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkad893] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Revised: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023] Open
Abstract
We designed and synthesized a set of four 2'-deoxyribonucleoside 5'-O-triphosphates (dNTPs) derived from 5-substituted pyrimidines and 7-substituted 7-deazapurines bearing anionic substituents (carboxylate, sulfonate, phosphonate, and phosphate). The anion-linked dNTPs were used for enzymatic synthesis of modified and hypermodified DNA using KOD XL DNA polymerase containing one, two, three, or four modified nucleotides. The polymerase was able to synthesize even long sequences of >100 modified nucleotides in a row by primer extension (PEX). We also successfully combined two anionic and two hydrophobic dNTPs bearing phenyl and indole moieties. In PCR, the combinations of one or two modified dNTPs gave exponential amplification, while most of the combinations of three or four modified dNTPs gave only linear amplification in asymmetric PCR. The hypermodified ONs were successfully re-PCRed and sequenced by Sanger sequencing. Biophysical studies including hybridization, denaturation, CD spectroscopy and molecular modelling and dynamics suggest that the presence of anionic modifications in one strand decreases the stability of duplexes while still preserving the B-DNA conformation, whilst the DNA hypermodified in both strands adopts a different secondary structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Kuprikova
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, CZ-12843 Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Marek Ondruš
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Lucie Bednárová
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Miguel Riopedre-Fernandez
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Lenka Poštová Slavětínská
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Veronika Sýkorová
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Hocek
- Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, CZ-12843 Prague 2, Czech Republic
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6
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Ji D, Feng H, Liew SW, Kwok CK. Modified nucleic acid aptamers: development, characterization, and biological applications. Trends Biotechnol 2023; 41:1360-1384. [PMID: 37302912 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2023.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides that bind to their targets via specific structural interactions. To improve the properties and performance of aptamers, modified nucleotides are incorporated during or after a selection process such as systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). We summarize the latest modified nucleotides and strategies used in modified (mod)-SELEX and post-SELEX to develop modified aptamers, highlight the methods used to characterize aptamer-target interactions, and present recent progress in modified aptamers that recognize different targets. We discuss the challenges and perspectives in further advancing the methodologies and toolsets to accelerate the discovery of modified aptamers, improve the throughput of aptamer-target characterization, and expand the functional diversity and complexity of modified aptamers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danyang Ji
- Department of Chemistry and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Hengxin Feng
- Department of Chemistry and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Shiau Wei Liew
- Department of Chemistry and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, SAR, China
| | - Chun Kit Kwok
- Department of Chemistry and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, SAR, China; Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China.
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7
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Jestřábová I, Poštová Slavětínská L, Hocek M. Arylethynyl- or Alkynyl-Linked Pyrimidine and 7-Deazapurine 2'-Deoxyribonucleoside 3'-Phosphoramidites for Chemical Synthesis of Hypermodified Hydrophobic Oligonucleotides. ACS OMEGA 2023; 8:39447-39453. [PMID: 37901526 PMCID: PMC10601081 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c05202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023]
Abstract
We designed and synthesized a set of 2'-deoxyribonucleoside 3'-phosphoramidites derived from 5-phenylethynyluracil, 5-(pentyn-1-yl)cytosine, 7-(indol-3-yl)ethynyl-7-deazaadenine, and 7-isopropylethynyl-7-deazaguanine. These nucleoside phosphoramidites were successfully used for automated solid-phase synthesis of oligonucleotides containing one or several modifications, including fully modified sequences where every nucleobase was displaying a modification, and their hybridization was studied. The phosphoramidite building blocks have potential for synthesis of hypermodified aptamers and other functional nucleic acid-based polymers, which sequence-specifically display amino acid-like hydrophobic substituents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivana Jestřábová
- Institute
of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech
Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Department
of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, CZ-12843 Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Lenka Poštová Slavětínská
- Institute
of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech
Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
| | - Michal Hocek
- Institute
of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Czech
Academy of Sciences, Flemingovo nam. 2, CZ-16000 Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Department
of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Hlavova 8, CZ-12843 Prague 2, Czech Republic
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8
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Kimoto M, Tan HP, Matsunaga KI, Binte Mohd Mislan NA, Kawai G, Hirao I. Strict Interactions of Fifth Letters, Hydrophobic Unnatural Bases, in XenoAptamers with Target Proteins. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:20432-20441. [PMID: 37677157 PMCID: PMC10515488 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c06122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
XenoAptamers are DNA fragments containing additional letters (unnatural bases, UBs) that bind specifically to their target proteins with high affinities (sub-nanomolar KD values). One of the UBs is the highly hydrophobic 7-(2-thienyl)imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (Ds), which significantly increases XenoAptamers' affinities to targets. Originally, Ds was developed as a third base pair with a complementary UB, 2-nitro-4-propynylpyrrole (Px), for replication, and thus it can be used for aptamer generation by an evolutional engineering method involving PCR amplification. However, it is unclear whether the Ds base is the best component as the hydrophobic fifth-letter ligand for interactions with target proteins. To optimize the ligand structure of the fifth letter, we prepared 13 Ds variants and examined the affinities of XenoAptamers containing these variants to target proteins. The results obtained using four XenoAptamers prepared by the replacement of Ds bases with variants indicated that subtle changes in the chemical structure of Ds significantly affect the XenoAptamer affinities. Among the variants, placing either 4-(2-thienyl)pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine (Ys) or 4-(2-thienyl)benzimidazole (Bs) at specific Ds positions in each original XenoAptamer greatly improved their affinities to targets. The Ys and Bs bases are variants derived by replacing only one nitrogen with a carbon in the Ds base. These results demonstrate the strict intramolecular interactions, which are not simple hydrophobic contacts between UBs and targets, thus providing a method to mature XenoAptamers' affinities to targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michiko Kimoto
- Xenolis
Pte. Ltd., 85 Science
Park Drive, #02-05B, The Cavendish, Singapore 118259, Singapore
| | - Hui Pen Tan
- Xenolis
Pte. Ltd., 85 Science
Park Drive, #02-05B, The Cavendish, Singapore 118259, Singapore
| | - Ken-ichiro Matsunaga
- Xenolis
Pte. Ltd., 85 Science
Park Drive, #02-05B, The Cavendish, Singapore 118259, Singapore
| | | | - Gota Kawai
- Chiba
Institute of Technology (CIT), Tsudanuma 2-17-1, Narashino, Chiba 275-0016, Japan
| | - Ichiro Hirao
- Xenolis
Pte. Ltd., 85 Science
Park Drive, #02-05B, The Cavendish, Singapore 118259, Singapore
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Paul AR, Falsaperna M, Lavender H, Garrett MD, Serpell CJ. Selection of optimised ligands by fluorescence-activated bead sorting. Chem Sci 2023; 14:9517-9525. [PMID: 37712023 PMCID: PMC10498682 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc03581f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The chemistry of aptamers is largely limited to natural nucleotides, and although modifications of nucleic acids can enhance target aptamer affinity, there has not yet been a technology for selecting the right modifications in the right locations out of the vast number of possibilities, because enzymatic amplification does not transmit sequence-specific modification information. Here we show the first method for the selection of specific nucleoside modifications that increase aptamer binding efficacy, using the oncoprotein EGFR as a model target. Using fluorescence-activated bead sorting (FABS), we have successfully selected optimized aptamers from a library of >65 000 variations. Hits were identified by tandem mass spectrometry and validated by using an EGFR binding assay and computational docking studies. Our results provide proof of concept for this novel strategy for the selection of chemically optimised aptamers and offer a new method for rapidly synthesising and screening large aptamer libraries to accelerate diagnostic and drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra R Paul
- School of Chemistry and Forensic Sciences, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Kent Canterbury CT2 7NH UK
| | - Mario Falsaperna
- School of Chemistry and Forensic Sciences, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Kent Canterbury CT2 7NH UK
| | - Helen Lavender
- Avvinity Therapeutics 66 Prescot Street London E1 8NN UK
| | - Michelle D Garrett
- School of Biosciences, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Kent Canterbury CT2 7NJ UK
| | - Christopher J Serpell
- School of Chemistry and Forensic Sciences, Division of Natural Sciences, University of Kent Canterbury CT2 7NH UK
- School of Pharmacy, University College London London WC1N 1AX UK
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