Aptamers for Cancer Diagnosis

Creative Biolabs is a world-leading provider of custom aptamer selection and development services. We utilize our many years of experience and the latest cutting-edge technologies to deliver complete aptamer-based solutions to our international customer base for a wide range of cancer research, diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Novel Solutions Driving Cancer Diagnostics

Early detection and accurate differentiation of cancer cells from normal cells are of utmost importance in cancer screening. The most aggressive cancers are often detected too late for successful treatment. Aptamers are short non-coding, single-stranded oligonucleotides developed through specific methods in vitro. Aptamers offer some unique abilities that are being applied to improve cancer detection. A variety of aptamers specifically bound to cancer biomarkers and cells had been selected. Moreover, taking advantage of nanomaterials, there were several aptamer-nanomaterial conjugates have been developed and widely investigated for diagnostics and targeted therapy of cancer.

Cancer Diagnosis Solutions

Selective aptamers for secreted tumor biomarkers and circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in acute myeloid leukemia, breast cancer, small cell lung cancer, and other forms of cancer are being widely used to develop more specific blood-based assays with enhanced sensitivity. Besides, selective aptamers are improving differentiation of tumor vs. normal tissue in MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computed tomography), and fluorescence imaging. Thus, a series of aptamers have been selected and applied in diagnostics.

• Detection of Cancer Biomarkers Using Aptamers

Biomarker detection plays a very important role in the early diagnosis and monitoring of curative effects. For instance, among the identified breast cancer-specific biomarkers, HER2 is one of the most important and commonly used biomarkers. It was reported that scientists once used cell-SELEX to select an anti-HER2 ssDNA aptamer which showed high binding affinity to HER2. Then, they developed a fluorescence-based system for HER2 in vitro detection and demonstrated its potential for the identification of the native HER2 protein in biological samples.

Fig.1 Aptamer-based detection of circulating targets. (Wu, 2021)

• Detection of Cancer Cells Using Aptamers

CTCs are important for early cancer diagnosis, monitoring of treatment effects, and prognosis. Aptamers evolved from both purified target-based SELEX and Cell-SELEX provide a powerful tool for detecting CTCs. Currently, a variety of aptamers targeting tumor cells have been screened by SELEX.

Table 1. Aptamers targeting markers of cancer cells. (Han, 2020)

• Detection of Cancer Tissues Using Aptamers

Currently, IHC is still the gold standard in cancer detection used to confirm the definite diagnosis. However, antibodies used in IHC are diffuse slowly, expensive, and always need signal amplification. In this respect, aptamers have attracted increasing attention as the means to overcome these limitations.

• Cancer Imaging Using Aptamers

By combining fluorescent molecules, radionuclides, and other imaging molecules, aptamers are becoming an important tool for cancer diagnosis. In vivo imaging technologies for tumor diagnosis include CT, MRI, radionuclide-based positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and luminescence imaging. For instance, IRD800CW labeled CD30 aptamer is used for in vivo imaging of lymphoma, and Cy5 labeled pancreatic cancer-specific aptamer is used for in vivo imaging of pancreatic cancer.

Services at Creative Biolabs

Creative Biolabs can develop highly-selective aptamers for biomarkers, CTCs, tissue detection. With enhanced selectivity, improved tissue penetration, reduced immunogenicity, and a multitude of detection options, cancer-specific aptamers offer exciting opportunities in blood-based cancer screening, molecular imaging, and targeted therapeutics. Services offered by Creative Biolabs also include negative selection, aptamer-based precipitation, aptamer-based sensors, and aptamer-based microarrays, allosteric/structure-switching aptamer.

Detection Platforms

• Aptamer-Nanoparticle (Apt-NP) System
• Aptamer-Microfluidic System
• Aptamer-Quantum Dots System
• Molecular beacon Aptamer System
• Fluorescent Aptamer System

Start your next project with Creative Biolabs. Contact us right now for more information.

References

1. Wu, L.; et al. Aptamer-Based Detection of Circulating Targets for Precision Medicine. Chemical Reviews. 2021.
2. Han, J.; et al. Application and development of aptamer in cancer: from clinical diagnosis to cancer therapy. Journal of Cancer. 2020, 11(23): 6902.

For Research Use Only.