AS1411 derivatives as carriers of G-quadruplex ligands for cervical cancer cells

Setembro 2019

Nucleic acid aptamers can specifically bind to target molecules on the cell membrane that mediate their entrance into the cells. Their small size, high binding affinity, specificity, good biocompatibility, stability and low immunogenicity make them ideal drug delivery systems for cancer therapy. These biopharmaceuticals have potential for the delivery of anticancer compounds to diseased tissues, increasing their effectiveness while mitigating the off-target toxicity towards healthy cells. Herein, we have studied two quadruplex-forming DNA sequences derived from the nucleolin-targeted aptamer AS1411 as supramolecular carriers for the cancer-selective delivery of acridine orange derivatives (C3, C5 and C8) in cervical cancer cells. The devised delivery strategy relied on the non-covalent association of the acridine derivatives and the G-quadruplex (G4) structures. This association is done with a high binding strength, as suggested by the obtained KD values in the 10−6–10−7 M range, leading to the thermal stabilization of the G4 structures, particularly for C8. The stability of the resulting supramolecular conjugates was evaluated in fetal bovine serum, which proved their resistance against serum nucleases up to 48 h. Previous studies showed that the tested acridine orange derivatives were cytotoxic towards cervical cancer cells (HeLa) and non-malignant cells. However, when conjugated to AS1411 derivatives, the cytotoxicity of the free ligands towards non-malignant cells was restrained. Furthermore, conjugated C3 showed an enhanced cytotoxicity against HeLa cancer cells. Confocal microscopy indicated that both G4 sequences appear to colocalize with nucleolin, suggesting their ability to recognize and bind nucleolin on the cell surface. Additionally, the results confirmed the internalization of these delivery systems into HeLa cancer cells and their sustained cell trafficking, although being able to dissociate intracellularly to deliver C8 to the nucleoli. Overall, we showed that AS1411-derived G4s can be used as a potential cancer drug delivery system for cervical cancer.

Autores da comunidade :

• 

  M

  Maria Paula Cordeiro Crespo Cabral Campello Aboim de Barros

  ist25375

  Afiliações e fontes

  IST > DECN

  Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências Nucleares

  IST > C2TN

  Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares

  De: orcid

  ID: 60350766

  De: cienciavitae

  ID: 701461

• 

  A

  António Manuel Rocha Paulo

  ist126677

  Afiliações e fontes

  IST > DECN

  Departamento de Engenharia e Ciências Nucleares

  IST > C2TN

  Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares

  De: cienciavitae

  ID: 819469

  De: orcid

  ID: 63148294

AO - Versão original do autor

Elsevier

https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/international-journal-of-pharmaceutics

International Journal of Pharmaceutics

118511

568

0378-5173

10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.118511

WOS:000482624300007

basic-medicine - Medicina Básica

Palavras-chave

• G-quadruplex aptamers
• Drug delivery
• AS1411 derivatives
• Acridine orange ligands
• Cervical cancer,

eng - Inglês

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.118511