AS1411 is a first-in-class anticancer agent, currently in phase II clinical trials. It is a quadruplex-forming oligodeoxynucleotide that binds to nucleolin as an aptamer, but its mechanism of action is not completely understood. Mechanistic insights could lead to clinically useful markers for AS1411 response and to novel targeted therapies. Previously, we proposed a model where cell surface nuc...

Background: It has been expected that AS1411 aptamer could work against the cancer cells. Although the general information is available, there is still lack of details for the purpose. Therefore, activity of AS1411 aptamer against the nucleolin (NCL) target of cancer cells has been investigated in current work at the molecular scale. In addition, the same features have been also investigated fo...

We sought to determine whether nucleolin, a bcl-2 mRNA-binding protein, has a role in the regulation of bcl-2 mRNA stability in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Furthermore, we examined the efficacy of the aptamer AS1411 in targeting nucleolin and inducing bcl-2 mRNA instability and cytotoxicity in these cells. AS1411 at 5 micromol/L inhibited the growth of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells, ...

Retinoblastoma (RB) is an intraocular childhood tumor which, if left untreated, leads to blindness and mortality. Nucleolin (NCL) protein which is differentially expressed on the tumor cell surface, binds ligands and regulates carcinogenesis and angiogenesis. We found that NCL is over expressed in RB tumor tissues and cell lines compared to normal retina. We studied the effect of nucleolin-apta...

Introduction: A main choice for cancer treatment is radiotherapy. But, the radiotherapy disadvantage is damages caused by radiation given to normal tissues/organs surrounding cancer. One way to avoid this is via increasing radiosensitization of cancer cells. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have shown sensitizing effect on cancer cells by enhancing their absorbed dose. Unlike earlier ...

Studying gene expression profile in a single cancer cell is important because multiple genes are associated with cancer development. Quantum dots (QDs) have been utilized as biological probes for imaging and detection. QDs display specific optical and electrical properties that depend on their size that can be applied for imaging and sensing applications. In this study, simultaneous imaging of ...

Constitutively activated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) factor is an important therapeutic target in head and neck cancer (HNC). Despite early promising results, a reliable systemic delivery system for STAT3- targeted oligonucleotide (ODN) drugs is still needed for future clinical translation of anti-STAT3 therapies. We engineered and tested a novel ODN duplex/gold n...

Nucleolin is a multifunctional protein that carries several post-translational modifications. We characterized nucleolin acetylation and developed antibodies specific to nucleolin K88 acetylation. Using this antibody we show that nucleolin is acetylated in vivo and is not localized in the nucleoli, but instead is distributed throughout the nucleoplasm. Immunofluorescence studies indicate that a...

Background: Identifying and measuring food pathogens and environmental samples require accurate and high-sensitivity and specific methods. In addition, Salmonella is a zoonotic bacteria that can directly cause human disease. The aim of this work is to develop anti-Salmonella aptamer using bioinformatic tools and enzyme-linked aptamer assay (ELAA) for assessment of affinity and identifying Salmo...