AS1411 is a G-rich aptamer that forms a stable G-quadruplex structure and displays antineoplastic properties both in vitro and in vivo. This oligonucleotide has undergone phase 2 clinical trials. The major molecular target of AS1411 is nucleolin (NCL), a multifunctional nucleolar protein also present in the cell membrane where it selectively mediates the binding and uptake of AS1411. Cell-surfa...

AS1411 binds nucleolin (NCL) and is the first oligodeoxynucleotide aptamer to reach phase I and II clinical trials for the treatment of several cancers. However, the mechanisms by which AS1411 targets and kills glioma cells and tissues remain unclear. Here we report that AS1411 induces cell apoptosis and cycle arrest, and inhibits cell viability by up-regulation of p53 and down-regulation of Bc...

We used a biochemical screen to identify nucleolin, a key factor in ribosome biogenesis, as a high-affinity binding partner for the heterotrimeric human replication protein A (hRPA). Binding studies in vitro demonstrated that the two proteins physically interact, with nucleolin using an unusual contact with the small hRPA subunit. Nucleolin significantly inhibited both simian virus 40 (SV-40) o...

In plants as well as in animals, hundreds to thousands of 45S rRNA gene copies localize in Nucleolus Organizer Regions (NORs), and the activation or repression of specific sets of rDNA depends on epigenetic mechanisms. Previously, we reported that the Arabidopsis thaliana nucleolin protein NUC1, an abundant and evolutionarily conserved nucleolar protein in eukaryotic organisms, is required for ...

PURPOSE Nucleolin is a major nucleolar protein that has been shown to be overexpressed in rapidly dividing cells and plays an essential role in cell proliferation and survival. However, the expression and significance of nucleolin in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) have not been studied. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We used a tissue microarray consisting of 1.0-mm cores of tumor and paired nonn...

BACKGROUND Urokinase (uPA) and the urokinase receptor (uPAR) form a multifunctional system capable of concurrently regulating pericellular proteolysis, cell-surface adhesion, and mitogenesis. The role of uPA and uPAR in directed proteolysis is well established and its function in cellular adhesiveness has recently been clarified by numerous studies. The molecular mechanisms underlying the mitog...

A versatile approach to modify metal–organic framework nanoparticles (NMOFs) with nucleic acid tethers, using the “click chemistry” method is introduced. The nucleic acid-functionalized NMOFs are used to prepare stimuli-responsive carriers of loads (fluorescence probes or anti-cancer drugs). Two different stimuli-responsive nucleic acid-based NMOFs are presented. One system involves the prepara...

In this study, we designed aptamer-gated nanocapsules for the specific targeting of cargo to bacteria with controlled release of antibiotics based on aptamer-receptor interactions. Aptamer-gates caused a specific decrease in minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of vancomycin for Staphylococcus aureus when mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were used for bacteria-targeted delivery.

We used atomic force microscopy (AFM) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to study the surface conformations of an anti-ricin aptamer and its specific binding affinity for ricin molecules. The effect of surface modification of the Au(111) substrate on the aptamer affinity was also estimated. The AFM topography images had a resolution high enough to distinguish different aptamer conformations. T...

hepatitis c virus (hcv) encodes two envelope glycoproteins, e1 and e2. our previous work selected a specific aptamer ze2, which could bind to e2 with high affinity, with a great potential for developing new molecular probes as an early diagnostic reagents or therapeutic drugs targeting hcv. in this study, the binding sites between e2 and aptamer ze2 were further explored. e2 was truncated to 15...