In vivo inhibition of circulating tumor cells by two apoptosis-promoting circular aptamers with enhanced specificity

Abstract

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are known as the root cause of cancer metastasis that accounts for 90% of cancer death. Owing to the rarity of blood CTCs and their microenvironmental complexity, the existing biotechnology could not precisely capture and apoptosize CTCs in vivo for cancer metastasis prevention. Here, we designed two double strand circular aptamers aimed to simultaneously target MUC1 and HER2 surface biomarkers on mesenchymal cancer cells. The circular aptamers are composed of a capture arm for binding and seizing CTCs and a circular body for resisting degradation by exonucleases. We conjugated the two circular aptamers onto dendrimer PAMAM G4.5 (dcAp1-G-dcAp2), and the conjugate entity showed both significantly-enhanced biostability in serum for days compared with their linear counterparts and capture specificity in RBC (1:108) compared with their single circular aptamers. dcAp1-G-dcAp2 apoptosized the targeted cells and inhibited their bioenergetic activities significantly by lowing △Ψm, ATP and lactate productions while increasing ROS production. dcAp1-G-dcAp2 captured CTCs in mice in vivo and in patient blood. This study lays the foundation for developing multiple biostable circular aptamers and conjugating them together to precisely capture and apoptosize mesenchymal CTCs in vivo.