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Imaging of Cancer Cells and Dictated Cytotoxicity Using Aptamer‐Guided Hybridization Chain Reaction (HCR)‐Generated G‐Quadruplex Chains
Author(s) -
Jou Amily FangJu,
Chou YiTe,
Willner Itamar,
Ho Jaan Annie
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.202106147
Subject(s) - nucleolin , aptamer , cytotoxicity , photodynamic therapy , chemistry , cancer cell , nanotechnology , cancer research , breast cancer , g quadruplex , cancer , biophysics , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , dna , medicine , biochemistry , biology , organic chemistry , in vitro , cytoplasm , nucleolus
DNA nanotechnology provides powerful tools for developing cancer theranostics. Here we introduce the autonomous surface‐nucleolin‐guided HCR that leads to the polymerization of G‐quadruplex polymer chains, in which the Zn II ‐protoporphyrin IX is intercalated. We demonstrate that MDA‐MB‐231 (Triple Negative Breast Cancer cells, TNBC) with overexpressed surface nucleolin were able to induce HCR leading to the formation of the Zn II PPIX‐loaded G‐quadruplex polymer chains, while the M10 epithelial breast cells served as control. The Zn II PPIX‐loaded nanowires allow the selective imaging of TNBC, and their permeation into the TNBC leads to selective cytotoxicity and guided photodynamic therapy toward the cancer cells due to structural perturbation of the membranes. The aptamer‐guided HCR‐generated G‐quadruplex polymer chains may serve as a versatile tool to target TNBC featuring poor prognosis and high pathological risk of recurrence, thus offering a promising theranostic platform.