Aptamers for intraoperative staining of brain glioblastoma
Objective: to obtain DNA aptamers capable of specifically contrasting the boundaries of brain glioblastoma in vivo
Aptamers were selected from a DNA library of oligonucleotides using the Cell SELEX method to postoperative glioblastoma tissues. Tissues of benign brain tumors and conventionally healthy brain tissues adjacent to tumor ones were used as negative targets.
The obtained aptamers specifically bound to the primary tumor of glioblastoma and did not stain healthy brain cells (Patent RU 2 654 665 C2). The putative targets of the obtained aptamers were glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), tubulin alpha-1C chain (TUBA1C) and myelin basic protein (MBP) acidic protein with post-translational modifications and pancreatic lipase-related protein 3. The 3D structure of the Gli-233 aptamer was determined using small-angle scattering and computer simulation methods. Aptamers conjugated with a fluorescent Brilliant Violet 650 dye (Gli-233BV) did not show in vivo toxicity in preclinical animal studies and were used for tumor visualization during fluorescence-guided surgery in patients. The anti-GBM aptamer was conjugated with a fluorescent Brilliant Violet 650 dye (Gli-233BV) and applied on tissues during the surgical removal.
