{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T23:20:59Z","timestamp":1772234459497,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1754006400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a hematologic malignancy, is an important public health issue. It is a result of the abnormal proliferation of immature myeloid cells. Despite advancements in diagnostic procedures, the early identification of AML remains a significant clinical challenge, marking a distinctive niche for newer theranostic approaches to ameliorate diagnosis and treatment. Aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides capable of specific binding with high target affinity that have emerged as a promising candidate for molecular recognition in diagnostics and targeted therapy. In this study, we aimed to select and characterize a high-affinity aptamer for C-type lectin-like molecule-1 (CLL-1), an important cell surface marker for AML. CLL-1-specific aptamers were enriched in the context of iterative positive and negative rounds of selection in a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) approach. In the following, flow cytometry assessment demonstrated the progression of enrichment and then confirmed their performance. The high-throughput sequencing supported the enrichment of five candidate aptamers. In addition, flow cytometry and specificity assays determined that aptamer-2 specifically bound to CLL-1 with an exceedingly high degree of specificity (94.3%) compared with negative controls and other aptamers. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) valuation revealed that aptamer-2 has a K<jats:sub>d<\/jats:sub> of 1.55 \u00d7 10<jats:sup>\u22128<\/jats:sup> M, which indicates a high affinity of binding to CLL-1. Docking analysis reveals a stable and specific interaction between aptamer-2 and CLL-1, highlighting key binding regions and molecular contacts that may underpin targeted recognition. Taken together, the results put forward aptamer-2 as a highly specific and high-affinity candidate for targeting CLL-1. This study opens the prospect of using this aptamer for diagnostic approaches for AML. Further <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic> and translational studies on its efficacy and efficiency are needed to elucidate its performance in real-world scenarios.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2025.1601453","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]],"date-time":"2025-08-01T05:32:55Z","timestamp":1754026375000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Design and development of an aptamer targeting C-type lectin-like molecule-1 as a biomarker for acute myeloid leukemia: a SELEX approach"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Yiwen","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Qinhang","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shifeng","family":"Lou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hanqing","family":"Zeng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shu","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-031-67368-9_3","article-title":"Comparison of MIP-, Antibody- and aptamer-based biosensors for diagnostic technologies","volume-title":"Molecularly imprinted polymers: computational studies to advanced applications","author":"Altintas","year":"2025"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8443","DOI":"10.1158\/0008-5472.can-04-1659","article-title":"C-type lectin-like molecule-1: a novel myeloid cell surface marker associated with acute myeloid leukemia","volume":"64","author":"Bakker","year":"2004","journal-title":"Cancer Res."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"4377","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules24234377","article-title":"Anything you can do, I can do better: can aptamers replace antibodies in clinical diagnostic applications?","volume":"24","author":"Bauer","year":"2019","journal-title":"Molecules"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e202318665","DOI":"10.1002\/anie.202318665","article-title":"Development of better aptamers: structured library approaches, selection methods, and chemical modifications","volume":"63","author":"Brown","year":"2024","journal-title":"Angew. 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