{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,29]],"date-time":"2026-04-29T16:25:33Z","timestamp":1777479933513,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,29]],"date-time":"2021-12-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640736000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000054","name":"National Cancer Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1R01CA136688"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1R01CA136688"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000054","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000002","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["1R21AI146924"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1R21AI146924"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000002","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Genes"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Unlike microbes that infect the human body, cancer cells are descended from normal cells and are not easily recognizable as \u201cforeign\u201d by the immune system of the host. However, if the malignant cells can be specifically earmarked for attack by a synthetic \u201cdesignator\u201d, the powerful effector mechanisms of the immune response can be conscripted to treat cancer. To implement this strategy, we have been developing aptamer-derived molecular adaptors to invoke synthetic immune responses against cancer cells. Here we describe multi-valent aptamers that simultaneously bind target molecules on the surface of cancer cells and an activated complement protein, which would tag the target molecules and their associated cells as \u201cforeign\u201d and trigger multiple effector mechanisms. Increased deposition of the complement proteins on the surface of cancer cells via aptamer binding to membrane targets could induce the formation of the membrane attack complex or cytotoxic degranulation by phagocytes and natural killer cells, thereby causing irreversible destruction of the targeted cells. Specifically, we designed and constructed a bi-functional aptamer linking EGFR and C3b\/iC3b, and used it in a cell-based assay to cause lysis of MDA-MB-231 and BT-20 breast cancer cells, with either human or mouse serum as the source of complement factors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/genes13010086","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,29]],"date-time":"2021-12-29T08:12:15Z","timestamp":1640765535000},"page":"86","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Complement-Mediated Selective Tumor Cell Lysis Enabled by Bi-Functional RNA Aptamers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Prabhat K.","family":"Mallik","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and the RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Kimi","family":"Nishikawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and the RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pramit","family":"Mallik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and the RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Hua","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences and the RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY 12222, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"35","DOI":"10.1034\/j.1600-065X.2001.1800103.x","article-title":"Structure and biology of complement protein C3, a connecting link between innate and acquired immunity","volume":"180","author":"Sahu","year":"2001","journal-title":"Immunol. 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