Division of Clinical Immunology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Virol Sin. 2010 Feb;25(1):27-35. doi: 10.1007/s12250-010-3091-7. Epub 2010 Feb 12.
Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), a specific antigen on the membrane of Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-infected cells, provides a perfect target for therapeutic drugs. The development of reagents with high affinity and specificity to the HBsAg is of great significance to the early-stage diagnosis and treatment of HBV infection. Herein, we report the selection of RNA aptamers that can specifically bind to HBsAg protein and HBsAg-positive hepatocytes. One high affinity aptamer, HBs-A22, was isolated from an initial 115 mer library of ~1.1 x 10¹⁵ random-sequence RNA molecules using the SELEX procedure. The selected aptamer HBs-A22 bound specifically to hepatoma cell line HepG2.2.15 that expresses HBsAg but did not bind to HBsAg-devoid HepG2 cells. This is the first reported RNA aptamer which could bind to a HBV specific antigen. This newly isolated aptamer could be modified to deliver imaging, diagnostic, and therapeutic agents targeted at HBV-infected cells.
乙型肝炎病毒表面抗原（HBsAg）是乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）感染细胞表面的一种特异性抗原，为治疗药物提供了一个完美的靶点。开发对 HBsAg 具有高亲和力和特异性的试剂对于 HBV 感染的早期诊断和治疗具有重要意义。本研究报告了筛选能够特异性结合 HBsAg 蛋白和 HBsAg 阳性肝细胞的 RNA 适体。采用 SELEX 技术，从初始的 115 个核苷酸 (~1.1 x 10¹⁵ 个随机序列 RNA 分子)文库中筛选出一种高亲和力的适体 HBs-A22。该筛选出的适体 HBs-A22 特异性结合表达 HBsAg 的肝癌细胞系 HepG2.2.15，但不与缺乏 HBsAg 的 HepG2 细胞结合。这是首例报道的可与 HBV 特异性抗原结合的 RNA 适体。这种新分离的适体可以修饰后用于携带针对 HBV 感染细胞的成像、诊断和治疗试剂。
