A primer that covers the discovery and validation process for novel aptamers and highlights recent applications of aptamers in biosensing and cell separations.
The manufacturing process of chimeric
antigen receptor
T cell therapies
includes isolation systems that provide pure T cells. Current magnetic-activated
cell sorting and immunoaffinity chromatography methods produce desired
cells with high purity and yield but require expensive equipment and
reagents and involve time-consuming incubation steps. Here, we demonstrate
that aptamers can be employed in a continuous-flow resin platform
for both depletion of monocytes and selection of CD8+ T
cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells at low cost with high
purity and throughput. Aptamer-mediated cell selection could potentially
enable fully synthetic, traceless isolations of leukocyte subsets
from a single isolation system.
In solid tumors, G0-like cell populations likely play important roles in maintaining cellular heterogeneity and promoting recurrence after standard of care. However, little is known about the mechanisms of tumor cell G0 ingress and egress. To discover regulators of G0-like states for glioblastoma (GBM), we performed a genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 screen in patient-derived GBM stem-like cells (GSCs) for genes that trap cells in G0-like states when inhibited. We identify the protein acetyltransferase KAT5 as a key regulator of G0 and cell cycle dynamics in GSCs and GSC-derived tumors. In primary gliomas, KAT5low cells display G0-like properties, while overall KAT5 activity increases from low to high grade tumors. Further, we find that KAT5 activity suppresses the emergence of non-dividing subpopulations with oligodendrocyte progenitor and radial glial cell characteristics both in vitro and in a GSC tumor model. These results reveal that KAT5 activity regulates transitions between non-dividing/slow cycling, neurodevelopmental, and proliferative states in GBM tumors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.