Abstract
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenic mitogen involved in promoting tumor angiogenesis inside the body. VEGF is a key protein required for progression of tumor from benign to malignant phenotype. In this study, we investigated the binding affinity of a previously selected 26-mer DNA aptamer sequence (SL(2)-B) against heparin binding domain (HBD) of VEGF(165) protein. The SL(2)-B was first chemically modified by introduction of phosphorothioate linkages (PS-linkages). Subsequently, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) were used to determine the binding affinity, specificity and to deduce the conformation of PS-modified SL(2)-B sequence. Finally, antiproliferative activity of the modified SL(2)-B sequence on Hep G2 cancer cells was investigated. Our results demonstrate a marked enhancement in the biostability of the SL(2)-B sequence after PS modification. The modified SL(2)-B sequence also exhibits enhanced antiproliferative activity against Hep G2 cancer cells in hypoxia conditions. In addition, modified SL(2)-B sequence inhibits the expression of Jagged-1 protein, which is one of the ligands to VEGF linked delta/jagged-notch signaling pathway.