- Zhang, Liqin;
- Yang, Zunyi;
- Le Trinh, Thu;
- Teng, I‐Ting;
- Wang, Sai;
- Bradley, Kevin M;
- Hoshika, Shuichi;
- Wu, Qunfeng;
- Cansiz, Sena;
- Rowold, Diane J;
- McLendon, Christopher;
- Kim, Myong‐Sang;
- Wu, Yuan;
- Cui, Cheng;
- Liu, Yuan;
- Hou, Weijia;
- Stewart, Kimberly;
- Wan, Shuo;
- Liu, Chen;
- Benner, Steven A;
- Tan, Weihong
Laboratory in vitro evolution (LIVE) might deliver DNA aptamers that bind proteins expressed on the surface of cells. In this work, we used cell engineering to place glypican 3 (GPC3), a possible marker for liver cancer theranostics, on the surface of a liver cell line. Libraries were then built from a six-letter genetic alphabet containing the standard nucleobases and two added nucleobases (2-amino-8H-imidazo[1,2-a][1,3,5]triazin-4-one and 6-amino-5-nitropyridin-2-one), Watson-Crick complements from an artificially expanded genetic information system (AEGIS). With counterselection against non-engineered cells, eight AEGIS-containing aptamers were recovered. Five bound selectively to GPC3-overexpressing cells. This selection-counterselection scheme had acceptable statistics, notwithstanding the possibility that cells engineered to overexpress GPC3 might also express different off-target proteins. This is the first example of such a combination.