Aptamers as Innovative Tools for Prostate Cancer: Tumor Recognition and Biological Activity

Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common malignancy among men worldwide and remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, highlighting the need for novel molecular tools for diagnosis and targeted therapy. In this study, five DNA aptamers (AptaP1-AptaP5) generated by Cell-SELEX against the LNCaP prostate cancer cell line were characterized for their structural features, tumor recognition, and biological activity. Secondary structure prediction and thermodynamic stability were evaluated in silico. Aptamer recognition was evaluated by flow cytometry in prostate cancer cell lines and by complementary aptafluorescence analyses in both cell lines and a prostate tissue microarray (TMA), while functional effects were evaluated by assessment of metabolic activity and proliferation assays. The selected aptamers preferentially recognized LNCaP and DU145 cells over RWPE-1, whereas no tumor-selective binding was observed for PC3 cells. Aptafluorescence analyses in the prostate TMA demonstrated differential tissue recognition, with signals detected across both primary and metastatic prostate cancer specimens. Moreover, all aptamers significantly reduced metabolic activity and proliferation in prostate cancer cells after 48 h of treatment. Collectively, these findings characterized novel DNA aptamers with promising potential as tools for prostate cancer detection and provide a basis for further investigation of their binding properties and biological effects in clinically relevant models.