biostudies-literatureRuiz-Ciancio DNHLBI NIH HHSNCI NIH HHS698-712https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC10469072biostudies-literatureUnknown33Despite improvements in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) treatment, a significant number of patients experience relapse of the disease, resulting in poor prognosis and high mortality. One of the drawbacks of current B-ALL treatments is the high toxicity associated with the non-specificity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Targeted therapy is an appealing strategy to treat B-ALL to mitigate these toxic off-target effects. One such target is the B cell surface protein CD22. The restricted expression of CD22 on the B-cell lineage and its ligand-induced internalizing properties make it an attractive target in cases of B cell malignancies. To target B-ALL and the CD22 protein, we performed cell internalization SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) followed by molecular docking to identify internalizing aptamers specific for B-ALL cells that bind the CD22 cell-surface receptor. We identified two RNA aptamers, B-ALL1 and B-ALL2, that target human malignant B cells, with B-ALL1 the first documented RNA aptamer interacting with the CD22 antigen. These B-ALL-specific aptamers represent an important first step toward developing novel targeted therapies for B cell malignancy treatments.Molecular therapy. Nucleic acidsSelection of a novel cell-internalizing RNA aptamer specific for CD22 antigen in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.PMC10469072R01 CA138503R01 HL139581P30 CA086862Di Bartolo ALLin LHSanchez DMestre MBRuiz-Ciancio DBarros MNMasone DGiangrande PHVeeramani SThiel WHfalseSelection of a novel cell-internalizing RNA aptamer specific for CD22 antigen in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Despite improvements in B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) treatment, a significant number of patients experience relapse of the disease, resulting in poor prognosis and high mortality. One of the drawbacks of current B-ALL treatments is the high toxicity associated with the non-specificity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Targeted therapy is an appealing strategy to treat B-ALL to mitigate these toxic off-target effects. One such target is the B cell surface protein CD22. The restricted expression of CD22 on the B-cell lineage and its ligand-induced internalizing properties make it an attractive target in cases of B cell malignancies. To target B-ALL and the CD22 protein, we performed cell internalization SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) followed by molecular docking to identify internalizing aptamers specific for B-ALL cells that bind the CD22 cell-surface receptor. We identified two RNA aptamers, B-ALL1 and B-ALL2, that target human malignant B cells, with B-ALL1 the first documented RNA aptamer interacting with the CD22 antigen. These B-ALL-specific aptamers represent an important first step toward developing novel targeted therapies for B cell malignancy treatments.2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Sep2026-06-23T03:17:42.06Z2025-04-20T03:47:16.728ZS-EPMC104690723766297010.1016/j.omtn.2023.07.028