Review - Sgc8 aptamer - potential theranostic agent for cancer with PTK7 oncogenic target

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore

Aptamers have attracted exceptional attention in medical field due to intrinsic properties equivalent to antibodies, including high target affinity, low immunogenicity and toxicity, cost-effectiveness, ease of synthesis and modification, and stability under extreme conditions. Protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) is strongly linked to cancer progression, and aberrant PTK7 expression supports its use as a theranostic biomarker. Sgc8 aptamer was identified via cell-SELEX as a high-affinity binder to PTK7 and recognizes multiple PTK7-expressing cancer cells. Its modifiability enables conjugation with functional agents and drugs for targeted diagnosis and therapy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages21

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Abstract

Introduction

Review SCIENCE PROGRESS An overview of Sgc8 aptameras a potential theranostic agent for cancer with PTK7 oncogenic target Yue Wang 1,2 , Ziyin Yuan2,3, Lina Zhai2, Man Lv2,4, Haroon Iqbal2,5, Uzair Ur-Rehman2, Xin Ning2,6, Zihui Jin2,3, Zhou Yi2,3 and Run Xiao 1,2 1 Medical College of Tianjin University, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China 2Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China 3College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China 4School of Life Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China 5Eye Hospital, School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China 6Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, China Science Progress 2025, Vol. 108(1) 1–21 © The Author(s) 2025 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/00368504251325385](DOI: 10.1177/00368504251325385)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/00368504251325385)[journals.sagepub.com/home/sci](journals.sagepub.com/home/sci) Abstract Aptamers have attracted exceptional attention in medical ﬁeld due to their intrinsic properties equivalent to antibodies such as high target afﬁnity, low immunogenicity and toxicity, cost-effectiveness and ease of synthesis and modiﬁcation, and good stability under extreme conditions, thereby providing new avenues for basic research and clinical application. Protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) has been proved to be closely linked with the progression of many types of cancer. The aberrant expression of PTK7 has positioned it as a potential theranostic biomarker for multiple cancers. Aptamer sgc8 was initially identiﬁed for its high-afﬁnity binding to PTK7 on the T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell line (CCRF-CEM) through cell-SELEX (systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment) and subsequently has demonstrated the ability to effectively recognize many types of cancer cells that express PTK7 oncogenic target. The easily modiﬁable nature of sgc8 facilitates its conjugation with functional agents and drugs. This identiﬁcation mode and modiﬁcation approach of aptamers against cancer cells provides a potential strategy for cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this review, we discuss the potential of sgc8 aptamers in early cancer diagnosis and targeted therapy, focusing speciﬁcally on their interaction with the oncogenic biomarker PTK7. Corresponding author: Run Xiao, Medical College of Tianjin University, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China. Email: [xiaorun1984@ucas.ac.cn](xiaorun1984@ucas.ac.cn) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Keywords PTK7, Sgc8, aptamer, cell-SELEX, theranostics Introduction Precision medicine refers to the development of individualized diagnosis and treatment strategies for patients based on personal genomic information in combination with proteomicsand other molecular pathological characteristics.1 As next generation of diagnosis and treatment, the concept of precision medicine is of epoch-making signiﬁcance and has brought signiﬁcant changes in contemporary medical practice. And the targeted diagnosis and therapy, serve as a vital component ofprecision medicine, prompting substantial efforts towards the development of targeted drugs.2 Research and clinical trials over the past few decades have consistently demonstrated the advantag

FAQs

Why are aptamers considered promising in medical applications?

Aptamers offer high target affinity, low immunogenicity and toxicity, cost-effectiveness, easy synthesis/modification, and good stability under extreme conditions.

What role does PTK7 play in cancer according to the review?

PTK7 is closely linked to the progression of multiple cancers, and its aberrant expression makes it a potential theranostic biomarker.

How was the sgc8 aptamer identified, and what does it recognize?

Sgc8 was initially identified by cell-SELEX as a high-affinity binder to PTK7 on CCRF-CEM cells and can recognize many cancer cell types expressing PTK7.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by Theodore