A new small cell lung cancer biomarker identified by Cell-SELEX generated aptamers

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been a recalcitrant cancer without significant breakthroughs in clinical treatment during the past three decades. As there is a lack of effective protein inhibitor for SCLC targeted therapy, the discovery of new druggable SCLC biomarkers is a pressing work. Here we identified a new protein biomarker of SCLC, which is high density lipoprotein binding protein (HDLBP), through the aptamer generated by cell-SELEX against SCLC cells. Immunohistochemistry results showed an elevated HDLBP level in SCLC tissues from clinical samples. Attenuating HDLBP expression with siRNA inhibited proliferation and metastasis of SCLC cells in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. Mechanism study revealed the new function of HDLBP in promoting G1/S cell cycle transition for tumor progression. While the inhibitor of HDLBP has been reported, our work suggested a promising potential of targeting HDLBP to improve the treatment of fatal SCLC and a powerful tool of using cell-SELEX in cancer medicine.