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Nucleolin or C23, is one of the most abundant non-ribosomal phosphoproteins of nucleolus. However, in several cancers, nucleolin is highly expressed both intracellularly and on the cell surface. So, it is considered as a potential target for the diagnosis and cancer therapy. Targeting nucleolin by compounds such as AS1411 aptamer can reduce tumor cell growth. In this regard, interest has increased in nucleolin as a molecular target for overcoming cancer therapy challenges. This review paper addressed recent progresses in nucleolin targeting by the G-rich AS1411 aptamer in the field of cancer therapy mainly over the past three years. • Nucleolin is highly expressed both intracellularly and on the cell surface. • It is considered as a potential target for the cancer diagnosis and therapy. • AS1411 a 26-mer DNA aptamer that binds nucleolin. • This review paper addressed recent progresses in nucleolin targeting by the AS1411. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G-quadruplexes are supramolecular structures of G-rich nucleic acid, formed by non-canonical base pairing in the presence of specific environmental inducers. These structures have been vastly considered in diagnostic and therapeutic applications. However, detailed information on structure, optical properties and thermal stability of G-quadruplex potent oligonucleotides is scarce. Herein, optical properties and thermodynamic stability of AS1411 quadruplex is reported for various concentrations of potassium and lead ions. Circular dichroism showed that AS1411 ss-DNA folds into parallel conformation in the presence of metal ions and molecular crowding condition. UV–vis spectroscopy indicated formation of quadruplex and fluorescent spectroscopy revealed intercalation of PicoGreen in its structure, with enhancement of emission intensity upon increment of metal ion concentration. This investigation also proposes high-throughput and reliable analysis of AS1411 quadruplex's thermal stability by real-time PCR technique, which can be further applied for other quadruplex structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]