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Published on: September 13, 2022
Molecular aptamers for drug delivery.
Weihong Tan1, Hui Wang, Yan Chen
1State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, Hunan University, Changsha, 410082, China. tan@chem.ufl.edu
Trends in Biotechnology
|August 9, 2011
Summary
Aptamers offer precise drug delivery for targeted therapies, especially in cancer treatment. Integrating aptamers with nanomaterials like gold nanorods enhances their therapeutic potential.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Nanotechnology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Active drug targeting offers significant potential in medicine, particularly for cancer treatment.
- Aptamers are advantageous due to their high affinity, specificity, ease of synthesis, and rapid tissue penetration.
- Aptamers are emerging as powerful alternatives to antibodies in diagnostics and therapeutics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in aptamer-mediated drug delivery systems.
- To highlight the integration of aptamers with various nanomaterials for therapeutic and disease-targeting applications.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on aptamer-nanomaterial conjugates.
- Analysis of aptamer properties and their role in targeted delivery.
- Exploration of different nanomaterial platforms used for aptamer integration.
Main Results:
- Aptamers demonstrate high specificity and affinity for cellular, tissue, and disease targets.
- Integration with nanomaterials like gold nanorods, DNA micelles, hydrogels, and carbon nanotubes enhances aptamer functionality.
- Aptamer-nanomaterial systems show promise for targeted drug delivery and disease treatment.
Conclusions:
- Aptamer-nanomaterial conjugates represent a promising frontier in targeted therapeutics.
- Further research into these systems could lead to more effective and specific medical treatments.
- The versatility of aptamers combined with nanomaterials opens new avenues for disease management.
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