Aptamers for Targeted Drug Delivery.

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Molecular Biology
• Drug Delivery

Background:

• Aptamers are DNA or RNA molecules with specific 3D structures for therapeutic applications.
• Traditional SELEX (Systemic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment) often uses purified proteins, limiting aptamer generation for complex cell surface receptors.
• Cell surface receptors are crucial therapeutic targets but challenging to purify for aptamer selection.

Approach:

• Advances in recombinant protein technology provide purified receptor domains for aptamer screening.
• Cell-based SELEX allows aptamer selection against native cell surface proteins, even without precise target identification.
• This review examines recent advancements in aptamer-mediated delivery strategies.

Key Points:

• Aptamers binding cell surface receptors can mediate intracellular delivery of therapeutic payloads.
• Cell-based selection overcomes limitations of traditional SELEX for surface-bound targets.
• Aptamers offer versatile applications beyond simple receptor-ligand blocking.

Conclusions:

• Aptamer technology is evolving, with cell-based selection enhancing the development of aptamers targeting cell surface receptors.
• Exploiting aptamer-cell surface receptor interactions opens new avenues for targeted intracellular drug delivery.
• Further research is needed to address current challenges in aptamer-mediated delivery systems.