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Updated: Dec 10, 2025

A Flow Cytometry-Based Cell Surface Protein Binding Assay for Assessing Selectivity and Specificity of an Anticancer Aptamer
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Internalized Functional DNA Aptamers as Alternative Cancer Therapies

Morgan L Marshall1, Kylie M Wagstaff1

  • 1Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.

Frontiers in Pharmacology
|August 28, 2020
PubMed

Insights

DNA aptamers offer a promising approach for precision cancer therapeutics. These molecules can target tumor cells specifically, enter them, and trigger a functional response, minimizing side effects.

Area of Science:

  • Biotechnology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Oncology

Background:

  • Cancer remains a significant global health burden, with challenges in selectively eliminating tumor cells while sparing healthy tissues.
  • Current chemotherapeutic agents often cause significant off-target side effects, necessitating the development of more precise therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review cancer-targeting, cell-internalizing DNA aptamers as precision therapeutics.
  • To highlight functional aptamers that elicit a biological response without conjugation to other molecules.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on DNA aptamers for cancer targeting and internalization.
  • Analysis of aptamer mechanisms for intracellular targeting and functional effects.
  • Focus on aptamers acting independently of nanoparticle or small molecule conjugates.

Main Results:

  • DNA aptamers demonstrate potential for specific cancer cell targeting and internalization.
  • Functional aptamers can elicit a biological response intracellularly.
  • Aptamers can be designed to target specific subcellular compartments within cancer cells.

Conclusions:

  • Functional intracellular DNA aptamers represent a promising avenue for developing precision cancer therapeutics.
  • Exploiting cancer-specific molecular pathways with aptamers can lead to reduced off-target effects.
  • DNA aptamers offer a versatile platform for targeted cancer therapy with potential for broad application.
Keywords:
DNA-aptamerintracellular targetingnanoparticle-freeprecision medicinetumor-specific

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