The emerging potential of Aptamers as therapeutic agents in infection and inflammation

Refined from pools of random sequence oligonucleotides, nucleic acid aptamers have been found to bind an almost limitless array of targets, including clinically-relevant proteins. Comparable to their antibody counterparts, aptamers display significant advantages over protein-based therapeutics in part due to their flexibility in chemical modifications, small size, and scalability. Despite the perceived benefits, and amidst the growth of an increasing number of clinically approved nucleic acid-based therapeutics, orthodox biologics remain dominant. Research over the last three decades has identified several aptamers that contain the potential to reshape the medicinal field as both diagnostic tools and treatments. Herein, we provide a tailored overview of promising developments in therapeutic nucleic acid-based aptamers in the treatment of infection and inflammation and their proposed future applications.