From Selection to Use: Aptamers as Targeting Reagents in Hematology

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Hematology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Aptamers are emerging as alternatives to antibodies for targeting cells and molecules in hematology.
• Existing reviews often categorize aptamer literature by disease or technology, masking uneven coverage of different blood cell types.
• This approach has led to a limited understanding of aptamer development across diverse hematopoietic lineages.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and organize aptamer development based on blood cell lineages (B cells, T cells, NK cells, RBCs).
• To identify gaps and limitations in current aptamer research for blood cell targeting.
• To define opportunities for advancing aptamer development for more precise and clinically relevant applications.

Main Methods:

• Literature review and analysis of developed aptamers targeting specific blood cell types.
• Categorization of aptamers by blood cell lineage and examination of targeted surface markers.
• Evaluation of reported applications, design strategies, experimental use cases, and limitations.

Main Results:

• Aptamer development is heavily concentrated on a few canonical surface markers and malignant cell models.
• Significant gaps exist in aptamers capable of distinguishing cell differentiation stages or functional states.
• Current research faces limitations in target selection and achieving adequate biological resolution.

Conclusions:

• The current organization of aptamer research by cell lineage reveals critical blind spots and practical constraints.
• There is a need to expand aptamer development beyond common markers to include cell states and differentiation.
• Future efforts should focus on creating more state-resolved, biologically informative, and clinically applicable blood-cell-targeting aptamers.