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Aptamers as Drug Delivery Vehicles
Author(s) -
Kruspe Sven,
Mittelberger Florian,
Szameit Kristina,
Hahn Ulrich
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemmedchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.817
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1860-7187
pISSN - 1860-7179
DOI - 10.1002/cmdc.201402163
Subject(s) - aptamer , nanocarriers , internalization , drug delivery , nucleic acid , computational biology , drug , drug discovery , targeted drug delivery , nanotechnology , chemistry , biology , pharmacology , bioinformatics , cell , biochemistry , genetics , materials science
The benefits of directed and selective therapy for systemic treatment are reasons for increased interest in exploiting aptamers for cell‐specific drug delivery. Nucleic acid based pharmaceuticals represent an interesting and novel tool to counter human diseases. Combining inhibitory potential and cargo transfer upon internalization, nanocarriers as well as various therapeutics including siRNAs, chemotherapeutics, photosensitizers, or proteins can be imported via these synthetic nucleic acids. However, widespread clinical application is still hampered by obstacles that must be overcome. In this review, we give an overview of applications and recent advances in aptamer‐mediated drug delivery. We also introduce prominent selection methods as well as useful approaches in choice of drug and conjugation method. We discuss the challenges that need to be considered and present strategies that have been applied to achieve intracellular delivery of effectors transported by readily internalized aptamers.