AUTHOR=Gao Fei , Yin Jianhui , Chen Yan , Guo Changyong , Hu Honggang , Su Jiacan 

TITLE=Recent advances in aptamer-based targeted drug delivery systems for cancer therapy

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.972933

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2022.972933

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=The past decade has become an important strategy in precision medicine for the targeted therapy of many diseases, expecially various types of cancers. As a promising targeted element, nucleic acid aptamers are single-stranded functional oligonucleotides which have specific abilities to bind with various target molecules ranging from small molecules to entire organisms. They are often named ‘chemical antibody’ and have aroused extensive interest in diverse clinical research on account of their advantages, such as considerable biostability, versatile chemical modification, low immuno-genicity and quick tissue penetration. Thus, aptamer-embedded drug delivery systems offer an un-precedented opportunity in bioanalysis and biomedicine. In this short review, we endeavor to dis-cuss the recent advances in aptamer-based targeted drug delivery platform for cancer therapy. Some perspectives on the advantages, challenges and opportunities are also presented.