title: Aptamers: new arrows to target dendritic cells.
abstract: Aptamers, as a novel class of molecular probes for diagnosis, imaging and targeting therapy, have attracted increasing attention in recent years. Aptamers are generated from libraries of single-stranded nucleic acids against different molecules via the "systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment" (SELEX) method. SELEX is a repetitive process of a sequential selection procedure in which a DNA or RNA library pool is incubated separately with target and control molecules to select specific oligonucleotide aptamers with high affinities and specificities. Cell-SELEX is a modified version of the SELEX process in which whole living cells are used as targets for the aptamers. Dendritic cell (DC) targeting, as a new therapeutic approach, can improve the efficiency of immunotherapy in the treatment of allergies and cancers. DCs use various receptors to continuously induce adaptive immunity via capture and presentation of antigens to naïve T cells. DCs are considered as the best targets in modulating immune responses against cancer, autoimmunity, allergy and transplantation. Aptamers, as a new agent, can be applied in DC targeting. The purpose of this review is to present some general concepts of aptamer production and DC targeting by aptamer molecules.
authors.affiliation: a Student Research Committee , Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad , Iran .|b Immunology Research Center, Medical School, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad , Iran , and.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ganji
authors.affiliation: c Allergy Research Center, Medical School, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad , Iran.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Varasteh
authors.affiliation: b Immunology Research Center, Medical School, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences , Mashhad , Iran , and.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sankian
mesh_terms: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015415:Biomarkers; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D004355:Drug Stability; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: Aptamer; SELEX; cell-SELEX; dendritic cell targeting