title: Aptamer-Drug Conjugates.
abstract: Western medicine often aims to specifically treat diseased tissues or organs. However, the majority of current therapeutics failed to do so owing to their limited selectivity and the consequent "off-target" side effects. Targeted therapy aims to enhance the selectivity of therapeutic effects and reduce adverse side effects. One approach toward this goal is to utilize disease-specific ligands to guide the delivery of less-specific therapeutics, such that the therapeutic effects can be guided specifically to diseased tissues or organs. Among these ligands, aptamers, also known as chemical antibodies, have emerged over the past decades as a novel class of targeting ligands that are capable of specific binding to disease biomarkers. Compared with other types of targeting ligands, aptamers have an array of unique advantageous features, which make them promising for developing aptamer-drug conjugates (ApDCs) for targeted therapy. In this Review, we will discuss ApDCs for targeted drug delivery in chemotherapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy, photodynamic therapy, and photothermal therapy, primarily of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Guizhi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Imaging and Nanomedicine, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, Maryland 20892, United States.
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide / Q000737:chemistry*; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000628:therapy*; D009696:Nucleic Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011506:Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D004337:Drug Carriers; D009696:Nucleic Acids; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; D011506:Proteins