title: Progress and Challenges in Developing Aptamer-Functionalized Targeted Drug Delivery Systems.
abstract: Aptamers, which can be screened via systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), are superior ligands for molecular recognition due to their high selectivity and affinity. The interest in the use of aptamers as ligands for targeted drug delivery has been increasing due to their unique advantages. Based on their different compositions and preparation methods, aptamer-functionalized targeted drug delivery systems can be divided into two main categories: aptamer-small molecule conjugated systems and aptamer-nanomaterial conjugated systems. In this review, we not only summarize recent progress in aptamer selection and the application of aptamers in these targeted drug delivery systems but also discuss the advantages, challenges and new perspectives associated with these delivery systems.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. jiangfenghz@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. jiangfenghz@163.com.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. 13261526031@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. 13261526031@163.com.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. liujin_hkbu@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. liujin_hkbu@163.com.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. fayebalaba@live.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. fayebalaba@live.com.
authors.forename: Fangfei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. lidefang@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. lidefang@163.com.
authors.forename: Defang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. lv_cheng0816@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. lv_cheng0816@163.com.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. danglei_hkbu@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. danglei_hkbu@163.com.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dang
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. liujin_hkbu@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. liujin_hkbu@163.com.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. hebinghb@gmail.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. hebinghb@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. aatikshaikh@gmail.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. aatikshaikh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shaikh Atik
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Badshah
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. lv_cheng0816@163.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. lv_cheng0816@163.com.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. hxj19@126.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. hxj19@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. boris.g.guo@gmail.com.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. boris.g.guo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Baosheng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410000, China. xbzhang@hnu.edu.cn.|College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410000, China. xbzhang@hnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Xiao-Bing
authors.initials: XB
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Molecular Science and Biomedicine Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Bio-Sensing and Chemometrics, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hunan University, Changsha 410000, China. tan@chem.ufl.edu.|College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha 410000, China. tan@chem.ufl.edu.
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. aipinglu@hkbu.edu.hk.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. aipinglu@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Aiping
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone & Joint Diseases, School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China. zhangge@hkbu.edu.hk.|Hong Kong Baptist University Branch of State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics of Hunan University, Hong Kong, China. zhangge@hkbu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D006801:Humans; D008024:Ligands; D049329:Nanostructures; D052156:SELEX Aptamer Technique
chemical_list: D052157:Aptamers, Nucleotide; D008024:Ligands
keywords: SELEX; aptamer; aptamer-functionalized targeted drug delivery systems; aptamer-nanomaterial conjugated systems; aptamer-small molecule conjugated systems