Advances in the development of aptamer drug conjugates (ApDC) for targeted drug delivery

摘要

A key goal of modernmedicine is target-specific therapeutic intervention.However, most drugs lackselectivity, resulting in“off-target” side effects.To address the requirements of “targeted therapy,”aptamers, which are artificial oligonucleotides,have beenusedas novel targeting ligands to construct aptamer drug conjugates (ApDC)that can specifically bind to a broad spectrum of targets, including diseased cells. Accordingly, the applicationof aptamers in targeted drug delivery has attracted broad interest due to their impressive selectivity and affinity, low immunogenicity, easy synthesis with high reproducibility, facile modification, and relatively rapid tissue penetration with no toxicity. Functionally, aptamers themselves can be used as macromolecular drugs, and they are also commonly used in biomarker discovery and targeted drug delivery. In this review,we will highlight the most recent advances in the development of aptamers and aptamer conjugates, and discuss their potential in targeted therapy.