Review
Version 1
Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed
Therapeutic Applications of Aptamers
Version 1
: Received: 21 May 2024 / Approved: 22 May 2024 / Online: 22 May 2024 (08:54:51 CEST)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Santarpia, G.; Carnes, E. Therapeutic Applications of Aptamers. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25, 6742. Santarpia, G.; Carnes, E. Therapeutic Applications of Aptamers. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25, 6742.
Abstract
Affinity reagents, or target-binding molecules, are quite versatile and are major workhorses in molecular biology and medicine. Antibodies are the most famous and frequently used type and they have been used for a wide range of applications, including laboratory techniques, diagnostics, and therapeutics. However, antibodies are not the only available affinity reagents and they do have significant drawbacks, including laborious and costly production. Aptamers are one potential alternative that have a variety of unique advantages. They are single stranded DNA or RNA molecules that can be selected for binding to many targets including proteins, carbohydrates, and small molecules – for which antibodies typically have low affinity. There are also a variety of cost-effective methods for producing and modifying nucleic acids in vitro without cells, whereas antibodies typically require cells or even whole animals. While there are also significant drawbacks to using aptamers in therapeutic applications, including low in vivo stability, aptamers have had success in clinical trials for treating a variety of diseases and two aptamer-based drugs have gained FDA approval. Aptamer development is still ongoing, which could lead to additional applications of aptamer therapeutics, including antitoxins, and combinatorial approaches with nanoparticles and other nucleic acid therapeutics that could improve efficacy.
Keywords
Aptamers, SELEX, nucleic acid therapeutics
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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