Issue 10, 2021

Uptake mechanisms of cell-internalizing nucleic acid aptamers for applications as pharmacological agents

Abstract

Nucleic acid aptamers, also regarded as chemical antibodies, show potential as targeted therapeutic and delivery agents since they possess unique advantages over antibodies. Generated by an iterative selection and amplification process from oligonucleotide libraries using cultured cells, the aptamers bind to their target molecules expressed on the cell surface. Excitingly, most aptamers also demonstrate a cell-internalizing property in native living cells, allowing them to directly enter the cells via endocytosis depending on the target. In this review, we discuss selection methods in generating cell-internalizing aptamers via a cell-based selection process, along with their challenges and optimization strategies. We highlight the cellular uptake routes adopted by the aptamers and also their intracellular fate after the uptake, to give an overview of their mechanism of action for applications as promising pharmacological agents.

Graphical abstract: Uptake mechanisms of cell-internalizing nucleic acid aptamers for applications as pharmacological agents

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
15 kesä 2021
Accepted
15 heinä 2021
First published
24 heinä 2021

RSC Med. Chem., 2021,12, 1640-1649

Uptake mechanisms of cell-internalizing nucleic acid aptamers for applications as pharmacological agents

S. H. Alamudi, M. Kimoto and I. Hirao, RSC Med. Chem., 2021, 12, 1640 DOI: 10.1039/D1MD00199J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements