Aptamer-Based Tissue-Targeted Drug Delivery
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2024 | Viewed by 75
Special Issue Editor
Interests: aptamer-based tissue-targeted drug delivery; molecular mechanisms exploration and interventions with Chinese medicines; natural products and aptamer-based approaches in fibrotic disorders
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
One of the major bottlenecks in the translation of potent drug candidates is the off-target effect when administered systemically, which limits the efficacy and increases toxicity. Tissue-specific drug delivery has emerged as a promising approach to reduce off-target effects, enhance therapeutic efficacy and decrease undesired toxicities. The target tissue/organs that have been studied for drug delivery include cancer, brain, lung, cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system. Over the last few decades, several targeting strategies for targeted drug delivery have been established, including small-molecule-, nucleic acid-, peptide-, antibody- and cell-based strategies.
Among these strategies, nucleic acid aptamers are single-stranded oligonucleotides which are identified via systematic evolution of ligands using the exponential enrichment (SELEX) method, and can specifically bind to target molecules. Compared to traditional protein antibodies, aptamers have several advantages, such as small size, high binding affinity, specificity, good biocompatibility, high stability and low immunogenicity. At the same time, they are versatile, flexible, three-dimensional structures that can be conjugated to chemotherapeutic drugs and nanocarriers, and facilitate their transport into the target tissue and cells, which makes them a strong candidate for tissue-specific drug delivery. Thus far, the majority of the aptamer-based drug delivery researches are being investigated in preclinical trials.
We welcome all research related to aptamer-based tissue-specific drug delivery, including original research articles, communications and reviews, both narrative and systematic, for submission to this Special Issue.
Dr. Zongkang Zhang
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- drug delivery system
- nucleic acid aptamer
- drug targeting
- drug carrier
- tumor targeting
- off-target effect
- nanomedicine
- SELEX
