Chapter 7
Aptamers for Personalized Therapeutics
Muhammad Irfan, Rizwan Ullah Khan, and Feng Qu
Abstract In this chapter we will introduce the general concept of aptamers, their
types, and general characteristics which makes them an attractive agent in the modern
diagnosis, bioimaging, drug delivery, and more specifically in personalized therapeutics. Aptamers have the potential of serving as therapeutic molecules alone but
they are more effective in combination with drugs and nanomaterials for the sake
of targeting or as delivery agents against broad spectrum of diseases like infectious
diseases, cancers, age-related macular degeneration, antithrombotic therapy, diabetes
mellitus, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and so on. There are still
some areas which need to be explored more in the domain of aptamers integration in
personalized therapeutics. We will discuss this in the context of current developments
in aptamers science and give a brief future perspective.
Keywords Aptamers · Personalized therapeutics · Nanomaterials · Aptamer
conjugates
7.1 Introduction
In the last decade the human race has observed tremendous progress of research
and development in the sector of personalized medicine. The advances in this area
promise to improve healthcare while lowering the costs of treatment. Regardless
of noteworthy advancements, shifting from current traditional medical practices to
more advanced personalized medicine is a challenge for the scientific community
[1]. Although the use of the term personalized medicine is often restricted to the
identification of the optimal drug and the optimal dosage for a subgroup of patients,
the present-day personalized medicine applications are far broader and might include
situations of withholding treatment, preventive interventions, or targeted treatment
options for individual patients [2]. For instance, diagnostic methods for the detection of biomarkers are desired to appropriately evaluate differences in patients, in
M. Irfan · R. U. Khan · F. Qu (B)
School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
e-mail: qufengqu@bit.edu.cn
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Dong (ed.), Aptamers for Medical Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4838-7_7
179
Aptamers for Personalized Therapeutics
Muhammad Irfan, Rizwan Ullah Khan, and Feng Qu
Abstract In this chapter we will introduce the general concept of aptamers, their
types, and general characteristics which makes them an attractive agent in the modern
diagnosis, bioimaging, drug delivery, and more specifically in personalized therapeutics. Aptamers have the potential of serving as therapeutic molecules alone but
they are more effective in combination with drugs and nanomaterials for the sake
of targeting or as delivery agents against broad spectrum of diseases like infectious
diseases, cancers, age-related macular degeneration, antithrombotic therapy, diabetes
mellitus, multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and so on. There are still
some areas which need to be explored more in the domain of aptamers integration in
personalized therapeutics. We will discuss this in the context of current developments
in aptamers science and give a brief future perspective.
Keywords Aptamers · Personalized therapeutics · Nanomaterials · Aptamer
conjugates
7.1 Introduction
In the last decade the human race has observed tremendous progress of research
and development in the sector of personalized medicine. The advances in this area
promise to improve healthcare while lowering the costs of treatment. Regardless
of noteworthy advancements, shifting from current traditional medical practices to
more advanced personalized medicine is a challenge for the scientific community
[1]. Although the use of the term personalized medicine is often restricted to the
identification of the optimal drug and the optimal dosage for a subgroup of patients,
the present-day personalized medicine applications are far broader and might include
situations of withholding treatment, preventive interventions, or targeted treatment
options for individual patients [2]. For instance, diagnostic methods for the detection of biomarkers are desired to appropriately evaluate differences in patients, in
M. Irfan · R. U. Khan · F. Qu (B)
School of Life Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
e-mail: qufengqu@bit.edu.cn
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Dong (ed.), Aptamers for Medical Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4838-7_7
179