Chapter 14
Perspectives of Aptamers for Medical
Applications
Hongyan Jin
Abstract In this chapter, we summarize comprehensively both demerits and merits
of aptamers in clinical usages, outline different scenarios, e.g., point-of-care testing,
precision medicine, and biomarker discovery or identification for aptamers in the
medical applications, and highlight specific examples for aptamer application in
preclinical, clinical diagnosis, and therapeutics of human tumor and non-tumor
diseases. Except the opportunities, aptamers are also facing challenges due to their
limitations. Realizing clinical transformation of aptamers requires more preclinical
research to overcome the problem during the process from bench to bed. Nevertheless, a large number of experimental studies and some successful cases will give us
the solid confidence in the clinical application of aptamers in the near future.
Keywords Aptamers · In vitro diagnostics · Biomarker · Precision medicine ·
Point-of-care testing · Clinical application
14.1 Introduction
Aptamers are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotide molecules capable
of tightly binding to specific targets (peptide, protein, carbohydrates, small molecules
or metal ions, bacteria, viruses, whole cells, etc.)
Aptamers are highly specific and can distinguish between even close molecules,
including conformation isomers [1], different functional groups [2], or a single amino
acid mutation [3]. Compared with their proteinaceous counterparts, aptamers can be
strong contenders in almost all kinds of applications where antibodies are widely
utilized.
Aptamers are produced from chemical synthesis; they can be easily modified to
increase their life span in the bloodstream, targeting them to particular locations, or
enabling their immobilization without losing its function. For example, the selective,
and gentle release of the adhered circular tumor cell (CTCs) from capture substrates is
H. Jin (B)
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital,
No. 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China
e-mail: maggijhy@163.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Dong (ed.), Aptamers for Medical Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4838-7_14
405
Perspectives of Aptamers for Medical
Applications
Hongyan Jin
Abstract In this chapter, we summarize comprehensively both demerits and merits
of aptamers in clinical usages, outline different scenarios, e.g., point-of-care testing,
precision medicine, and biomarker discovery or identification for aptamers in the
medical applications, and highlight specific examples for aptamer application in
preclinical, clinical diagnosis, and therapeutics of human tumor and non-tumor
diseases. Except the opportunities, aptamers are also facing challenges due to their
limitations. Realizing clinical transformation of aptamers requires more preclinical
research to overcome the problem during the process from bench to bed. Nevertheless, a large number of experimental studies and some successful cases will give us
the solid confidence in the clinical application of aptamers in the near future.
Keywords Aptamers · In vitro diagnostics · Biomarker · Precision medicine ·
Point-of-care testing · Clinical application
14.1 Introduction
Aptamers are short, single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotide molecules capable
of tightly binding to specific targets (peptide, protein, carbohydrates, small molecules
or metal ions, bacteria, viruses, whole cells, etc.)
Aptamers are highly specific and can distinguish between even close molecules,
including conformation isomers [1], different functional groups [2], or a single amino
acid mutation [3]. Compared with their proteinaceous counterparts, aptamers can be
strong contenders in almost all kinds of applications where antibodies are widely
utilized.
Aptamers are produced from chemical synthesis; they can be easily modified to
increase their life span in the bloodstream, targeting them to particular locations, or
enabling their immobilization without losing its function. For example, the selective,
and gentle release of the adhered circular tumor cell (CTCs) from capture substrates is
H. Jin (B)
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking University First Hospital,
No. 8 Xishiku Street, Beijing 100034, China
e-mail: maggijhy@163.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
Y. Dong (ed.), Aptamers for Medical Applications,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4838-7_14
405