406
H. Jin
a critical requirement for CTC downstream analyses [4]. Including in vitro culture,
molecular characterization, and functional profiling capture, aptamers on capture
substrates can be precisely modified and oriented controllably, without losing affinity
to CTCs, which presented their great potential as alternative recognition ligands to
antibodies for CTC isolation and release.
Aptamers also can specifically recognize intracellular epitopes with structural
complementarity, which endow them as emerging intracellular targeting agents and
imaging tools.
Aptamers are relatively small-sized molecules, which confer them an excellent tissue-penetration capacity, low toxicity, and low immunogenicity. Therefore,
aptamer has a superior capability to be a drug itself or selectively deliver therapeutic
agents to tumors without exerting harmful effects on normal tissues.
All these intriguing properties have propelled aptamers into the forefront of
numerous practical applications, such as the development of aptamer-based pointof-care platform as well as the identification of biomarkers for clinical therapeutics
and diagnosis.
In this chapter, we will summarize the merits of aptamers in clinical usages, discuss
the scenario for aptamers in the medical application, and highlight specific examples for aptamer application in preclinical and clinical diagnosis and therapeutics of
human disease; finally, discuss the challenge of aptamer from bench to bed.
14.2 Merits and Demerits of Aptamer in Clinical
Applications
Since 2015, over thousands of research papers published per year on aptamer
from PubMed, including a vast of preclinical and clinical aptamer-based diagnosis
and therapeutic application. The unique advantages as a chemical antibody endow
aptamer the potential to take the place of the status of traditional antibodies in diagnosis, target therapy, and treatment evaluations. In this part, we will summarize the
merits and demerits of aptamers upon the clinical applications. (Table 14.1 tabulates
the comparison of aptamers versus antibodies)
14.2.1 Merits
Aptamers are mainly small molecular oligo DNA and RNA, as well as peptide based
on the recent development of SELEX methods. The aptamer can be screened for
a wide array of molecular targets, including peptide, protein, carbohydrates, small
molecules or metal ions, bacteria, viruses, whole cells, as well as biomaterials such
as a nanoparticle, or certain drugs at either precise or multiple locations that are
H. Jin
a critical requirement for CTC downstream analyses [4]. Including in vitro culture,
molecular characterization, and functional profiling capture, aptamers on capture
substrates can be precisely modified and oriented controllably, without losing affinity
to CTCs, which presented their great potential as alternative recognition ligands to
antibodies for CTC isolation and release.
Aptamers also can specifically recognize intracellular epitopes with structural
complementarity, which endow them as emerging intracellular targeting agents and
imaging tools.
Aptamers are relatively small-sized molecules, which confer them an excellent tissue-penetration capacity, low toxicity, and low immunogenicity. Therefore,
aptamer has a superior capability to be a drug itself or selectively deliver therapeutic
agents to tumors without exerting harmful effects on normal tissues.
All these intriguing properties have propelled aptamers into the forefront of
numerous practical applications, such as the development of aptamer-based pointof-care platform as well as the identification of biomarkers for clinical therapeutics
and diagnosis.
In this chapter, we will summarize the merits of aptamers in clinical usages, discuss
the scenario for aptamers in the medical application, and highlight specific examples for aptamer application in preclinical and clinical diagnosis and therapeutics of
human disease; finally, discuss the challenge of aptamer from bench to bed.
14.2 Merits and Demerits of Aptamer in Clinical
Applications
Since 2015, over thousands of research papers published per year on aptamer
from PubMed, including a vast of preclinical and clinical aptamer-based diagnosis
and therapeutic application. The unique advantages as a chemical antibody endow
aptamer the potential to take the place of the status of traditional antibodies in diagnosis, target therapy, and treatment evaluations. In this part, we will summarize the
merits and demerits of aptamers upon the clinical applications. (Table 14.1 tabulates
the comparison of aptamers versus antibodies)
14.2.1 Merits
Aptamers are mainly small molecular oligo DNA and RNA, as well as peptide based
on the recent development of SELEX methods. The aptamer can be screened for
a wide array of molecular targets, including peptide, protein, carbohydrates, small
molecules or metal ions, bacteria, viruses, whole cells, as well as biomaterials such
as a nanoparticle, or certain drugs at either precise or multiple locations that are