Aptamer-Based Targeted Drug Delivery Systems

Abstract

Nano-therapeutics often aims to design site-specific delivery of the therapeutics at the molecular level to treat diseased tissues or organs. On the contrary, both reachability and interaction of these therapeutic active molecules at the delivery site are challenging tasks, and most of the therapeutics are unable to achieve therapeutic efficacy, because of their side effect associated with off-targeting due to limited selectivity. Therefore, to avoid “off-target” delivery, presently aptamer-based drug target delivery systems have emerged as a vital therapeutic option having specific receptor recognition ability. Moreover, the wide range of chemical flexibility and tissue penetration competency of such delivery systems make aptamers suitable candidates for targeted drug delivery. Recently, various cutting-edge aptamer-based technologies received considerable attention due to their wider applicability in therapeutics including chemotherapeutics, peptides, toxins, and oligonucleotides. The objective of this book chapter is to explore aptamer-based targeting strategy as an advanced therapeutic option supported by evidence collected from past and current research progress. The outcome of the current chapter is thoroughly evaluated, discussed, and concluded for the present scenario and future direction considering the aptamer-based drug delivery.