Kim Do-Hun, Seo Jin-Myung, Shin Kyung-Ju, Yang Su-Geun
Department of Biomedical Science, BK21 FOUR Program in Biomedical Science and Engineering, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, 22212, South Korea.
Inha Institute of Aerospace Medicine, Inha University College of Medicine, Incheon, 22332, South Korea.
Biomater Res. 2021 Nov 25;25(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s40824-021-00244-4.
Aptamer has been called "chemical antibody" which displays the specific affinity to target molecules compared to that of antibodies and possesses several therapeutic advantages over antibodies in terms of size, accessibility to synthesis, and modification. Based on the attractive properties, aptamers have been interested in many directions and now are emerged as new target-designed cancer drug.
Currently, new types of aptamers have been reported and attracted many scientists' interesting. Due to simplicity of chemical modification and ready-made molecular engineering, scientists have developed newly designed aptamers conjugated with a wide range of therapeutics, aptamer-drug conjugates; ApDCs, from chemotherapy to phototherapy, gene therapy, and vaccines. ApDCs display synergistic therapeutic effects in cancer treatment.
In this paper, we reviewed various kinds of ApDCs, i.e., ApDC nucleotide analogs, ApDC by drug intercalation, and ApDC by using chemical linker. Current data prove these ApDCs have sufficient potential to complete clinical development soon. Advanced technology of cancer drug delivery and combination treatment of cancers enables aptamer and conjugated drug (ApDCs) efficient means for targeted cancer treatment that reduces potential toxicity and increases therapeutic efficacy.
适体被称为“化学抗体”，与抗体相比，它对靶分子表现出特异性亲和力，并且在大小、合成可及性和修饰方面比抗体具有若干治疗优势。基于这些吸引人的特性，适体已在多个方向受到关注，现在已成为新型靶向设计的抗癌药物。
目前，新型适体已有报道，并引起了众多科学家的兴趣。由于化学修饰简单且分子工程现成可用，科学家们开发了新设计的与多种治疗剂偶联的适体，即适体 - 药物偶联物；从化疗到光疗、基因治疗和疫苗的适体 - 药物偶联物（ApDCs）。ApDCs在癌症治疗中显示出协同治疗效果。
在本文中，我们综述了各种ApDCs，即ApDC核苷酸类似物、通过药物嵌入的ApDC以及使用化学连接子的ApDC。目前的数据证明这些ApDCs有足够的潜力很快完成临床开发。先进的癌症药物递送技术和癌症联合治疗使适体和偶联药物（ApDCs）成为靶向癌症治疗的有效手段，可降低潜在毒性并提高治疗效果。
