Aptamers: Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Molecules

Aptamers are short oligonucleotides or peptides capable of targeting the various molecules with higher specificity and better affinity. However, aptamers are natural in origin, but at laboratory level, they can be synthesized artificially from large random sequence pools. These exhibit promising advantages in terms of their size, synthetic approach and alteration by suitable methodology. As compared to antibodies, aptamers seems to be significant alternatives in various therapeutic applications. In 1990, a robust aptamer screening method was developed known as Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). It became a powerful diagnostic and therapeutic research tool in this newly emerging field. In addition, aptamers have proved themselves to be a powerful tool in delivering a variety of therapeutic agents like small molecular drugs, peptides and specially RNA based therapeutics into specific cells to cure different human diseases. Aptamers have attracted various research groups to be used as important candidate molecule in cancer therapies.