Aptamer-conjugated gold nanoparticles and their diagnostic and therapeutic roles in cancer

Abstract

The burden of incidence rate and mortality of cancer is increasing rapidly, and the development of precise intervention measures for cancer detection and treatment will help reduce the burden and pain of cancer. At present, the sensitivity and specificity of tumor markers such as CEA and CA-125 used clinically are low, while PET, SPECT, and other imaging diagnoses with high sensitivity possess shortcomings, including long durations to obtain formal reports and the inability to identify the molecular pathological type of cancer. Cancer surgery is limited by stage and easy to recur. Radiotherapy and chemotherapy often cause damage to normal tissues, leading to evident side effects. Aptamers can selectively and exclusively bind to biomarkers and have, therefore, gained attention as ligands to be targeted for cancer detection and treatment. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are considered as promising nano carriers for cancer diagnosis and treatment due to their strong light scattering characteristics, effective biocompatibility, and easy surface modification with targeted agents. The aptamer-gold nanoparticles targeting delivery system developed herein can combine the advantages of aptamers and gold nanoparticles, and shows excellent targeting, high specificity, low immunogenicity, minor side effects, etc., which builds a bridge for cancer markers to be used in early and efficient diagnosis and precise treatment. In this review, we summarize the latest progress in the application of aptamer-modified gold nanoparticles in cancer targeted diagnosis and delivery of therapeutic agents to cancer cells and emphasize the prospects and challenges of transforming these studies into clinical applications.

Aptamers as Potential Therapeutic Tools for Ovarian Cancer: Advancements and Challenges

“…Despite their considerable potential, the path toward clinical approval of aptamer-based therapeutics entails several critical stages. These include gaining a more comprehensive insight into their intracellular behavior, refining their optimal formulation, and assessing their toxicity profile [75,[180][181][182][183].…”

Bibliometric analysis of aptamer-conjugated nanoparticles for diagnosis in the last two decades

“…Gold nanoparticles possess distinctive optical and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties, making them preferred options in biology and pharmaceutical research [64,65]. Their exceptional optical characteristics are particularly valuable for ultra-sensitive detection and imaging-based therapeutic techniques crucial in treating life-threatening diseases like cancer [66]. Quantum dots, semiconductor materials typically ranging in size from 1 to 10 nm, exhibit unique properties at the micrometer scale due to effects such as size effect, quantum confinement effect, macroscopic quantum tunneling effect, and specific surface effect [20].…”

Selection and characterization of ssDNA aptamer targeting Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus capsid protein: A potential capture agent in gold‐nanoparticle‐based aptasensor for viral protein detection

“…For instance, the use of aptamers as the capture agent in enzyme‐linked apta‐sorbent assay (ELASA) has enabled the ultrasensitive detection of aflatoxin B 1 in contaminated food samples (Mukherjee et al., 2018). Aptamers have also been successfully conjugated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for applications in cancer diagnosis and drug delivery in cancer therapy (Deng et al., 2023; Lopes‐Nunes et al., 2021). Aptamers that specifically recognize the grouper nervous necrosis virus (Liu et al., 2020) and Singapore grouper iridovirus (Liu et al., 2021) have been successfully characterized.…”