Generating Aptamers for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy

Aptamers are single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides or peptides that are capable of binding to specific target proteins. Aptamers are generated in a process named SELEX or cell-SELEX. They resemble antigens in respect of their highly specific binding in the lower nanomolar and/or picomolar range. In contrast to antibodies, they can be generated in vitro, are more stable molecules and have less immunogenicity, better tissue penetration and faster clearance. Aptamers can be applied in many conditions, one of them being cancer medicine, because of their ability to detect cell-specific markers within complex systems that have no specified target molecules. Moreover, aptamers can be used as therapeutic agents, which are indirectly or directly conjugated with drugs, due to their toxic, inhibitory or activating effect on target cells. *Corresponding author: Avrelija Cencic, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition, University of Maribor, Eu-slovenia, Tel: 00386 2 330 5871; E-mail: [email protected] Received May 21, 2012; Accepted June 21, 2012; Published June 22, 2012 Citation: Marolt U, Cencic A, Gorenjak M, Potrc S (2012) Generating Aptamers for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy. Clin Exp Pharmacol 2:111. doi:10.4172/21611459.1000111 Copyright: © 2012 Marolt U. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.