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World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2019; 25(26): 3359-3369
Published online Jul 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i26.3359
Screening of aptamers and their potential application in targeted diagnosis and therapy of liver cancer
Guo-Qing Zhang, Li-Ping Zhong, Nuo Yang, Yong-Xiang Zhao
Guo-Qing Zhang, Li-Ping Zhong, Nuo Yang, Yong-Xiang Zhao, National Center for International Research of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China
Author contributions: Zhang GQ, Zhong LP, Yang N, and Zhao YX wrote the paper.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have no conflict of interest related to the manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yong-Xiang Zhao, MD, PhD, Full Professor, National Center for International Research of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Key Laboratory of Biological Targeting Diagnosis and Therapy Research, Collaborative Innovation Center for Targeting Tumor Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangxi Medical University, 22 Shuangyong Road, Nanning 530021, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. yongxiang_zhao@126.com
Telephone: +86-15177120015 Fax: +86-771-5317061
Received: May 18, 2019
Peer-review started: May 18, 2019
First decision: May 30, 2019
Revised: June 2, 2019
Accepted: June 8, 2019
Article in press: June 8, 2019
Published online: July 14, 2019
Abstract

Aptamers are a class of single oligonucleotide molecules (DNA or RNA) that are screened from random DNA or RNA oligonucleotide chain libraries by the systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment technology. The selected aptamers are capable of specifically binding to different targeting molecules, which is achieved by the three-dimensional structure of aptamers. Aptamers are similar in function to monoclonal antibodies, and therefore, they are also referred to as "chemical antibodies". Due to their high affinity and specificity and low immunogenicity, aptamers are topics of intense interest in today's biological targeting research especially in tumor research. They not only have high potential for clinical advances in tumor targeting detection but also are highly promising as targeted tumor drug carriers for use in tumor therapy. Various experimental studies have shown that aptamer-based diagnostic and therapeutic methods for liver cancer have great potential for application. This paper summarizes the structure, characteristics, and screening methods of aptamers and reviews the recent research progress on nucleic acid aptamers in the targeted diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer.

Keywords: Aptamer, Systemic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment, Liver cancer, Outlook

Core tip: For liver cancer, conventional diagnostic methods have low sensitivity, therapeutic drugs have great side effects, and tumor monitoring is difficult, which limit the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. However, the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer based on aptamers have great application prospects. This review describes the screening of aptamers and reviews the recent advances on aptamers in the targeted diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer.