Title:Aptamers in Drug Design: An Emerging Weapon to Fight a Losing Battle
Volume: 20
Issue: 16
Author(s): Jobin Jose, Aaron Mathew Thomas, Darewin Mendonsa, Mohammad M. Al-Sanea, Md. Sahab Uddin, Della Grace Thomas Parambi, R Narayana Charyulu and Bijo Mathew*
Affiliation:
- Division of Drug Design and Medicinal Chemistry Research Lab, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Ahalia School of Pharmacy, Palakkad 678557, Kerala,India
Keywords:
Aptamers, Drug design, Oligonucleotides, Nanomedicine, Synthetic antibodies, nucleotides.
Abstract: Implementation of novel and biocompatible polymers in drug design is an emerging and
rapidly growing area of research. Even though we have a large number of polymer materials for various
applications, the biocompatibility of these materials remains as a herculean task for researchers.
Aptamers provide a vital and efficient solution to this problem. They are usually small (ranging from
20 to 60 nucleotides, single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotides which are capable of binding to
molecules possessing high affinity and other properties like specificity. This review focuses on different
aspects of Aptamers in drug discovery, starting from its preparation methods and covering the recent
scenario reported in the literature regarding their use in drug discovery. We address the limitations
of Aptamers and provide valuable insights into their future potential in the areas regarding drug
discovery research. Finally, we explained the major role of Aptamers like medical imaging techniques,
application as synthetic antibodies, and the most recent application, which is in combination with
nanomedicines.
