Aptamer-functionalized liposomes for drug delivery

Ka-Ying Wong; Man-Sau Wong; Juewen Liu

doi:10.1016/j.bj.2023.100685

Aptamer-functionalized liposomes for drug delivery

Biomed J. 2023 Dec 9:100685. doi: 10.1016/j.bj.2023.100685. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ka-Ying Wong¹, Man-Sau Wong², Juewen Liu³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada; Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), 17W Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong. Electronic address: kaya.wong@cevr.hk.
² Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), 17W Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong; Department of Food Science and Nutrition, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong; Research Center for Chinese Medicine Innovation, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Electronic address: man-sau.wong@polyu.edu.hk.
³ Department of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada; Centre for Eye and Vision Research (CEVR), 17W Hong Kong Science Park, Hong Kong. Electronic address: liujw@uwaterloo.ca.

PMID: 38081386
DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2023.100685

Abstract

Among the various targeting ligands for drug delivery, aptamers have attracted much interest in recent years because of their smaller size compared to antibodies, ease of modification, and better batch-to-batch consistency. In addition, aptamers can be selected to target both known and even unknown cell surface biomarkers. For drug loading, liposomes are the most successful vehicle and many FDA-approved formulations are based on liposomes. In this paper, aptamer-functionalized liposomes for targeted drug delivery are reviewed. We begin with the description of related aptamers selection, followed by methods to conjugate aptamers to liposomes and the fate of such conjugates in vivo. Then a few examples of applications are reviewed. In addition to intravenous injection for systemic delivery and hoping to achieve accumulation at target sites, for certain applications, it is also possible to have aptamer/liposome conjugates applied directly at the target tissue such as intratumor injection and dropping on the surface of the eye by adhering to the cornea. While previous reviews have focused on cancer therapy, the current review mainly covers other applications in the last four years. Finally, this article discusses potential issues of aptamer targeting and some future research opportunities.

Keywords: Aptamers; Eye; Liposomes; Targeted drug delivery; Tumors.