Insights into Aptamer-Drug Delivery Systems against Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer is a common cancer in elderly males. Significant progress has been made in the drug therapies for prostate cancer in recent years. However, side effects are still problems that have not been overcome by the currently used anti-prostate cancer drugs. Novel technologies can be applied to reduce or even eliminate the side effects of drugs. An aptamer may be a sequence of nucleic acids or peptides that can specifically recognize proteins or cells. Taking advantage of this feature, scientists have designed aptamer-drug delivery systems for the development of anti-prostate cancer agents. Theoretically, these aptamer-drug delivery systems can specifically recognize prostate cancer cells and then induce cell death without attacking normal cells. We collected the relevant literature in this field and found that at least nine compounds have been prepared as aptamer-drug delivery systems to evaluate their precise anti-prostate cancer effects. However, the currently studied aptamer-drug delivery systems have not yet entered the market due to defects. Here, we analyze the published data, summarize the characteristics of these delivery systems, and propose ways to promote their application, thus promoting the development of the aptamer-drug delivery systems against prostate cancer.

Keywords: aptamer; curcumin; docetaxel; doxorubicin; drug delivery systems; paclitaxel; prostate cancer; thymoquinone.

Figure 1

The chemical structures of the mentioned compounds.

Figure 2

Aptamer–drug delivery systems for the treatment of prostate cancer.

Figure 3

Overview of the action mode of aptamer–drug delivery systems. Firstly, tumor cells are ex-tracted and isolated from patients. Secondly, patient’s cancer cells are used as targets to screen aptamers that can specifically recognize the targets. Thirdly, a precise drug delivery system is constructed with a specific aptamer and drug to treat patients.