From cell-SELEX to tissue-SELEX for targeted drug delivery and aptamer nanomedicine

Aptamers are nucleic acid-based ligands that can selectively bind to target molecules. Because of their unique target-binding properties, the use of aptamers for targeting cell surface molecules has attracted broad research interest. The field has evolved from selecting aptamers against purified surface proteins to using whole cells (cell-SELEX) as targets. To further advance the field, the concept of tissue-SELEX was later proposed to ensure that selected aptamers possess optimal binding properties in more native in vivo environments. In this article, we review recent progress made for tissue-SELEX, covering methods including tissue slide-based SELEX, morph-X-SELEX, ex vivo-SELEX, and microfluidic…

• IA
  Innovation and Technology Commission
• HK
  Hong Kong Government
• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada