Review

Aptamer-targeted cell-specific RNA interference

Jiehua Zhou¹ and John J Rossi^1,2

¹  Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA

²  Irell and Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, City of Hope, Duarte, CA 91010, USA

author email corresponding author email

Silence 2010, 1:4doi:10.1186/1758-907X-1-4

Published:	1 February 2010

Abstract

This potent ability of small interfering (si)RNAs to inhibit the expression of complementary RNA transcripts is being exploited as a new class of therapeutics for a variety of diseases. However, the efficient and safe delivery of siRNAs into specific cell populations is still the principal challenge in the clinical development of RNAi therapeutics. With the increasing enthusiasm for developing targeted delivery vehicles, nucleic acid-based aptamers targeting cell surface proteins are being explored as promising delivery vehicles to target a distinct disease or tissue in a cell-type-specific manner. The aptamer-based delivery of siRNAs can often enhance the therapeutic efficacy and reduce the unwanted off-target effects of siRNAs. In particular, for RNA interference-based therapeutics, aptamers represent an efficient agent for cell type-specific, systemic delivery of these oligonucleotides. In this review, we summarize recent attractive developments in creatively using cell-internalizing aptamers to deliver siRNAs to target cells. The optimization and improvement of aptamer-targeted siRNAs for clinical translation are further highlighted.