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Aptamer-Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles for Targeted Cancer Therapy

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Abstract

Target-specific drug delivery system that can transport an effective dosage of anti-cancer drugs to the targeted tumor cells can significantly reduce drug toxicity to the normal cells and increase the therapeutic effect of the drug. In our work, we have evaluated the cytotoxic potential of paclitaxel-loaded silica nanoparticles (Si-PTX NPs) prepared by template-directed stöber synthesis technique. The particles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We have modified the surface of the drug-loaded particles chemically and conjugated a tumor-specific aptamer (Apt-Si-PTX NPs) to facilitate targeted drug delivery to the cancer cells. In vitro studies carried out demonstrated that the aptamer-conjugated paclitaxel-loaded silica nanoparticles could target the cancer cells with high specificity and destroy them effectively, while sparing the normal cells. This work concludes that the aptamer-tagged paclitaxel-loaded silica nanoparticles are excellent targeting moieties for targeted drug delivery to tumor cells.

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Acknowledgment

Athulya Aravind, Srivani Veeranarayanan, and Aby Cheruvathoor Poulose thank the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), Japan for the financial support given as Monbukagakusho fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bio Nano Electronics Research Center, Graduate School of Interdisciplinary New Science, Toyo University, Kawagoe, Saitama, 350-8585, Japan

    Athulya Aravind, Srivani Veeranarayanan, Aby Cheruvathoor Poulose, Remya Nair, Yutaka Nagaoka, Yasuhiko Yoshida, Toru Maekawa & D. Sakthi Kumar

Authors
  1. Athulya Aravind
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  2. Srivani Veeranarayanan
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  3. Aby Cheruvathoor Poulose
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  4. Remya Nair
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  5. Yutaka Nagaoka
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  6. Yasuhiko Yoshida
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  7. Toru Maekawa
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  8. D. Sakthi Kumar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. Sakthi Kumar.

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Athulya Aravind and Srivani Veeranarayanan contributed equally to this work.

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Aravind, A., Veeranarayanan, S., Poulose, A.C. et al. Aptamer-Functionalized Silica Nanoparticles for Targeted Cancer Therapy. BioNanoSci. 2, 1–8 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12668-011-0029-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12668-011-0029-y

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