Guest Editors
Anna Grenda
Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Dr. Anna Grenda specializes in Genetic Oncology and is affiliated with the Laboratory of Immunology and Genetics, Department of Pneumonology, Oncology, and Allergology, Medical University of Lublin as a Scientific and Technical Specialist.
Irena Wieleba
Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Irena is a PhD student at the Medical University of Lublin, Poland. Her research is on the potential use of aptamers for immunotherapy of advanced lung adenocarcinoma in the Laboratory of Genetics and Immunology, Department of Pneumonology, Oncology, and Allergology. Her main areas of interest include the development of novel therapeutic strategies based on aptamers, regulatory RNAs and nanocarriers. She has prepared a thorough analysis of the aptamers’ role in the treatment of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer, it is published in Molecules, MDPI. She received her Master of Science degree in Biotechnology in 2017 at Maria Sklodowska-Curie University in Lublin. The title of her master thesis was “Biological activity of polyphenols extracted from fruit mix on normal and cancer human cells”. At University she worked as chairman of the scientific club “Bakcyl” and she was involved in organization of different events for popularization of science, e.g. “Biologists night”, workshops for high school students, and the Lublin Scientific Festival. As the chairman of the Science Club, she also obtained the Rector's Grant for the purchase of equipment. During the period of February 2018 to October 2018 she carried out her internship in the Genetics and Immunology Laboratory at the Department of Pneumonology, Oncology, and Allergology at the Medical University of Lublin as a senior technician. Her internship work results were presented at XII Polish Lung Cancer Group Annual Conference and the work was awarded by the scientific committee. During her first year at Doctoral School she took part at XIII Polish Lung Cancer Group Annual Conference where she presented a poster on "Aptamers in NSCLC treatment", and IASLC 2020 World Conference on Lung Cancer where her poster was titled “Influence of different concentrations of nivolumab on T Cell activation in patients with non-small cell lung cancer in vitro study”.
Collection Overview
Aptamers are oligonucleotides that possess highly specific binding properties to their targets. First protocols for the synthesis and selection of aptamers were objected to in the 1990s. The technique to exclude highly specific aptamers was called Systematic Evolution by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). Since that time, the field of aptamers research has developed strongly. The potential use of aptamer, as an alternative for monoclonal antibodies in cancer diagnosis and therapies is one of the most popular research interests. Pegaptanib is the only aptamer-based drug approved by the F.D.A for clinical use.
Based on a comparison from pre-clinical studies with clinical trial data, aptamers might be a good tool for novel diagnostics and therapeutic approaches development. Solid tumors, including lung, breast, prostate and colon cancer, are the leading causes in morbidity and mortality rate, and disease type worldwide. A significant percentage of patients are diagnosed with cancer either in the advanced and/or non-resectable disease stage. Herein, the only available therapeutic strategy for first-line treatment is radiotherapy, and/or chemotherapy, and targeted- and immune therapy for second line treatment. In several cases, there is a possibility to provide chemotherapy with targeted- or immune-therapy in the first-line therapy. The introduction of targeted therapy and immunotherapy gave better effectiveness in progression-free survival and overall survival times. Nevertheless, the frequency of therapy related adverse effects both with its intense degree indicate the need to provide changes in drug dose, drug administration method and modification of drug type. Aptamers have to be a potential solution for these subjects. The main directions based on aptamers use for drug development include gene therapy, alternative targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and nanotechnology.
The aim of this collection is to present methods on tumor-specific aptamers selection, immune-related aptamers, aptamers linkage with regulatory RNAs and aptamers for drug delivery nano-systems.
