Study on Sgc8 aptamer-mediated nucleic acid nanomaterial-doxorubicin complex for tumor targeted therapy

[Display omitted] •A simple Sgc8 aptamer-modified nucleic acid nanomaterial (Sgc8NM) platform for the targeted delivery of Doxorubicin (Dox) was presented for tumor targeted therapy.•This treatment platform possesses the merits of smart assembly and low cost, strong stability, great targeting and outstanding biocompatibility.•The Sgc8NM platform as a drug delivery vehicle may be loaded with other small drug molecules such as rhodopsin, protein drugs, siRNA, in addition to Dox, or used as a frame of the biosensor to detect disease-related genes by simple sequence modification. Chemotherapy is one of the most important treatments for malignant cancers, but most chemotherapeutic drugs are poorly targeted, highly toxic and expensive, resulting in unsatisfactory treatment results for cancer patients. Therefore, intelligent drug delivery platforms are needed to be explored urgently to enhance drug treatment and reduce toxicity on normal cells. Nucleic acid nanomaterials are a class of nanomaterials developed on the basis of the “base complementary pairing principle”, which have the advantages of good programmability, high stability, good biocompatibility, and strong targeting. Herein, we present a simple Sgc8 aptamer-modified nucleic acid nanomaterial (Sgc8NM) for the targeted delivery of Doxorubicin (Dox), a widely used chemotherapy drug in clinic. Studies have shown the Sgc8NM-Dox performed a precise treatment effect on target cells and low toxicity on non-target cells, providing a new strategy for the potential application of nanocomposite drugs in targeted cancer delivery.