Selective delivery of doxorubicin using the biomarker-specific, aptamer-functionalized DNA nanosphere

Abstract Targeted drug delivery systems have attracted much attention as they can enhance treatment efficiency and minimize cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Several nanomaterials with biological advantages have been explored for novel drug carrier invention. Here, a DNA origami nanosphere modified with a specific aptamer was developed for selective doxorubicin delivery. The specificity of the targeted nanocarrier was investigated against three cell lines with different levels of Mucin 1 (MUC1) expression. Our data showed that the doxorubicin-loaded, MUC1 aptamer-functionalized nanosphere (Dox-Apt-sphere) preferentially delivered drugs and exhibited cytotoxic effects at low Dox concentration in MUC1-high MCF-7 cells. These results also proved that the aptamer-modified DNA nanostructure may serve as a promising candidate for targeted drug delivery.