Chemotherapeutic, Toxin, and Therapeutic Protein Delivery via Nucleolin Aptamer-functionalized Nanoplatforms for Targeted Cancer Therapy

Nucleolin is a protein abundantly present in the nucleolus, but its expressiononthe surface of cells is potentially associated with various types of malignancies. So far, several nucleolin-targeting strategies, including the nucleolin-targeting peptide, anti-nucleolin pseudopeptides, anti-nucleolin antibodies, and the anti-nucleolin aptamer, AS1411, have been developed and investigated in different types of studies. The AS1411 aptamer has been known as the outstanding approach for targeting nucleolin with superior specificity and therapeutic potential in comparison with other targeting strategies. In this review, we highlight different nucleolintargeting strategies for the targeted delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs, proteins with therapeutic potential, and toxins.