DNA-Based Nanomaterials as Drug Delivery Platforms for Increasing the Effect of Drugs in Tumors

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The use of drugs based on nucleic acids is a promising direction in antitumor therapy. Some modified oligonucleotide analogs, such as antisense oligonucleotides, have been developed and used as innovative therapeutic agents in some areas of medicine. Many ways to build DNA nanomaterials with predefined shape and function characteristics have been designed. Thus, molecules of potent antitumor drugs, including doxorubicin, therapeutic oligonucleotides, and complex nanoparticles, have been loaded into or conjugated with DNA-based nanomaterials. It was found that DNA-based nanomaterials can increase the efficiency of drug uptake by cells. In this review, we would like to draw attention to some DNA-based nanomaterials, such as tetrahedrons, origami, DNA nanotubes, and aptamers, that have been used as carriers, drugs or target molecules for anticancer drug delivery. ABSTRACT: DNA nanotechnology has significantly advanced and might be used in biomedical applications, drug delivery, and cancer treatment during the past few decades. DNA nanomaterials are widely used in biomedical research involving biosensing, bioimaging, and drug delivery since they are remarkably addressable and biocompatible. Gradually, modified nucleic acids have begun to be employed to construct multifunctional DNA nanostructures with a variety of architectural designs. Aptamers are single-stranded nucleic acids (both DNAs and RNAs) capable of self-pairing to acquire secondary structure and of specifically binding with the target. Diagnosis and tumor therapy are prospective fields in which aptamers can be applied. Many DNA nanomaterials with three-dimensional structures have been studied as drug delivery systems for different anticancer medications or gene therapy agents. Different chemical alterations can be employed to construct a wide range of modified DNA nanostructures. Chemically altered DNA-based nanomaterials are useful for drug delivery because of their improved stability and inclusion of functional groups. In this work, the most common oligonucleotide nanomaterials were reviewed as modern drug delivery systems in tumor cells.