Aptamer micelles targeting fractalkine-expressing cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

Fractalkine, with its unique functional characteristics, has been found to participate in inflammation and cancer. This work shows that fractalkine can be used as a molecular target for nanoparticle delivery to fractalkine-expresing cells. PEGylated aptamer micelles internalized in mouse cancer cells expressing human fractalkine with limited surface binding by human healthy cells. Although in vivo biodistribution studies show that tumor uptake is independent of the ssDNA sequence used to form the micelles, the aptamer is required for internalization into fractalkine-expressing cancer cells in vivo. Thus, the aptamer micelles may serve as a valuable tool for developing fractalkine targeted therapies.221