Aptamer-functionalized quantum dots as theranostic nanotools against cancer and bacterial infections: A comprehensive overview of recent trends.

Aptamers (Apts) are synthetic nucleic acid ligands that can be engineered to target various molecules, including amino acids, proteins, and pharmaceuticals. Through a series of adsorption, recovery, and amplification steps, Apts are extracted from combinatorial libraries of synthesized nucleic acids. Using aptasensors in bioanalysis and biomedicine can be improved by combining them with nanomaterials. Moreover, Apt-associated nanomaterials, including liposomes, polymeric, dendrimers, carbon nanomaterials, silica, nanorods, magnetic NPs, and quantum dots (QDs), have been widely used as promising nanotools in biomedicine. Following surface modifications and conjugation with appropriate functional groups, these nanomaterials can be successfully used in aptasensing. Advanced biological assays can use Apts immobilized on QD surfaces through physical interaction and chemical bonding. Accordingly, modern QD aptasensing platforms rely on interactions between QDs, Apts, and targets to detect them. QD-Apt conjugates can be used to directly detect prostate, ovarian, colorectal, and lung cancers or simultaneously detect biomarkers associated with these malignancies. Tenascin-C, mucin 1, prostate-specific antigen, prostate-specific membrane antigen, nucleolin, growth factors, and exosomes are among the cancer biomarkers that can be sensitively detected using such bioconjugates. Furthermore, Apt-conjugated QDs have shown great potential for controlling bacterial infections such as Bacillus thuringiensis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter baumannii, Campylobacter jejuni, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium. This comprehensive review discusses recent advancements in the design of QD-Apt bioconjugates and their applications in cancer and bacterial theranostics.