Figure 2.

Multiple strategies to enhance immunity with aptamers: dimeric or multimeric aptamers against co-stimulatory receptors can be used as agonistic molecules of the cognate receptor. The same agonistic aptamer can be delivered to the tumor, improving the therapeutic index, by coupling with a tumor-specific aptamer. Immune-checkpoint blockade aptamers against cell-surface receptors can be used to enhance tumor immunity. The blockade of the intracellular immune-checkpoint that orchestrates an immune suppression pathway can be inhibited by targeting aptamer-siRNA chimeras to the lymphocyte or the tumor cell.