Next-Generation Targeted Therapy: vNARs as Drug Carriers and Intracellular Neutralizing Agents

Dear Colleagues,

vNAR single-domain antibodies, originally isolated from sharks, have emerged as a revolutionary tool for drug carriers and intracellular neutralizing agents for human diseases. vNARs are a small natural antibody domain with antigen recognition capacity and unique features, such as compact size (approximately 12-15 kDa), exceptional thermal and chemical stability, high affinity, high solubility, and access to cryptic epitopes. These remarkable characteristics suggest that vNAR application may be suitable for drug delivery and intracellular neutralization, offering unparalleled opportunities across diverse scientific disciplines, including nanotechnology, biomedicine, drug delivery, biosensing, intrabodies, payload, and imaging.

The high affinity and selectivity and small size of vNARs favor the active targeting of nanoparticles, nanosystems, lipidic vesicles (exosomes, liposomes), and amino acid sequences, favoring the payload of drugs, chemosensitizers, and radioactive agents.

Research focusing on vNARs as intrabodies with the capacity for neutralization of intracellular targets is also welcome. Demonstrations of the induction of vNAR transfected plasmid or genome incorporation, and the final changes associated with vNAR neutralization in cytoplasm could help in the study of beta amyloid proteins.

This Special Issue aims to unlock the full therapeutic and diagnostic power of vNAR single-domain antibodies, ultimately benefiting global health and advancing biomedical science.

Dr. Tanya Camacho-Villegas
Dr. Mirna Burciaga-Flores
Guest Editors

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