A Novel TNF-α-Targeting Aptamer for TNF-α-Mediated Acute Lung Injury and Acute Liver Failure
The TNF- pathway plays as a double-edged sword that simultaneously regulates cell apoptosis and proliferation. The dysregulated TNF- signaling can trigger cytokine storms that lead to profound cell death during the phase of acute tissue injury. On the other hand, an optimal level of TNF- signaling is required for tissue repair following the acute injury phase. The TNF- pathway is commonly upregulated in acute lung injury (ALI) and acute liver failure (ALF). Previous studies investigated the feasibility of adopting protein-based TNF- blockers as disease modifiers in ALI and ALF, but none of these came out with a positive result. One of the potential reasons that resides behind the failure of the trials might be the long half-life of these inhibitors that led to undesired side effects. Developing alternative TNF- blockers with manageable half-lives remain an unmet need in this regard.