Extracellular vesicles (EV) are lipid-bilayer enclosed vesicles in submicron size that are released from cells. A variety of molecules, including proteins, DNA fragments, RNAs, lipids, and metabolites can be selectively encapsulated into EVs and delivered to nearby and distant recipient cells. In tumors, through such intercellular communication, EVs can regulate initiation, growth, metastasis and invasion of tumors. Recent studies have found that EVs exhibit specific expression patterns which mimic the parental cell, providing a fingerprint for early cancer diagnosis and prognosis as well as monitoring responses to treatment. Accordingly, various EV isolation and detection technologies have been developed for research and diagnostic purposes. Moreover, natural and engineered EVs have also been used as drug delivery nanocarriers, cancer vaccines, cell surface modulators, therapeutic agents and therapeutic targets. Overall, EVs are under intense investigation as they hold promise for pathophysiological and translational discoveries. This comprehensive review examines the latest EV research trends over the last five years, encompassing their roles in cancer pathophysiology, diagnostics and therapeutics. This review aims to examine the full spectrum of tumor-EV studies and provide a comprehensive foundation to enhance the field. The topics which are discussed and scrutinized in this review encompass isolation techniques and how these issues need to be overcome for EV-based diagnostics, EVs and their roles in cancer biology, biomarkers for diagnosis and monitoring, EVs as vaccines, therapeutic targets, and EVs as drug delivery systems. We will also examine the challenges involved in EV research and promote a framework for catalyzing scientific discovery and innovation for tumor-EV-focused research.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid-bilayer-enclosed vesicles of submicron size that are secreted by various cells. As mediators of intercellular communication, EVs can alter the physiological state of recipient cells by delivering encapsulated proteins and nucleic acids. Incontestably, growing evidence has shown important biological roles and the clinical relevance of EVs. The use of stem cell-derived EVs as a cell-free therapeutic modality for skin treatment has emerged as a promising application in dermatology. However, the moderate isolation efficiency of prevalent ultracentrifugation and low secretion rate make the massive low-cost production of EVs difficult. Here, we report development of engineered EVs (eEV) derived from human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hucMSCs) for skin treatment. Ultrasonication was used to shear intact hucMSCs for only 1 min, followed by regular centrifugation and filtration for producing nanoscale eEVs. This approach has ∼20-fold higher yield and ∼100-fold faster production than that of naturally secreted EVs (nsEV), while the production cost decreased to less than 10%. The eEVs have similar morphology, size distribution, and typical protein markers compared to nsEVs. Moreover, in vitro, both nsEVs and eEVs promote the proliferation and migration of dermal fibroblasts and increase in the expression of collagen, elastin, and fibronectin, whereas the matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) and MMP-3 production can be significantly reduced. The wound-healing study in mice showed that both nsEVs and eEVs promote wound recovery in comparison with the controls. In sum, our results indicate that hucMSC-derived eEVs prepared by ultrasonication potentially can be used to increase skin extracellular matrix and enhance skin rejuvenation.

Extracellular vesicles (EV) are lipid-enclosed submicron vesicles that are secreted from all eukaryotic cells. EVs can selectively encapsulate tissue-specific small molecules from parent cells and efficiently deliver them to recipient...

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cell-derived vesicles which encapsulate a variety of molecules. Numerous studies demonstrated EVs as signaling mediators of intercellular communication are heavily involved in physiological and pathological conditions....