Exosomes, the extracellular secretary nano-vesicles, act as carriers of biomolecules to the target cells. They exhibit several attributes of an efficient drug delivery system. Curcumin, despite having numerous bioactive and therapeutic properties, has limited pharmaceutical use due to its poor water solubility, stability, and low systemic bioavailability. Hence, this study aims to enhance the therapeutic potential of curcumin, a model hydrophobic drug, by its encapsulation into milk exosomes. In the present study, we investigated the stability of free curcumin and exosomal curcumin in PBS and in vitro digestive processes. Additionally, their uptake and trans-epithelial transport were studied on Caco-2 cells. Curcumin in milk exosomes had higher stability in PBS, sustained harsh digestive processes, and crossed the intestinal barrier than free curcumin. In conclusion, the encapsulation of curcumin into the exosomes enhances its stability, solubility, and bioavailability. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that milk exosomes act as stable oral drug delivery vehicles.

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Milk is a natural nutraceutical produced by mammals. The nanovesicles of milk play a role in horizontal gene transfer and confer health-benefits to milk consumers. These nanovesicles contain miRNA, mRNA, and proteins which mediate the intercellular communication. In this work, we isolated and characterized the buffalo milk-derived nanovesicles by dynamic light scattering (DLS), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Western probing, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The DLS data suggested a bimodal size distribution with one mode near 50 nm and the other around 200 nm for the nanovesicles. The NTA and SEM data also supported the size of nanovesicles within a range of 50-200 nm. The FTIR measurements of nanovesicles identified some prominent absorption bands attributable to the proteins (1300-1700 cm(-1), amide A and amide B bands), lipids (2800-3100 cm(-1)), polysaccharides, and nucleic acids (900-1200 cm(-1)). The comparative expression profiles of immune miRNA signatures (miR-15b, miR-21, miR-27b, miR-125b, miR-155, and miR-500) in nanovesicles isolated from milk, serum, and urine revealed that these miRNAs are present abundantly (P< 0.05) in milk-derived nanovesicles. Milk miRNAs (miR-21 and 500) that were also found stable under different household storage conditions indicated that these could be biologically available to milk consumers. Overall, nanovesicles are a new class of bioactive compounds from buffalo milk with high proportion of stable immune miRNAs compared to urine and plasma of same animals.

Milk is not only a composite of nutrients but emerged as a source of exosomes acting as a promising drug delivery vehicle for small interfering RNA (siRNA). siRNA is known for its immense therapeutic potential but has various physiological limitations, including stable delivery. To investigate the suitability of siRNA for physiological stability and oral delivery, we encapsulated scrambled Alexa Fluor (AF)-488 siRNA in milk whey exosomes using lipofection and evaluated stability against the digestive processes along with its uptake and transepithelial transport by intestinal epithelial cells. Milk exosomal siRNA were found resistant to different digestive juices, including saliva, gastric, bile, and pancreatic juices, in vitro and were internalized by Caco-2 cells. The stable delivery of exosomal AF-488 siRNA along with its transepithelial transport was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy and fluorescence intensity measurements. In summary, the encapsulation of siRNA in milk exosomes resists harsh digestive processes, improving intestinal permeability and payload protection.

Livestock, having close resemblance to humans, could be a better source of primary hepatocytes than rodents. Herein, we successfully developed three-dimensional (3D) culturing system for primary sheep and buffalo hepatocytes. The 3D-structures of sheep hepatocytes were formed on the fifth-day and maintained until the tenth-day on polyHEMA-coated plates and in hanging drops with William’s E media (HDW). Between the cultured and fresh cells, we observed a similar expression of GAPDH, HNF4α, ALB, CYP1A1, CK8 and CK18. Interestingly, a statistically significant increase was noted in the TAT, CPS, AFP, AAT, GSP and PCNA expression. In buffalo hepatocytes culture, 3D-like structures were formed on the third-day and maintained until the sixth-day on polyHEMA and HDW. The expression of HNF4α, GSP, CPS, AFP, AAT, PCNA and CK18 was similar between cultured and fresh cells. Further, a statistically significant increase in the TAT and CK8 expression, and a decrease in the GAPDH, CYP1A1 and ALB expression were noted. Among the culture systems, HDW maintained the liver transcript markers more or less similar to the fresh hepatocytes of the sheep and buffalo for ten and six days, respectively. Taken together, hanging drop is an efficient method for 3D culturing of primary sheep and buffalo hepatocytes.

Curcumin possesses anti-inflammatory properties and provides a promising treatment for inflammation. The aim of the study is to establish that buffalo granulosa cells when primed with curcumin (20 μM), release improved cellular contents through exosome that can mitigate granulosa cell dysfunction. Recently, we have shown that buffalo granulosa cells exposed to LPS (1 μg/mL) in serum free culture, transiently increased the pro-inflammatory cytokine genes (IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6) expression followed by the inhibition of CYP19A1 gene expression and estradiol production. Therefore, LPS-treated granulosa cells were used as a model of inflammation and curcumin primed exosomes were utilized to check their potential for reducing granulosa cell dysfunction. Expression level of pro-inflammatory cytokines and CYP19A1 were detected by real time PCR while estradiol levels were measured by ELISA. Exosomes derived from curcumin-treated cells alleviated LPS mediated inflammation. In conclusion, our study potentiates the use of curcumin primed exosomes in mitigating granulosa cell dysfunction. Results show the therapeutic conservatories of curcumin via primed exosomes.

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