A novel platform for cancer therapy using extracellular vesicles

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanometer-sized membranous vesicles and are involved in cell-to-cell communication. EVs contain several types of functional molecules, such as proteins, mRNAs, and microRNAs (miRNAs). Over the past several years, EVs have emerged as potential tools for a drug delivery system (DDS) that can target organs or cells. EVs have a function of organ tropism and are naturally occurring from cells. Therefore, EVs have expected as naturally DDSs, which have the organ tropism and a low side effect. Actually, some reports showed that EVs delivered drugs to specific organ. However, despite observed the organ tropism, the mechanisms of organ tropism of EVs are still unclear. Moreover, preservation and efficient collection of EVs are desired to be investigated. Here, we provide an overview of the methods for using EVs as DDSs.

Engineered exosome-mediated delivery of functionally active miR-26a and its enhanced suppression effect in HepG2 cells

“…44 Over the past decade, thousands of researchers have contributed to the development of exosome-based vehicles for targeted delivery of therapeutics to diseased, including neurodegenerative diseases 4 and cancer. 48 Collectively, these studies have identified advantages of exosomes, over viruses and artificial nanoparticles, for the targeted delivery of therapeutics to diseased cells. However, the potential of engineered exosomes for clinical therapies is limited by their very challenging manufacture, and the need to conduct a comprehensive molecular and functional characterization on each preparation prior to a treatment, both of which are expensive and labor-intensive.…”

Towards Therapeutic Delivery of Extracellular Vesicles: Strategies for In Vivo Tracking and Biodistribution Analysis

“…For this reason, EVs have increasingly been under investigation as novel modulators for different therapeutic purposes, including anticancer strategies, vaccination, targeted drug delivery, immunomodulation, and tissue regeneration [22, 41, 42]. Therefore, several possible applications for EVs-mediated therapy have been proposed (Figure 1) [14, 43–49]. …”

Apoptotic neuron-secreted HN12 inhibits cell apoptosis in Hirschsprung's disease

“…In addition, exosomes have been considered as a novel platform for cancer therapy. 35 Through the untiring efforts of researchers, we speculate that exosomes may work as potent therapeutics in HSCR, as it can deliver drugs to selective targets. Certainly, more studies are needed to apply exosomes in a drug-delivery system.…”