Advances in the Study of Exosomes as Drug Delivery Systems for Bone-Related Diseases

Abstract

Bone-related diseases are major problems and heavy burdens faced by modern society. Current clinical approaches for the treatment of these pathological conditions often lead to complications and have limited therapeutic efficacy. In this context, the development of nanotherapeutic platforms, such as extracellular vesicles, can improve the relevant therapeutic effects. In particular, exosomes are nano-sized, lipid bilayer extracellular vesicles secreted by many cells in mammals. Due to their innate capacity to transport materials—including proteins, lipids, and genes—among cells, as well as their innate attraction to target cells, they are considered to be a crucial medium for cell communication and are involved in a number of biological processes. Exosomes have been used as drug delivery vehicles in recent bone tissue engineering studies, in order to regulate bone homeostasis. However, the precise workings of the exosome regulatory network in maintaining bone homeostasis and its potential for treating bone injury remain unclear. To provide a fresh perspective for the study of exosomes in drug delivery and bone-related diseases, in this paper, we review recent studies on the roles of exosomes for drug delivery in bone homeostasis and bone-related diseases, as well as the composition and characteristics of exosomes and their regulatory roles in bone homeostasis and bone-related diseases, aiming to provide new ideas for the therapeutic application of exosomes in the treatment of bone-related diseases.

Advanced gene nanocarriers/scaffolds in nonviral-mediated delivery system for tissue regeneration and repair

“…Exosomes are one of the most popular gene delivery vehicles, especially for cartilage regeneration and repair [ 203 ]. Mao and collaborators have suggested that exosomal microRNA-92a-3p (miR-92a-3p) can regulate cartilage development and homeostasis by directly targeting WNT5A [ 204 ].…”

Engineering Approaches for Exosome Cargo Loading and Targeted Delivery: Biological versus Chemical Perspectives

“…Various techniques, such as electroporation, sonication, freeze−thaw cycling, coextrusion, and the use of surfactants, like saponin or Triton, have been employed to disrupt exosome membranes and enhance the loading efficiency of substances into EVs. 35,36 These techniques involve dissolution of membrane components and making of nanopores through interactions with the cholesterol, thereby facilitating the loading of cargo into exosomes. 37 Saponins can encapsulate hydrophobic drugs within their hydrophobic core, thereby showing a solubilizing effect.…”

Membrane Vesicles as Drug Delivery Systems: Source, Preparation, Modification, Drug Loading, In Vivo Administration and Biodistribution, and Application in Various Diseases

“…Some studies have shown that extracellular vesicles exerted a better therapeutic efficacy than the cells releasing the EVs [ 6 ]. At present, abundant sources of membrane vesicles have been developed, including various biological fluids (e.g., blood, milk [ 7 , 8 ], orange juice [ 9 ]), animal cells (e.g., mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) [ 7 , 10 , 11 ], dendritic cells [ 12 ], macrophages [ 13 ], tumor cells [ 14 ], red blood cells [ 15 ], different animal cell lines [ 16 ], and others), plant cells (e.g., grapes, conifers, ginger, garlic, tea, etc.) [ 17 ], bacteria (e.g., intestinal flora and probiotics) [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], and others [ 21 , 22 ].…”

“…As a promising tool for drug delivery, membrane vesicles have been recruited to load different types of drugs. In this Special Issue, curcumin was loaded in extracellular vesicles for neuroinflammation [ 13 ]; peroxidase and dopamine for Parkinson’s disease [ 26 ]; lncRNA H19 for osteoporosis [ 14 ]; miRNA-210 and miRNA-132 for cardiac repair [ 10 ]; paclitaxel for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma [ 23 ]; and even CRISPR/Cas9 for gene editing [ 27 ]. Similarly, different drugs were loaded by bacterial membrane vesicles as DDSs for disease treatment.…”

“…A lot of related studies have been reported and summarized in many review articles. In this Special Issue, the applications of membrane vesicles as DDSs in bone-related diseases [ 14 ], anticancer and antimicrobial therapies [ 15 , 18 , 21 , 25 , 27 ], gastrointestinal diseases [ 17 , 19 ], organ transplant related diseases [ 31 ], cardiovascular diseases [ 10 , 12 , 32 ], neurodegenerative disorders [ 13 , 26 , 33 ], neurological anomalies associated with multidrug-resistant superbugs [ 20 ], and others were reviewed ( Figure 3 ). Since the application of probiotics in myocardial infarction has been reported [ 34 ], it seems also potential that the membrane vesicles derived from probiotics can be recruited as DDSs to treat cardiovascular diseases (e.g., myocardial infarction).…”