Focusing on Future Applications and Current Challenges of Plant Derived Extracellular Vesicles

Abstract

Plant derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nano-sized membranous vesicles released by plant cells, which contain lipids, proteins, nucleic acids and specific pharmacologically active substances. They are safe, widely available and expediently extractive. They have gratifyingly biological activity against inflammation, cancer, bacteria and oxidative aging, especially for the prevention or treatment of colitis, cancer, alcoholic liver, and COVID-19. In addition, as natural drug carriers, plant derived EVs have the potential to target the delivery of small molecule drugs and nucleic acid through oral, transdermal, injection. With the above advantages, plant derived EVs are expected to have excellent strong competitiveness in clinical application or preventive health care products in the future. We comprehensively reviewed the latest separation methods and physical characterization techniques of plant derived EVs, summarized the application of them in disease prevention or treatment and as a new drug carrier, and analyzed the clinical application prospect of plant derived EVs as a new drug carrier in the future. Finally, the problems hindering the development of plant derived EVs at present and consideration of the standardized application of them are discussed.

Exploring membrane vesicles in citrus fruits: a comparative analysis of conventional and organic farming approaches

“…In the first physical characterization of the vesicles, it was determined that the vesicles isolated from the juice were not only smaller in size, but also more heterogeneous, as determined by DLS and confirmed by TEM. By contrast to purification methods used in other studies, this method was mainly based on cell disruption and centrifugation steps, with the vesicles being more similar to those that could be formed in the organism after food consumption because additional purification steps after isolation, such as filtration, were not carried out 75,76 . Thus, the membrane vesicles obtained possess suitable physicochemical properties for use as nanocarriers in biotechnological applications, given that they are natural vesicles composed of sustainable and biodegradable materials that can be isolated in large quantities 22 …”

Potential of Mesenchymal Stromal Cell-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Natural Nanocarriers: Concise Review

“…As human EVs, they display advantageous properties such as low immunogenicity, tissue-specific targeting, safety, negative zeta potential, and the ability to load many biomolecules [ 68 ]. However, the therapeutic potential of these EVs is still in its infancy, due to the absence of a comprehensive understanding of the biogenesis mechanism, internalization and packaging processes, cargo identification, and the comparison with liposomes-based methods [ 69 ].…”

Plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PDEVs) in nanomedicine for human disease and therapeutic modalities

“…PDEVs can transfer several cargoes to recipient cells and change the cellular phenotype, including nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, and other specific pharmacologically active substances [ 40 ] (Fig. 2 ).…”