Potential Use of Extracellular Vesicles Generated by Microbubble-Assisted Ultrasound as Drug Nanocarriers for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs)-carrying biomolecules derived from parental cells have achieved substantial scientific interest for their potential use as drug nanocarriers. Ultrasound (US) in combination with microbubbles (MB) have been shown to trigger the release of EVs from cancer cells. In the current study, the use of microbubbles-assisted ultrasound (USMB) to generate EVs containing drug cargo was investigated. The model drug, CellTracker™ green fluorescent dye (CTG) or bovine serum albumin conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (BSA FITC) was loaded into primary human endothelial cells in vitro using USMB. We found that USMB loaded CTG and BSA FITC into human endothelial cells (HUVECs) and triggered the release of EVs containing these compounds in the cell supernatant within 2 h after treatment. The amount of EV released seemed to be correlated with the increase of US acoustic pressure. Co-culturing these EVs resulted in uptake by the recipient tumour cells within 4 h. In conclusion, USMB was able to load the model drugs into endothelial cells and simultaneously trigger the release of EVs-carrying model drugs, highlighting the potential of EVs as drug nanocarriers for future drug delivery in cancer.

Extracellular vesicle microRNA cargoes from intermittent hypoxia-exposed cardiomyocytes and their effect on endothelium

“…On the contrary, the amount of miR-504-3p was signi cantly higher in EVs than that in cardiomyocytes, suggesting miR-504-3p possibly functions mainly by EV mediation. In general, EVs contain multifarious biomolecules with the similar express pro le with their parent cell contents and provide crucial information about an individual's physiological context [33]. Consistent with this view, in our results, the expression of miR-181-5p, miR-1a-3p and miR-494-3p had the identical tendency in IH-exposed cardiomyocyte as their expression in EVs from IH-treated cardiomyocyte.…”

Functional Biomaterials for Local Control of Orthodontic Tooth Movement

“…However, simvastatin has poor bioavailability, primarily due to its low water solubility. Several studies have supported exosomes as a potential drug carrier, which may improve the efficacy of fat-soluble drugs, such as simvastatin [ 70 ]. Liu et al tested whether simvastatin encapsulated in exosomes can inhibit relapse after OTM [ 16 ].…”

Drug Delivery by Ultrasound-Responsive Nanocarriers for Cancer Treatment

“…Firstly, the application of US has been demonstrated as useful for promoting the biosynthesis of exosomes in order to increase their yield for drug delivery [ 142 ]. Additionally, US treatment can facilitate drug loading into exosomes [ 143 ] and enhance their drug delivery efficiency [ 139 , 144 ].…”