The aging population has contributed to the rapid rise in the global incidence of neurodegenerative diseases. Despite the medical advances, there are no effective treatments for these disorders. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new treatments for these diseases. In this sense, cell therapy has been recognized as the best candidate for treating incurable diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders. However, the therapeutic use of these cells can be limited by several factors. Thus, there has been a rediscovery that extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, can be alternatively explored in the treatment of these diseases, overcoming the limits of cell-based therapy. In this sense, this review aims to revisit all areas from biology, including biogenesis and the content of exosomes, to biotechnology, proposing the minimal information required to isolate, characterize, and study the content of these vesicles for scientific and/or clinical purposes.

Cancer is one of the most important health problems and the second leading cause of death worldwide. Despite the advances in oncology, cancer heterogeneity remains challenging to therapeutics. This is because the exosome-mediated crosstalk between cancer and non-cancer cells within the tumor microenvironment (TME) contributes to the acquisition of all hallmarks of cancer and leads to the formation of cancer stem cells (CSCs), which exhibit resistance to a range of anticancer drugs. Thus, this review aims to summarize the role of TME-derived exosomes in cancer biology and explore the clinical potential of mesenchymal stem-cell-derived exosomes as a cancer treatment, discussing future prospects of cell-free therapy for cancer treatment and challenges to be overcome.

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Osteoclasts (OCs) are important for bone maintenance, calcium balance, and tissue regeneration regulation and are involved in different inflammatory diseases. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of Bothrops moojeni’s venom and its low and high molecular mass (HMM and LMM) fractions on human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)-derived OCs’ in vitro differentiation. Bothrops moojeni, a Brazilian lanced-head viper, presents a rich but not well-explored, venom composition. This venom is a potent inducer of inflammation, which can be used as a tool to investigate the inflammatory process. Human PBMCs were isolated and induced to OC differentiation following routine protocol. On the fourth day of differentiation, the venom was added at different concentrations (5, 0.5, and 0.05 µg/mL). We observed a significant reduction of TRAP+ (tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase) OCs at the concentration of 5 µg/mL. We evaluated the F-actin-rich OCs structure’s integrity; disruption of its integrity reflects bone adsorption capacity. F-actin rings phalloidin staining demonstrated that venom provoked their disruption in treated OCs. HMM, fraction reduces TRAP+ OCs at a concentration of 5 µg/mL and LMM fraction at 1 µg/mL, respectively. Our results indicate morphological changes that the venom induced cause in OCs. We analyzed the pattern of soluble proteins found in the conditioned cell culture medium OCs treated with venom and its fractions using mass spectrometry (LC-MS/IT-Tof). The proteomic analyses indicate the possible pathways and molecular mechanisms involved in OC reduction after the treatment.