Mastering the Tools: Natural versus Artificial Vesicles in Nanomedicine

Abstract

Naturally occurring extracellular vesicles and artificially made vesicles represent important tools in nanomedicine for the efficient delivery of biomolecules and drugs. Since its first appearance in the literature 50 years ago, the research on vesicles is progressing at a fast pace, with the main goal of developing carriers able to protect cargoes from degradation, as well as to deliver them in a time‐ and space‐controlled fashion. While natural occurring vesicles have the advantage of being fully compatible with their host, artificial vesicles can be easily synthetized and functionalized according to the target to reach. Research is striving to merge the advantages of natural and artificial vesicles, in order to provide a new generation of highly performing vesicles, which would improve the therapeutic index of transported molecules. This progress report summarizes current manufacturing techniques used to produce both natural and artificial vesicles, exploring the promises and pitfalls of the different production processes. Finally, pros and cons of natural versus artificial vesicles are discussed and compared, with special regard toward the current applications of both kinds of vesicles in the healthcare field.

Small Extracellular Vesicles Secreted by Region-specific Astrocytes Ameliorate the Mitochondrial Function in a Cellular Model of Parkinson’s Disease

“…[30,79,80] Notably, EVs are actively secreted by most cell types of the brain and have also been identified in body fluids working as potential new biomarkers for PD and other neurodegenerative diseases. [9][10][11][12][13][14] They are also exploited more and more as advanced nanotherapeutics in regenerative medicine. [9,13,[15][16][17][18][19][20] Here, we show for the first time that this form of communication mediated by EVs exists for astrocytes derived from the nigrostriatal system.…”

“…[9][10][11][12][13][14] They are also exploited more and more as advanced nanotherapeutics in regenerative medicine. [9,13,[15][16][17][18][19][20] Here, we show for the first time that this form of communication mediated by EVs exists for astrocytes derived from the nigrostriatal system. Moreover, we elucidate the different intrinsic capacities of astrocytes in terms of EV secretion and function, depending on the specific brain area of origin (i.e., ventral midbrain vs. striatum).…”

“…[6][7][8] EVs have been identified in body fluids as potential new biomarkers for several diseases and also exploited as advanced nanotherapeutics in regenerative medicine. [9,10,19,20,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Like their synthetic liposomal counterpart, EVs protect their payloads from the action of nuclease and protease, allowing either a long distance delivery. Differently from synthetic nanoparticles, EVs display innate properties, such as the ability to cross biological barriers (e.g., blood brain barrier), and a low immunogenicity.…”

“…Moreover, EVs possess a fingerprint, inherited from their donor cells, which distinguish EVs derived from different cell types. [13,[21][22][23] Importantly, the EV content reflects the "status" of the donor cell and can change in response to specific modifications in the microenvironment. [24] EVs have been demonstrated to play several roles in physio-pathological conditions.…”

Extracellular Vesicles as Nanotherapeutics for Parkinson’s Disease

“…During the last decade, several strategies based on natural or modified EVs have been proposed, also for treating PD [233] (Figure 2 and Table 1). Naturally occurring and engineered EVs as cell-free treatment for PD.…”