Recent advances in extracellular vesicles for therapeutic cargo delivery

Abstract

Exosomes, which are nanosized vesicles secreted by cells, are attracting increasing interest in the field of biomedical research due to their unique properties, including biocompatibility, cargo loading capacity, and deep tissue penetration. They serve as natural signaling agents in intercellular communication, and their inherent ability to carry proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids endows them with remarkable therapeutic potential. Thus, exosomes can be exploited for diverse therapeutic applications, including chemotherapy, gene therapy, and photothermal therapy. Moreover, their capacity for homotypic targeting and self-recognition provides opportunities for personalized medicine. Despite their advantages as novel therapeutic agents, there are several challenges in optimizing cargo loading efficiency and structural stability and in defining exosome origins. Future research should include the development of large-scale, quality-controllable production methods, the refinement of drug loading strategies, and extensive in vivo studies and clinical trials. Despite the unresolved difficulties, the use of exosomes as efficient, stable, and safe therapeutic delivery systems is an interesting area in biomedical research. Therefore, this review describes exosomes and summarizes cutting-edge studies published in high-impact journals that have introduced novel or enhanced therapeutic effects using exosomes as a drug delivery system in the past 2 years. We provide an informative overview of the current state of exosome research, highlighting the unique properties and therapeutic applications of exosomes. We also emphasize challenges and future directions, underscoring the importance of addressing key issues in the field. With this review, we encourage researchers to further develop exosome-based drugs for clinical application, as such drugs may be among the most promising next-generation therapeutics.

Insight into the Functional Dynamics and Challenges of Exosomes in Pharmaceutical Innovation and Precision Medicine

“…Endocytic pathways, including clathrin/caveolae-mediated endocytosis, phagocytosis, macropinocytosis, and pinocytosis, play critical roles in the size-dependent uptake of exosomes [ 84 ]. Smaller exosomes, typically ranging from 30 to 100 nm, are more likely internalized through clathrin-mediated endocytosis, while larger vesicles may prefer alternative pathways, such as caveolin-mediated endocytosis or macropinocytosis [ 85 , 86 ]. The preference for specific endocytic pathways based on size impacts the efficiency of uptake and subsequent intracellular routing, thereby affecting cargo delivery to targeted cellular compartments [ 87 ].…”

Extracellular Vesicles: The Next Generation of Biomarkers and Treatment for Central Nervous System Diseases

“…However, the major experimental limitations remain in establishing cause-effect relationships between EVs and cellular responses, defining the mechanisms underlying cargo delivery, and analyzing EV-mediated signaling [45]. Also, there are other challenges related to loading efficiency, structural stability, and defining exosome origins [46]. However, the first attempts to overcome these issues have already been achieved.…”

Extracellular vesicle production: A bidirectional effect in the interplay between host and Candida fungi

“…Good biocompatibility, the possibility of using targeted fusion with the recipient cells and the ability to transport and protect the cargo over long distances make EVs of various origin considered as effective drug carriers ( Kim et al, 2024 ). In the case of fungal vesicles, one of the proposed novel therapeutic approaches is the application of EVs produced by the probiotic strain Saccharomyces boulardii CNCM I-745 as effective transporters of anticancer drug doxorubicin.…”

“…However, apart from the undeniable benefits of the solutions based on the use of EVs in drug delivery, there are still many challenges that require detailed refinement. These particularly include the selection of appropriate methods for reproducible and highly efficient isolation of EVs, optimized cargo loading, ensuring specific targeting and effective fusion with recipient cells, as well as maintaining EVs stability, critical to prevent premature release of the therapeutic agents and to secure the functionality of EVs upon reaching the target site ( Kim et al, 2024 ).…”