Novel Technologies for Exosome and Exosome-like Nanovesicle Procurement and Enhancement

Delivery-mediated exosomal therapeutics in ischemia-reperfusion injury: advances, mechanisms, and future directions

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) poses significant challenges across various organ systems, including the heart, brain, and kidneys. Exosomes have shown great potentials and applications in mitigating IRI-induced cell and tissue damage through modulating inflammatory responses, enhancing angiogenesis, and promoting tissue repair. Despite these advances, a more systematic understanding of exosomes from different sources and their biotransport is critical for optimizing therapeutic efficacy and accelerating the clinical adoption of exosomes for IRI therapies. Therefore, this review article overviews the administration routes of exosomes from different sources, such as mesenchymal stem cells and other somatic cells, in the context of IRI treatment. Furthermore, this article covers how the delivered exosomes modulate molecular pathways of recipient cells, aiding in the prevention of cell death and the promotions of regeneration in IRI models. In the end, this article discusses the ongoing research efforts and propose future research directions of exosome-based therapies.

Methods, Mechanisms, and Application Prospects for Enhancing Extracellular Vesicle Uptake

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are considered to be a new generation of bioinspired nanoscale drug delivery systems due to their low immunogenicity, natural functionality, and excellent biocompatibility. However, limitations such as low uptake efficiency, insufficient production, and inhomogeneous performance undermine their potential. To address these issues, numerous researchers have put forward various methods and applications for enhancing EV uptake in recent decades. In this review, we introduce various methods for the cellular uptake of EVs and summarize recent advances on the methods and mechanisms for enhancing EV uptake. In addition, we provide further understanding regarding enhancing EV uptake and put forward prospects and challenges for the development of EV-based therapy in the future.

Unraveling the Multifaceted Roles of Extracellular Vesicles: Insights into Biology, Pharmacology, and Pharmaceutical Applications for Drug Delivery

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are nanoparticles released from various cell types that have emerged as powerful new therapeutic option for a variety of diseases. EVs are involved in the transmission of biological signals between cells and in the regulation of a variety of biological processes, highlighting them as potential novel targets/platforms for therapeutics intervention and/or delivery. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate new aspects of EVs' biogenesis, biodistribution, metabolism, and excretion as well as safety/compatibility of both unmodified and engineered EVs upon administration in different pharmaceutical dosage forms and delivery systems. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge of essential physiological and pathological roles of EVs in different organs and organ systems. We provide an overview regarding application of EVs as therapeutic targets, therapeutics, and drug delivery platforms. We also explore various approaches implemented over the years to improve the dosage of specific EV products for different administration routes.

Extracellular Vesicles Derived From 3D Cultured Antler Stem Cells Serve as a New Drug Vehicle in Osteosarcoma Treatment

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from antler reserve mesenchymal (RM) cells play an important role in the paracrine regulation during rapid growth of antler without forming a tumor; therefore, RM-EVs become novel materials for anti-tumor studies, such as osteosarcoma treatment. However, the problem of low production of RM-EVs in traditional 2D culture limits its mechanism research and application. In this study, we established an optimal 3D culture system for antler RM cells to produce EVs (3D-RM-EVs). Morphology and property of harvested 3D-RM-EVs were normal compared with EVs from conventional 2D culture, and the miRNA profile in them was basically the same through transcriptome sequencing analysis. Based on the same number of RM cells, the volume of the culture medium collected by 3D cultural system concentrated nearly 30 times, making it more convenient for subsequent purification. In addition, EVs were harvested 30 times in 3D cultural system, greatly increasing the total amount of EVs (harvested a total of 2-3 times in 2D culture). Although 3D-RM-EVs had a limited inhibitory effect on the proliferation of K7M2 cells, the inhibition effect of 3D-RM-EVs loaded drugs (Ifosfamide + Etoposide) were more significant than that of positive drug group alone (P < 0.05). Furthermore, in vivo studies showed that 3D-RM-EVs loaded drugs (Ifosfamide + Etoposide) had the most significant tumor inhibition effect, with decreased tumor size, and could slow down body weight loss compared with Ifosfamide + Etoposide (IFO + ET) group. These results demonstrated that 3D-RM-EVs were efficiently prepared from antler RM cells and were effective as drug vehicles for the treatment of osteosarcoma.