Design Strategies and Application Progress of Therapeutic Exosomes

Overview

Journal Theranostics

Date 2019 Mar 15

PMID 30867813

Citations 195

Authors

ChunYing Liu

Changqing Su

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Exosomes have great potential to be drug delivery vehicles due to their natural material transportation properties, intrinsic long-term circulatory capability, and excellent biocompatibility, which are suitable for delivering a variety of chemicals, proteins, nucleic acids, and gene therapeutic agents. However, an effective method of loading specific protein agents into exosomes for absorption by target cells is still lacking. The application potential of exosome is still limited. In this review, we discussed the methods for loading specific treating molecules (proteins, nucleic acids and small chemicals) into exosomes, the design strategies for cell and tissue targeting, and the factors for exosome formation. This review can be used as a reference for further research as well as for the development of therapeutic exosomes.

Citing Articles

Unleashing the potential of mRNA: Overcoming delivery challenges with nanoparticles.

Chen Q, Huo K, Ji S, Pang S, Sun T, Niu Y Bioeng Transl Med. 2025; 10(2):e10713.

PMID: 40060761 PMC: 11883111. DOI: 10.1002/btm2.10713.

Emerging Gene Therapy Based on Nanocarriers: A Promising Therapeutic Alternative for Cardiovascular Diseases and a Novel Strategy in Valvular Heart Disease.

Yang H, Li J, Song C, Li H, Luo Q, Chen M Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26(4).

PMID: 40004206 PMC: 11855571. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26041743.

Adapted Exosomes for Addressing Chemotherapy-induced Premature Ovarian Insufficiency.

Mousaei Ghasroldasht M, Park H, Ali F, Beckman A, Mohammadi M, Hafner N Stem Cell Rev Rep. 2025; .

PMID: 39921838 DOI: 10.1007/s12015-024-10820-5.

Stem cell-derived exosome delivery systems for treating atherosclerosis: The new frontier of stem cell therapy.

Tariq H, Bukhari S, An R, Dong J, Ihsan A, Younis M Mater Today Bio. 2025; 30:101440.

PMID: 39866781 PMC: 11758955. DOI: 10.1016/j.mtbio.2024.101440.

An integrated "Engage & Evasion" approach for mononuclear phagocyte system escape and efficient extracellular vesicle therapy.

Liu H, Li M, Xiang B, Yang Z, Cao S, Gong W J Nanobiotechnology. 2024; 22(1):770.

PMID: 39696354 PMC: 11658260. DOI: 10.1186/s12951-024-03032-z.

References

Saito H, Kobayashi T, Hara T, Fujita Y, Hayashi K, Furushima R . Synthetic translational regulation by an L7Ae-kink-turn RNP switch. Nat Chem Biol. 2009; 6(1):71-8. DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.273. View

Gauvreau M, Cote M, Bourgeois-Daigneault M, Rivard L, Xiu F, Brunet A . Sorting of MHC class II molecules into exosomes through a ubiquitin-independent pathway. Traffic. 2009; 10(10):1518-27. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2009.00948.x. View

Niu Z, Pang R, Liu W, Li Q, Cheng R, Yeung W . Polymer-based precipitation preserves biological activities of extracellular vesicles from an endometrial cell line. PLoS One. 2017; 12(10):e0186534. PMC: 5638560. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186534. View

Rana S, Yue S, Stadel D, Zoller M . Toward tailored exosomes: the exosomal tetraspanin web contributes to target cell selection. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2012; 44(9):1574-84. DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2012.06.018. View

Zhang H, Wang Y, Bai M, Wang J, Zhu K, Liu R . Exosomes serve as nanoparticles to suppress tumor growth and angiogenesis in gastric cancer by delivering hepatocyte growth factor siRNA. Cancer Sci. 2017; 109(3):629-641. PMC: 5834801. DOI: 10.1111/cas.13488. View

Miyoshi H, Umeshita K, Sakon M, Imajoh-Ohmi S, Fujitani K, Gotoh M . Calpain activation in plasma membrane bleb formation during tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced rat hepatocyte injury. Gastroenterology. 1996; 110(6):1897-904. DOI: 10.1053/gast.1996.v110.pm8964416. View

Barile L, Vassalli G . Exosomes: Therapy delivery tools and biomarkers of diseases. Pharmacol Ther. 2017; 174:63-78. DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2017.02.020. View

Yang Y, Qin M, Bao P, Xu W, Xu J . Secretory carrier membrane protein 5 is an autophagy inhibitor that promotes the secretion of α-synuclein via exosome. PLoS One. 2017; 12(7):e0180892. PMC: 5507457. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180892. View

Davies R, Kim J, Jang S, Choi E, Gho Y, Park J . Microfluidic filtration system to isolate extracellular vesicles from blood. Lab Chip. 2012; 12(24):5202-10. DOI: 10.1039/c2lc41006k. View

10.

Lin Y, Wu J, Gu W, Huang Y, Tong Z, Huang L . Exosome-Liposome Hybrid Nanoparticles Deliver CRISPR/Cas9 System in MSCs. Adv Sci (Weinh). 2018; 5(4):1700611. PMC: 5908366. DOI: 10.1002/advs.201700611. View

11.

Thery C, Zitvogel L, Amigorena S . Exosomes: composition, biogenesis and function. Nat Rev Immunol. 2002; 2(8):569-79. DOI: 10.1038/nri855. View

12.

de Jong O, Verhaar M, Chen Y, Vader P, Gremmels H, Posthuma G . Cellular stress conditions are reflected in the protein and RNA content of endothelial cell-derived exosomes. J Extracell Vesicles. 2013; 1. PMC: 3760650. DOI: 10.3402/jev.v1i0.18396. View

13.

Wang Q, Ren Y, Mu J, Egilmez N, Zhuang X, Deng Z . Grapefruit-Derived Nanovectors Use an Activated Leukocyte Trafficking Pathway to Deliver Therapeutic Agents to Inflammatory Tumor Sites. Cancer Res. 2015; 75(12):2520-9. PMC: 4470740. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-3095. View

14.

Savina A, Furlan M, Vidal M, Colombo M . Exosome release is regulated by a calcium-dependent mechanism in K562 cells. J Biol Chem. 2003; 278(22):20083-90. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M301642200. View

15.

Malhotra H, Sheokand N, Kumar S, Chauhan A, Kumar M, Jakhar P . Exosomes: Tunable Nano Vehicles for Macromolecular Delivery of Transferrin and Lactoferrin to Specific Intracellular Compartment. J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2016; 12(5):1101-14. DOI: 10.1166/jbn.2016.2229. View

16.

Gibbings D, Ciaudo C, Erhardt M, Voinnet O . Multivesicular bodies associate with components of miRNA effector complexes and modulate miRNA activity. Nat Cell Biol. 2009; 11(9):1143-9. DOI: 10.1038/ncb1929. View

17.

Haney M, Klyachko N, Zhao Y, Gupta R, Plotnikova E, He Z . Exosomes as drug delivery vehicles for Parkinson's disease therapy. J Control Release. 2015; 207:18-30. PMC: 4430381. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2015.03.033. View

18.

Li S, Lin Z, Jiang X, Yu X . Exosomal cargo-loading and synthetic exosome-mimics as potential therapeutic tools. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2018; 39(4):542-551. PMC: 5888690. DOI: 10.1038/aps.2017.178. View

19.

Nabhan J, Hu R, Oh R, Cohen S, Lu Q . Formation and release of arrestin domain-containing protein 1-mediated microvesicles (ARMMs) at plasma membrane by recruitment of TSG101 protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(11):4146-51. PMC: 3306724. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1200448109. View

20.

Baglio S, Pegtel D, Baldini N . Mesenchymal stem cell secreted vesicles provide novel opportunities in (stem) cell-free therapy. Front Physiol. 2012; 3:359. PMC: 3434369. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2012.00359. View