Exosomes: Potential Disease Biomarkers and New Therapeutic Targets

Overview

Journal Biomedicines

Specialty Biomedical Engineering

Date 2021 Aug 27

PMID 34440265

Citations 51

Authors

Maria I Mosquera-Heredia

Luis C Morales

Oscar M Vidal

Ernesto Barcelo

Carlos Silvera-Redondo

Jorge I Velez

Pilar Garavito-Galofre

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles released by cells, both constitutively and after cell activation, and are present in different types of biological fluid. Exosomes are involved in the pathogenesis of diseases, such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, pregnancy disorders and cardiovascular diseases, and have emerged as potential non-invasive biomarkers for the detection, prognosis and therapeutics of a myriad of diseases. In this review, we describe recent advances related to the regulatory mechanisms of exosome biogenesis, release and molecular composition, as well as their role in health and disease, and their potential use as disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of their main isolation methods, characterization and cargo analysis, as well as the experimental methods used for exosome-mediated drug delivery, are discussed. Finally, we present potential perspectives for the use of exosomes in future clinical practice.

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