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Engineered Extracellular Vesicles as a Targeted Delivery Platform for Precision Therapy

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs)-based cell-free strategy has shown therapeutic potential in tissue regeneration. Due to their important roles in intercellular communications and their natural ability to shield cargos from degradation, EVs are also emerged as novel delivery vehicles for various bioactive molecules and drugs. Accumulating studies have revealed that EVs can be modified to enhance their efficacy and specificity for the treatment of many diseases. Engineered EVs are poised as the next generation of targeted delivery platform in the field of precision therapy. In this review, the unique properties of EVs are overviewed in terms of their biogenesis, contents, surface features and biological functions, and the recent advances in the strategies of engineered EVs construction are summarized. Additionally, we also discuss the potential applications of engineered EVs in targeted therapy of cancer and damaged tissues, and evaluate the opportunities and challenges for translating them into clinical practice.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

(Adapted from Guo et al. J Transl Med. 2022;20:326, with permission from Springer Nature [64]) C Transmission electron microscope and scanning electron microscopy for the microvesicles derived from SR4987 cells co-incubated with PTX. (Adapted from Pascucci et al. J Control Release. 2014;192:262–70, with permission from Elsevier [65]) D Schemes for the direct cargo loading into EVs. E Separation of vehicle- and WFA-loaded milk exosomes by Opti-prep density gradient and the release study for Exo-WFA. (Adapted from Munagala et al. Cancer Lett. 2016;371:48–61, with permission from Elsevier [69]) F Transmission electron microscope for drug-loaded exosomes after electroporation. (Adapted from Liang et al. Mol Pharm. 2021;18:1003–13, with permission from American Chemical Society [72]) G Transmission electron microscope for exosome-coated AuNPs after extrusion. (Adapted from Khongkow et al. Sci Rep. 2019;9:8278, with permission from Springer Nature [79]) H Schematic showing the mild sonication procedure and transmission electron microscopy for EVs. (Adapted from Yerneni et al. Acta Biomater. 2022;149:198–212, with permission from Elsevier [75]) I Transmission electron microscopy for ZnO NCs-loaded EVs. (Adapted from Dumontel et al. Cell Biosci. 2022;12:61, with permission from Springer Nature [82])

Fig. 3
Fig. 4

(Adapted from Cao et al. ACS Nano. 2019;13:1499–510, with permission from American Chemical Society [113])

Fig. 5

(Adapted from Han et al. Theranostics. 2021;11:6526–41, with permission from Ivyspring International Publisher [116])

Fig. 6

(Adapted from Ye et al. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2018;10:12,341–50, with permission from American Chemical Society [122])

Fig. 7

(Adapted from Huang et al. J Control Release. 2022;343:107–17, with permission from Elsevier [134])

Fig. 8

(Adapted from Hu et al. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022;14:36,289–303, with permission from American Chemical Society [142])

Fig. 9

(Adapted from Guo et al. J Nanobiotechnology. 2021;19:402, with permission from Springer Nature [145])

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Acknowledgement

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81971757).

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  1. Yuntong Sun and Fengtian Sun contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Medical Science and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang, 212013, Jiangsu, China

    Yuntong Sun, Fengtian Sun, Wenrong Xu & Hui Qian

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YS and FS drafted the manuscript and drew the figures. WX and HQ revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Sun, Y., Sun, F., Xu, W. et al. Engineered Extracellular Vesicles as a Targeted Delivery Platform for Precision Therapy. Tissue Eng Regen Med 20, 157–175 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-022-00503-y

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