Extracellular vesicles as drug carrier for cancer therapy

2024 | Vol-1 | Issue-1 | Date of Submission: | Date of Publication:

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are cellular entities secreted from a variety of cell types and detectable in bodily fluids including blood, sputum, cerebrospinal fluid and urine. EVs based on their size are classified into small (s) EVs and large (l) EVs. Studies demonstrate EVs carry nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids among others and has the potential to serve as a source of biomarker source for diagnosis and prognosis of human diseases including cancer. In parallel, EVs are also being developed and tested as a drug carrier. Based on these reports, we embarked on testing EVs as a drug carrier for cancer therapy by combining EV technology with nanotechnology. Studies in our laboratory focused on testing sEVs as drug carrier showed gold or iron-oxide-based nanoparticles conjugated to a chemotherapeutic via a pH-sensitive linker can be efficiently loaded onto EVs derived from normal cells and used for cancer treatment. For enhancing tumor-targeted drug delivery, the EVs are decorated on their surface with tumor-targeted ligands. The resulting multifunctional tumor-targeted EVs demonstrate excellent antitumor activity against tumor cells with minimal toxicity to normal cells in vitro. Studies are planned to test and validate our in vitro study results in in vivo tumor models. The exciting results has allowed us to embark on studies focused on optimizing the EVs cell source and size, features important in drug delivery. In conclusion, while opportunities for utilizing EVs as a drug carrier exists, several challenges in the field of extracellular vesicles need to be overcome for conducting advanced studies and translating for clinical applications.