Exosomes as Anticancer Drug Delivery Vehicles: Prospects and Challenges
Yubo Zhang, Jian Li, Wei Gao, Na Xie
Abstract
Exosomes, a subset of extracellular vesicles, are widely present in various body fluids and are involved in mediating intercellular communication. They have received extensive attention as diagnostic markers. The excellent physicochemical and biological properties of exosomes make them great potential drug delivery vehicles for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. However, various challenges need to be addressed for the clinical application of exosomes. This review introduces the biogenesis and uptake of exosomes and compares different approaches for isolation and drug loading, focusing on the application and current challenges of exosomes as drug delivery vehicles in cancer therapy.
Topics & Concepts
MicrovesiclesDrug deliveryExtracellular vesiclesDrugBiogenesisIsolation (microbiology)Targeted drug deliveryExosomeCancer therapyCancerMedicineBiologyBioinformaticsNanotechnologymicroRNAPharmacologyCell biologyMaterials scienceInternal medicineBiochemistryGeneExtracellular vesicles in diseaseMicroRNA in disease regulationRNA Interference and Gene Delivery