Re-Engineering Extracellular Vesicles as Smart Nanoscale Therapeutics.

ABSTRACT: In the past decade, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as a key cell-free strategy for the treatment of a range of pathologies, including cancer, myocardial infarction, and inflammatory diseases. Indeed, the field is rapidly transitioning from promising in vitro reports toward in vivo animal models and early clinical studies. These investigations exploit the high physicochemical stability and biocompatibility of EVs as well as their innate capacity to communicate with cells via signal transduction and membrane fusion. This review focuses on methods in which EVs can be chemically or biologically modified to broaden, alter, or enhance their therapeutic capability. We examine two broad strategies, which have been used to introduce a wide range of nanoparticles, reporter systems, target

SUBMITTER: Armstrong JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5604727 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature