Abstract

During the last 5 years, there has been a marked rise in publications regarding exosomes. Exosomes find potential applications as diagnostic biomarkers, therapeutics, drug delivery vehicles, and functional cosmetics and several exosome-based therapies are under clinical trials. Exosomes are nanosized vesicles that contain cell-derived lipid membranes, nucleic acids, and proteins, and are released from the cells of origin, circulate in eukaryotic fluids, and are taken up by recipient cells. The originating cell can be engineered to express specific genes, which enhance immunity, cross-presentation of antigens, or cell targeting by exosomes. Various methods using centrifugation, size-exclusion chromatography, filtration, precipitation, affinity, and microfluidics have been assessed for the isolation and purification of exosomes from biological samples. In addition, exosomes have advantages as drug delivery systems, with biocompatibility, preservation of cargo drugs during circulation in physiological fluids, uptake into the target cells, and drug release after endosomal escape. In this review, we discuss the various aspects of pharmaceutical investigation into exosomes with special focus on engineering, production, characterization, biological activities, applications of exosomes as drug delivery systems, and regulations for evaluation of exosome products.

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