Title:Engineered Exosomes: A Promising Drug Delivery Strategy for Brain
Diseases
Volume: 29
Issue: 17
Author(s): Yuan Jiang*, Fengbo Wang, Ke Wang, Yongqiang Zhong, Xiaofei Wei, Qiongfen Wang*Hong Zhang*
Affiliation:
- Clinical Medical College and The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
- Clinical Medical College and The First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China
- Department of Rehabilitation medicine, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji
University, Shanghai 200434, China
Keywords:
Exosome, brain disease, drug delivery, donor cells engineering, exosomes engineering, artificial exosome mimics.
Abstract: Exosomes are a heterogeneous group of nano-sized natural membrane vesicles
released from various cells and exist in body fluids. Different from the previous understanding
of the function of exosomes as “garbage bins”, exosomes act as carriers with
many kinds of bioactive molecules (e.g., proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids) to play an important
role in cell-cell communication. Growing evidence in recent years has suggested
that exosomes also play some roles in the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment modalities
of some brain diseases, including ischemic stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's
disease, multiple sclerosis, and brain cancers. Exosomes as therapeutic drug carriers for
brain drug delivery have received extensive attention as well as exosomes can overcome
the blood-brain barrier (BBB). However, the low targeting ability and size-dependent cellular
uptake of native exosomes could profoundly affect the delivery performance of exosomes.
Recent studies have indicated that engineered exosomes can increase the drug uptake
efficiency and the subsequent drug efficacy. In the present paper, we will briefly introduce
the engineering methods and applications of engineered exosomes in the treatment
of brain diseases, and then focus on discussing the advantages and challenges of exosome-
based drug delivery platforms to further enrich and boost the development of exosomes
as a promising drug delivery strategy for brain diseases.