Current application of exosomes in medicine

Exosomes belong to structures called extracellular vesicles (EVs). These spherical units, secreted by most eukaryotic cells, attracted significant interest among researchers in recent years. Exosomes undergo secretion from almost all types of mammalian cells, including dendritic cells, B cells, epithelial cells, mastocytes, reticulocytes, platelets, T cells, mesenchymal stem cells, adipocytes, bone marrow-derived stem cells, embryonic stem cells, fibroblasts, cardiac myocytes, endothelial cells, oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia, neurons, neural stem cells, hepatocytes, lung spheroid cells, as well as tumor cells. Exosomes have several features that enable many methods of their isolation from biological material. Furthermore, physicochemical properties such as size, mass, density, or the ability to interact with specific proteins allowed for the development and advance of several effective methods. Work on exosomes’ recovery and purity made it possible to most effectively determine their isolation methods’ efficiency and accuracy. A common ground for the researchers’ interest in exosomal analyses is the role of exosomes as carriers of disease biomarkers. It has been suggested that exosomes can be used in vaccine development and other immunological-related purposes, as one of their characteristics is the ability to present antigens. Moreover, exosomes have a long half-life. As the human body does not perceive them as foreign bodies, they can penetrate cell membranes and target specific cells, making them even better candidates for the applications mentioned above. Therefore, the following review deals with the nature of exosomes, as well as various methods of their isolation and use in medicine.

Running title: Current application of exosomes in medicine