Current application of exosomes in medicine

Exosomes are a distinct type of extracellular vesicles that play a major role in intracellular transport and communication. Depending on the cell of origin, exosomes can contain diverse constituents of a cell, including DNA, RNA, lipids, metabolites, cytosolic and cell-surface proteins, playing important roles in a wide range of physiological and pathological processes. Due to these facts, they are subject of extensive research aiming at translating the knowledge into clinical approaches that are at the interface between nanomedicine and biopharmaceuticals.

Their potential clinical use mostly revolves around the fields of diagnostics and drug delivery, especially important in treatment of cancer. The conventional and emerging methods of exosome isolation are either based on their physical properties (such as density and/or size) or their functions. However, the isolation approaches are still characterised by significant downsides, lacking standardisation, and ensuring purity. The review gives a critical overview on exosomes characteristics, isolation approaches and the potential that exosomes hold in developing new clinical approaches of modern medicine, highlighting the need for further research to fully grasp their potential and translate the knowledge into future therapeutic solutions.