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Fromstructurestofunctions:insightsintoexosomesaspromisingdrugdeliveryvehicles
CancerCenter,UnionHospital,TongjiMedicalCollege,HuazhongUniversityofScienceTechnology,Wuhan430022,P.R.China
E-mail:jhrenmed@hust.edu.cn
DepartmentofBreastandThyroidSurgery,UnionHospital,TongjiMedicalCollege,HuazhongUniversityofScienceTechnology,Wuhan430022,P.R.China
SchoolofChemicalandBiomedicalEngineering,NanyangTechnologicalUniversity,70NanyangDrive,637457Singapore
E-mail:hduan@ntu.edu.sg

Exosomesaresmallmembranevesiclessecretedbymostcelltypes,andappearubiquitouslyincellculturesupernatantsandbodyfluids.Increasingevidencesupportsthatexosomesplayimportantrolesinintercellularcommunication,bothlocallyandsystemically,bytransportingtheircontentssuchasproteins,lipidsandRNAsbetweencells.Ofparticularinterestforcontrolleddrugdeliveryisthatcell-derivedexosomesofferthepossibilitiesofovercomingBIOLOGicalbarriers,therebyallowingtheincorporatedgeneanddrugtoreachtargetedtissue,whichhavebeenconsiderablechallengesforsyntheticcarriers.Greatresearcheffortshavebeendedicatedtodevelopingexosome-baseddrugdeliverysystemsforthetreatmentofinflammatorydiseases,degenerativedisordersandcancer.Inthisreview,wewilldescribethestructuralandfunctionalpropertiesofexosomesandemphasizecurrentadvancesinthetherapeuticapplicationsofexosomesasdrugdeliveryvehicles,followedbyadiscussiononcurrentchallengesandfutureperspectives.

Fromstructurestofunctions:insightsintoexosomesaspromisingdrugdeliveryvehicles
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