Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 Dec 24;23(1):191.
doi: 10.3390/ijms23010191.

Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Therapeutic Nanocarriers

Theodora Karamanidou  1   2 , Alexander Tsouknidas  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Plant-Derived Extracellular Vesicles as Therapeutic Nanocarriers

Theodora Karamanidou et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Mammalian exosomes have emerged as a promising class of functional materials, inspiring novel applications as therapeutic vehicles and nutraceutical compounds. Despite this, their immunogenicity has been an issue of controversy within the scientific community. Although, exosome-like vesicles, innately formed in plants and inherent to eukaryotic cell-derived vesicles, could soothe most of the concerns, they are notably underutilized as therapeutic modalities. This review highlights all efforts published so far, on the use of plant-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) as therapeutic delivery systems. A summary of the physicochemical characteristics of plant-derived EVs is provided along with their main biological composition and in vitro/in vivo evidence of their therapeutic efficacy provided where available. Despite only a hand full of clinical trials being underway, concerning these vesicles, they arguably possess significant potential as nanodelivery systems of natural origin.

Keywords: cancer treatment; exosome-like vesicles; intercellular communication; nanovesicles.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare the absence of any competing interest of a financial or non-financial nature.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of an exosome released during exocytosis and used as a delivery vesicle for bioactive compounds (which can be added after their isolation).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Typical modification of extracellular vesicles employed as therapeutic nanocarriers, of endemic and/or loaded cargo (a) surface modification, (b) encapsulation, (c) membrane fusion and (d) exosome-coating of nanoparticles (here shown for metal-organic frameworks, loaded with bioactive compounds).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Pan B.T., Johnstone R.M. Fate of the transferrin receptor during maturation of sheep reticulocytes in vitro: Selective externalization of the receptor. Cell. 1983;33:967–978. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90040-5. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Harding S.P.C. Pages 650-658. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1983;113:650–658. doi: 10.1016/0006-291X(83)91776-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rome S. Biological properties of plant-derived extracellular vesicles. Food Funct. 2019;10:529–538. doi: 10.1039/C8FO02295J. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Aryani A., Denecke B. Exosomes as a Nanodelivery System: A Key to the Future of Neuromedicine? Mol. Neurobiol. 2016;53:818–834. doi: 10.1007/s12035-014-9054-5. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akuma P., Okagu O.D., Udenigwe C.C. Naturally Occurring Exosome Vesicles as Potential Delivery Vehicle for Bioactive Compounds. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 2019;3:23. doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2019.00023. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources