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Review
. 2024 Feb:85:103067.
doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103067. Epub 2024 Jan 25.

Extracellular vesicles as therapeutics for inflammation and infection

Daniel Levy  1 , Talia J Solomon  1 , Steven M Jay  2
Affiliations
Review

Extracellular vesicles as therapeutics for inflammation and infection

Daniel Levy et al. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2024 Feb.

Abstract

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are an emergent next-generation biotechnology with broad application potential. In particular, immunomodulatory bioactivity of EVs leading to anti-inflammatory effects is well-characterized. Cell source and culture conditions are critical determinants of EV therapeutic efficacy, while augmenting EV anti-inflammatory bioactivity via diverse strategies, including RNA cargo loading and protein surface display, has proven effective. Yet, translational challenges remain. Additionally, the potential of direct antimicrobial EV functionality has only recently emerged but offers the possibility of overcoming drug-resistant bacterial and fungal infections through novel, multifactorial mechanisms. As discussed herein, these application areas are brought together by the potential for synergistic benefit from technological developments related to EV cargo loading and biomanufacturing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:. Schematic of modes of interaction of host cell-derived extracellular vesicles with pathogenic microbes.
Created with BioRender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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