Working toward translation

3/6/2012 11:32:37 AM #

To engineer exosomes/microvesicles as drug delivery vehicles one would like to establish effective means of producing them, of controlling their structure and function, and understanding their circulation and biodistribution in vivo, as well as assessing their ultimate pharmacological, pharmacodynamic and toxicological effects.  

To facilitate harnessing exosomes/microvesicles for  drug delivery/therapeutic purposes over the next five years, it would be interesting to expand the definition of exosome/microvesicle to any sort of cell-derived microvesicle or particle, beyond those that are naturally produced in vivo or in vitro, to any sort of cell-derived, defined microvesicle or particle subpopulation.  Therapeutic exosomes/microvesicles should not be limited to natural entities, but should allow room for artificially produced entities that could be generated by subjecting cells to genetic, chemical, or physical manipulation/disruption.

Gus Rosania | Reply

3/14/2012 6:49:29 AM #

It is feasible right now. animal studies have already shown that microvesicle populations from normal tissue or mesenchymal stem cells can reverse renal or hepatic cell toxicity and can reverse the cancer phenotype. The critical thing will be to define the right populations of vesicles, not a specific "purified vesicle" which will probably not be feasible.
Define the originator tissue and the inducer and we will be on the pathway to possible new therapies.

peter quesenberry | Reply

3/20/2012 4:46:40 AM #

It is already feasible, to a certain extent! Still the capacity to work on specific sub-populations of exosomes will improve this specific type of applications in therapy. It is currently possible to load exosomes with drugs, small molecules and RNA. In a 5 years period, with adequate funding, it is absolutely feasible to bring to clinical development therapeutic approaches based on engineered exosomes.

Antonio Chiesi | Reply