Clinical Potential of Extracellular Vesicles
- Submission status
- Closed
- Submission deadline
Extracellular vesicles transport a range of biomolecules, including nucleic acids and proteins, within a lipid bilayer. They are able to mediate communication with recipient cells through mechanisms such as surface receptor interaction, membrane fusion and receptor-mediated endocytosis. These properties make them suitable candidates for therapy delivery. They have the potential to overcome several limitations associated with common drug delivery methods, as they are highly biocompatible and can cross the blood brain barrier. Additionally, they are potentially useful in diagnosis, as they can be harvested and their contents analysed and used to assess biomarker levels. Though the application of extracellular vesicles, including exosomes, is a growing area of research, further knowledge is required to maximise their clinical potential and overcome key challenges in the processes of their isolation and purification.
This Collection will present studies that demonstrate the clinical utility of extracellular vesicles, increase our understanding of the mechanisms through which they act, or describe new methods for their isolation, characterisation and loading.
Editors
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Marina Cretich
National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Italy
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Leyla Esfandiari
University of Cincinnati, USA
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Chioma Okeoma
New York Medical College, USA
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Eliana B. Souto
University of Porto, Portugal
Marina Cretich is a Senior Principal Scientist at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR). Her research lies at the crossroads of chemistry and biology and focuses on cutting-edge biomolecular tools and techniques for biosensing, diagnostics, and health monitoring. Ongoing projects include the development and validation of new technological platforms for isolation and analysis of extracellular vesicles in clinically relevant applications. Dr. Cretich has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2022.
Leyla Esfandiari is an Associate Professor at University of Cincinnati, USA. The overarching theme of her research is to develop novel bioanalytical tools and microfabricated devices with the main focus to foster the fundamental understanding of cell-cell communication via small extracellular vesicles (exosomes) in regenerative medicine, cancer progression, and degenerative diseases. Dr Esfandiari has been an Editorial Board Member of Scientific Reports since 2023.
Chioma M. Okeoma is a Professor and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, & Immunology at New York Medical College (NYMC) Valhalla, NY, and a fellow at Lovelace Biomedical Institute Albuquerque, NM. Dr. Okeoma’s vast expertise in cutting-edge research focuses on understanding the biology and functions of extracellular particles, including extracellular vesicles (EVs) and extracellular condensates (ECs). She studies how EVs and ECs regulate host responses to drug abuse, cancer, and viral infections such as HIV. She is also focused on developing tools to facilitate/aid research in the field of extracellular condensates. Dr. Okeoma has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2018.
Eliana B. Souto is a Habil. Professor in Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Portugal. Her work is focused on the design, development, and characterization of new drug delivery systems for the controlled delivery of drugs across biological barriers, with especial emphasis for ocular, brain and skin administration. Prof. Souto acts as intellectual property technical consultant in pharmaceutical technology and nanotechnology and has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2022.
