Papers, explained in our own words

1. Extracellular vesicles as biomimetic platforms for photo-assisted cancer therapy: evolution from synthetic nanocarriers to engineered therapeutic systems

Beaugé L, Ibarra Le

Photo-assisted therapies have emerged as promising strategies for cancer treatment by combining localized tumor ablation with the induction of systemic antitumor immune responses. Despite encouraging preclinical and clinical advances, their therapeutic efficacy remains limited by the unfavorable pharmacokinetics, poor tumor selectivity, restricted tissue penetration, and off-target toxicity of conventional photosensitizer formulations.

2. Coupling Extracellular Vesicles with Nanomedicine for Precision Theranostics

Kausar T, Ahmed W, Shafiq T, Kausar R, Liang Y, Duan L

Nanomedicine represents one of the pivotal technologies that further bridges critical gaps in precision theranostics through targeted delivery, integrated diagnostics and therapeutics, and personalized treatment. Among various nanocarriers, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have attracted substantial interest owing to their nanoscale dimensions, favorable biocompatibility relative to synthetic counterparts, and innate capacity to transport bioactive cargoes.

3. Macrophage-Based Nanoplatforms for Tumor-Targeted Drug Delivery and Cancer Immunomodulation: Extracellular Vesicles, Membrane-Coated Nanoparticles, and Live Cells

Li X, Yu Y, Xie Y, He P, Chen Y, Guo Z, Et Al.

Macrophages are highly plastic immune cells with tumor-homing capacity and immunomodulatory functions, making macrophage-based nanoplatforms attractive for cancer immunotherapy. Macrophage-based nanoplatforms include macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), macrophage membrane-coated nanoparticles, and live macrophage carriers. The platforms combine the biological properties of macrophages with the advantages offered by nanocarriers to achieve targeted delivery and immune regulation.

4. Genetically Engineered Cell-Derived Nanoparticles for Targeted Breast Cancer Immunotherapy

Xiaojing Shi, Qinqin Cheng, Tianling Hou, Menglu Han, Goar Smbatyan, Julie E. Lang, Alan L. Epstein, Heinz-Josef Lenz, Yong Zhang

Exosomes are nanosized membranous vesicles with unique properties (abundant membrane proteins, high biocompatibility, low immunogenicity) that make them attractive for therapeutic development. While exosomes have been studied as drug delivery vehicles, fewer studies have focused on engineering exosome surface proteins for cancer immunotherapy. A platform enabling genetic display of bispecific antibodies on exosomes could redirect T cells to. ### SMART-Exo Characterisation | Parameter | Result | |---------------|------------| | Size (NTA) | ~109 nm | | Surface scFv per particle | ~1,180 ± 140 molecules | | Yield | 74 μg (5.4 × 10⁹ particles) per 30 mL | |.

5. Targeted si-RNA with liposomes and exosomes (extracellular vesicles): How to unlock the potential

RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics have shown potential for treating genetic, viral, and cancerous diseases, but the main bottleneck remains delivery of functional RNA molecules into the cell cytoplasm. The review focuses on liposomes and other lipid carriers, and on exosomes/extracellular vesicles (EVs), as approaches to overcome siRNA delivery barriers, and proposes integrating these two vesicular systems to unlock RNAi therapeutic potential. Naked siRNA has a plasma half-life of <20 min, small size <10 nm, and is rapidly cleared by glomerular filtration and RES uptake. - GalNAc-siRNA conjugates bind the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGR) at nanomolar.