Designer exosomes as next-generation cancer immunotherapy.
Exosomes are small 40-120 nm vesicles secreted by nearly all cells and are an important form of intercellular communication. Exosomes are abundant, stable, and highly bioavailable to tissues in vivo. Increasingly, exosomes are being recognized as potential therapeutics as they have the ability to elicit potent cellular responses in vitro and in vivo. Patient-derived exosomes have been employed as a novel cancer immunotherapy in several clinical trials, but at this point lack sufficient efficacy. Still other researchers have focused on modifying the content and function of exosomes in various ways, toward the end-goal of specialized therapeutic exosomes. Here we highlight major advances in the use of exosomes for cancer immunotherapy and exosome bioengineering followed by a discussion of focus areas for future research to generate potent therapeutic exosomes. From the Clinical Editor: Exosomes are small vesicles used by cells for intercellular communication. In this short article, the authors described the current status and the potential use of exosomes in the clinical setting.
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Brandon M
BM
Bell
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
Isabel D
ID
Kirk
Department of Medicine Solna, Translational Immunology Unit, Karolinska Institute/Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden.
Stefanie
S
Hiltbrunner
Department of Medicine Solna, Translational Immunology Unit, Karolinska Institute/Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden.
Susanne
S
Gabrielsson
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA; Department of Medicine Solna, Translational Immunology Unit, Karolinska Institute/Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden. Electronic address: jbultema@uccs.edu.
Jarred J
JJ
Bultema
D000818:Animals; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D015195:Drug Design; D055354:Exosomes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*
D019496:Cancer Vaccines
Bioengineering; Cancer; Dendritic cell; Exosome; Extracellular vesicle; Immunotherapy