Exosomes: the natural bio-nanomedicine

Document Type : Review article

Authors

1 Department of Histology, , Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

2 24th Year Medical Student, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Nanoparticles are naturally present or engineered particles. They are characterized by their tiny sizes (less than 100 nanometers)
with high surface area to volume ratio. This exclusive minute size gives them many properties that allow them to be broadly
used in different industries like cosmetics, beverages, and food packing. Additionally, they have the capabilities to enter the
mammalian body through ingestion, inhalation, or cutaneous absorption. Besides, they can modify the pharmacokinetics
and pharmacodynamics of the drugs affecting their distribution throughout body tissues. Amongst the nanoparticles, gold
nanoparticles (Au-NPs) are widely used in pacemakers, stents, implants and delivery in medicine, pharmacy, and industry.
As well, they are encouragingly used as a vehicle for chemotherapy. In addition, they can be used to recognize and control
certain microorganisms’ growth and to prepare vaccines for certain diseases. Exosomes are the mini versions of the cells from
which they are released by exocytosis. They can selectively home to different cells and tissues through different mechanisms
introducing their cargoes inside these target cells modifying their behavior and fate. They can be isolated from different cells
like stem cells by different mechanisms. This work was aiming at identifying the advantages and disadvantages of exosomes as
a natural bio-nanomedicine, especially those extracted from stem cells.

Keywords

Journal of Medical Histology
Volume 7, Issue 2
December 2023
Pages 132-143

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