Exosome and Polymersome for Potential Theranostic Applications

Abstract

Nano-sized systems have been used extensively for the delivery of various therapeutics, such as pharmaceuticals, proteins, and nucleic acids. Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles secreted from parent cells by fusion of multivesicular late endosomes with the plasma membrane, which act as an intercellular communication mediator and contain bioactive molecules. Thus, exosomes may possess potential as a natural delivery system. Polymersomes are synthetic vesicles composed of external bilayers, typically generated from amphiphilic block copolymers, which resemble many aspects of exosomes and have been utilized widely in many drug delivery applications. In this review, general properties of exosomes and polymersomes and their recent applications in the drug delivery areas and potential in theranostic approaches are discussed.