Exosomes have specialized functions and play key roles in physiological and pathological processes. As a result, exosomes show potential for clinical applications in prognosis, diagnosis, drug delivery, and vaccine development. Exosomes can serve as diagnostic biomarkers found in bodily fluids and allow for minimally invasive approaches. They also show promise as drug delivery vehicles due to their biocompatibility, stability, and low toxicity. Additionally, exosomes may function as therapeutic cell-free vaccines by stimulating immune responses against tumors or infections. Stem cell derived exosomes also demonstrate potential in regenerative medicine applications.

1. Exosomes Applications
Exosomes have specialized functions and play a key role in different physiological
processes and pathological conditions. Consequently, exosomes have attracted
increasing attention in their clinical applications for prognosis, diagnosis, drug
delivery, and vaccine development. Here, we give an introduction to the different
clinical applications of exosomes.
Diagnostic Applications
Biomarker — Exosomes released by cells into the bodily fluids display different
protein, lipid, and RNA contents in healthy and patients with different diseases,
indicating that exosomes can be utilized as potential diagnostic and prognostic
markers. Moreover, the collection of exosomes from different samples such as
blood, urine, and saliva represents minimally or non-invasive diagnostic
approaches. Thus, exosomes serve as alternatives to the traditional needle or
excision biopsies due to the reduced patient pain and inconvenience, greater speed,
and lower cost of analysis. It has been demonstrated that they could be used to
determine the onset or progress of multiple diseases, including cancer,
neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, pregnancy, infectious
diseases, etc.
Fig.1 Role of exosomes in different tissues and their potential use in human diseases. (Toro, 2015)

2. Therapeutic Applications
Drug delivery — As natural carriers of signaling molecules, exosomes are
exploited for their potential in therapeutic delivery. After they are loaded with
exogenous cargo molecules, exosomes can attach to target cells by a range of
surface adhesion proteins and vector ligands, and deliver their payload to target
cells. Exosome-based drug formulations may be applied to a wide variety of
disorders such as cancer, various infectious, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative
disorders. Exosomes offer appealing features for drug delivery by providing the
advantages of both synthetic nanocarriers and cell-mediated drug delivery:
• Biocompatibility
• Stability in the circulation
• Biological barrier permeability
• Low immunogenicity and toxicity
Creative Biolabs is specialized in exosome research, from isolation and
characterization to engineering and manufacturing. To help provide well-
characterized functional exosomes loaded with therapeutic cargo, Creative Biolabs
is capable of:
• Production of large amounts of exosomal carriers with high loading capacity;
• Utilization of different approaches for loading of exosomal carriers with
therapeutic cargo;
• Loading of low molecular-weight therapeutics, nucleic acids, and proteins into
exosomes.
• Post-isolation modification and engineering for enhancing therapeutic outcomes.
Fig.2 Bioengineered exosomes for targeted drug delivery. (Barile, 2017)

3. Vaccine Development
Therapeutic cell-free vaccine — Beyond the scope of drug delivery, exosomes
may also function as therapeutic cell-free vaccines, which are antigenic substances
that induce the immunological rejection of established tumors via the expansion of
the cytotoxic T lymphocyte repertoire and revitalization of tumor-reactive
quiescent T cells. In brief, exosomes loaded with tumor peptides can stimulate the
immune system to eliminate tumor cells and are, therefore, evaluated for their
potential to be used as a cell-free vaccine. This is a rapidly growing area of
oncological drug development. For instance, Dendritic cell-derived exosomes
(Dex) have received much attention as immunotherapeutic anticancer agents.
Besides, studies have reported the potential use of exosomes as vaccines against
infectious diseases.
Fig.3
Dex interactions with immune cells. (Pitt, 2014)
Stem Cell-derived Exosomes
Exosomes have been identified and separated from different stem cells such as
mesenchymal stromal (MSC), bone marrow mononuclear stem cells (BM-MNC),
and neural stem cells (NSCs). Some studies showed that they may exert wound
healing and tissue repair in various physiological systems, thus providing a
promising therapeutic strategy in the field of regenerative medicine.

4. Fig 4.
Multiple sources of stem cells, stress-preconditioned cells and gene-modified cells can yield cardio-protective
exosomes. (Ailawad,2015)
Creative Biolabs is the leader in the exosome research filed, having accumulated
extensive, unparalleled expertise related to the isolation and characterization of
exosomes, as well as profiling and engineering of exosomal contents. Through our
novel exosome-based approach, we can help exploit the power of exosomes and
effectively harness their potential clinical applications. Please feel free to contact
us if you want to learn more about out exosome-related services.
References:
1. Toro, J.D.; et al. Emerging roles of exosomes in normal and pathological conditions: new
insights for diagnosis and therapeutic applications. Frontiers in Immunology. 2015, 6:203.
2. Barile, L.; Vassalli, G. Exosomes: therapy delivery tools and biomarkers of
diseases. Pharmacology & therapeutics.2017, 174: 63-78.
3. Pitt, J.M.; et al. Dendritic cell-derived exosomes as immunotherapies in the fight against
cancer. Journal of Immunology. 2014, 193(3):1006-1011.
4. Ailawadi, S., et al. Pathologic function and therapeutic potential of exosomes in cardiovascular
disease. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease. 2015, 1852(1):1-
11.