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Tumor Discovery Melanoma exosomes in metastasis

demonstrate superior biocompatibility, increased stability, The ability to fine-tune exosomal cargos and surface
and enhanced uptake by tumor cells, making them properties has also enabled their use in autoimmune and
promising vehicles for precision medicine. Moreover, inflammatory diseases. By engineering exosomes to carry
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exosome-mediated clustered regularly interspaced short anti-inflammatory cytokines (e.g., interleukin-10 and
palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein transforming growth factor-beta) or immunosuppressive
9 (Cas9) gene editing has been explored as a tool to RNAs, researchers have explored their application in
selectively disrupt oncogenic mutations, offering a novel conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis,
therapeutic avenue in melanoma. 89 and inflammatory bowel disease. These modified
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Beyond oncology, engineered exosomes have shown exosomes have shown potential in reducing inflammation,
significant promise in regenerative medicine, particularly modulating immune responses, and promoting tissue
in wound healing, neuroregeneration, and cardiac repair. repair, further expanding their therapeutic scope.
Studies have demonstrated that mesenchymal stem cell- Despite these advancements, several challenges remain
derived exosomes, enriched with growth factors such as in exosome-based therapeutics, including scalability,
vascular endothelial growth factor, transforming growth reproducibility, and regulatory hurdles. The development
factor beta, and insulin-like growth factor 1, accelerate of standardized isolation and purification techniques is
wound closure, angiogenesis, and tissue remodeling, crucial for ensuring the consistency and safety of exosome-
making them attractive candidates for skin regeneration based interventions. In addition, efforts to enhance
and chronic wound therapy. In neurological disorders, exosome targeting specificity and prolong circulation time
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exosomes carrying neurotrophic factors such as brain- are actively being pursued to improve their therapeutic
derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor effectiveness in clinical settings.
have been tested for their potential to promote neuronal The table below summarizes key applications of
survival, axonal growth, and synaptic plasticity, showing engineered exosomes in various therapeutic fields (Table 2).
therapeutic promise in conditions like Alzheimer’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease, and spinal cord injury. 91 5.5. Integration of exosomes with precision
Another growing application of engineered exosomes medicine
is in cardiovascular repair, where exosomes loaded The unique biomarker properties of exosomes have the
with pro-angiogenic miRNAs (miR-21, miR-126, and potential to significantly advance precision medicine,
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miR-199a) have been shown to promote blood vessel particularly in the diagnosis and personalized treatment
formation, reduce ischemic injury, and enhance heart of melanoma. For example, liquid biopsy techniques
function following myocardial infarction. These studies that analyze exosomal miRNA expression profiles can
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suggest that exosome-mediated therapy could offer a novel identify patients at high risk of metastasis, providing
approach to treating ischemic heart disease and other critical insights for the early intervention. Furthermore,
cardiovascular disorders. in the therapeutic realm, engineered exosomes can serve

Table 2. Therapeutic applications of engineered exosomes
Application Modification strategy Therapeutic potential References
Cancer immunotherapy Exosomes carrying tumor-associated antigens Enhances antigen presentation and T-cell activation 85
Immune checkpoint PD-L1-depleted exosomes Improves anti-PD-1 therapy efficacy 86
blockade
Chemotherapy Drug-loaded exosomes (paclitaxel, doxorubicin, and Targeted drug delivery with reduced systemic toxicity 88
cisplatin)
Gene therapy CRISPR/Cas9-loaded exosomes Oncogene editing for precision cancer treatment 89
Wound healing MSC-derived exosomes with growth factors Accelerates tissue repair and reduces scarring 90
Neuroregeneration Exosomes carrying BDNF, NGF, and miR-124 Supports neuronal survival and axonal repair 91
Cardiac repair Exosomes with pro-angiogenic microRNAs (miR-21, Stimulates blood vessel formation and improves heart 92
miR-126) function
Autoimmune diseases Immunomodulatory exosomes enriched in IL-10 Reduces inflammation and modulates immune 93
and TGF-β responses
Abbreviations: BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Cas9: CRISPR-associated protein 9; CRISPR: Clustered regularly interspaced short
palindromic repeats; IL-10: Interleukin-10; miR: MicroRNA; MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell; NGF: Nerve growth factor; PD-L1: Programmed
death-ligand 1; PD-1: Programmed cell death protein 1; TGF-β: transforming growth factor-beta.

Volume 4 Issue 2 (2025) 10 doi: 10.36922/td.7108