Research Progress of Exosomes as Drug Delivery Carriers

Exosomes are nanoscale lipid bilayer vesicles actively secreted by cells.Different biological components such as proteins, lipids and nucleic acids are encapsulated in the cavity or lipid bilayer of exosomes.Exosomes exhibit low immunogenicity, high physicochemical stability, high tissue penetration ability, and innate transport ability, so they are expected to become a new class of drug delivery carriers.The research on exosomes as drug delivery carriers has seen significant progress.The novel methods for isolating exosomes and improving their drug loading and delivery efficiency are constantly emerging.However, there are still many difficulties restricting the clinical application of exosomes.This article reviews the research progress of exosomes as drug delivery carriers, analyzes the technical difficulties in the large-scale production and purification of exosomes, and summarizes the regulatory concerns for the use of exosomes in drug delivery.