Extracellular Vesicle Nanoarchitectonics for Novel Drug Delivery Applications.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) can transfer intercellular messages in various (patho)physiological processes and transport biomolecules to recipient cells. EVs possess the capacity to evade the immune system and remain stable over long periods, identifying them as natural carriers for drugs and biologics. However, the challenges associated with EVs isolation, heterogeneity, coexistence with homologous biomolecules, and lack of site-specific delivery, have impeded their potential. In recent years, the amalgamation of EVs with rationally engineered nanostructures has been proposed for achieving effective drug loading and site-specific delivery. With the advancement of nanotechnology and nanoarchitectonics, different nanostructures with tunable size, shapes, and surface properties can be integrated with EVs for drug loading, target binding, efficient delivery, and therapeutics. Such integration may enable improved cellular targeting and the protection of encapsulated drugs for enhanced and specific delivery to target cells. This review summarizes the recent development of nanostructure amalgamated EVs for drug delivery, therapeutics, and real-time monitoring of disease progression. With a specific focus on the exosomal cargo, diverse drug delivery system, and biomimetic nanostructures based on EVs for selective drug delivery, this review also chronicles the needs and challenges of EV-based biomimetic nanostructures and provides a future outlook on the strategies posed.

Treatment of atherosclerotic plaque: perspectives on theranostics.

OBJECTIVES: Atherosclerosis, a progressive condition characterised by the build-up of plaque due to the accumulation of low-density lipoprotein and fibrous substances in the damaged arteries, is the major underlying pathology of most cardiovascular diseases. Despite the evidence of the efficacy of the present treatments for atherosclerosis, the complex and poorly understood underlying mechanisms of atherosclerosis development and progression have prevented them from reaching their full potential. Novel alternative treatments like usage of nanomedicines and theranostics are gaining attention of the researchers worldwide. This review will briefly discuss the current medications for the disease and explore potential future developments based on theranostics nanomaterials that may help resolve atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. KEY FINDINGS: Various drugs can slow the effects of atherosclerosis. They include hyperlipidaemia medications, anti-platelet drugs, hypertension and hyperglycaemia medications. Most of the theranostic agents developed for atherosclerosis have shown the feasibility of rapid and noninvasive diagnosis, as well as effective and specific treatment in animal models. However, there are still some limitation exist in their structure design, stability, targeting efficacy, toxicity and production, which should be optimized in order to develop clinically acceptable nanoparticle based theronostics for atherosclerosis. SUMMARY: Current medications for atherosclerosis and potential theranostic nanomaterials developed for the disease are discussed in the current review. Further investigations remain to be carried out to achieve clinical translation of theranostic agents for atherosclerosis.