The potential role of extracellular vesicles in bioactive compound-based therapy: A review of recent developments

Abstract

Recent studies have explored the field of extracellular vesicles (EVs), driving an increasing interest in their application to human health. EVs have unique physicochemical traits to participate in intercellular communication, thus fostering the idea of using EVs to yield synergistic, preventive, and therapeutic effects. Many reports have shown that EVs contain natural bioactive compounds, such as lipids, proteins, RNA, and other active components that regulate biological processes, thereby contributing to human health. Therefore, in this review, we comprehensively elucidate various facets of the relationship between EVs and bioactive compounds that modulate EVs contents, including RNAs and proteins, discussing different forms of biological regulation. The use of EVs for cargo-loading bioactive compounds to exert biological functions and methods to load bioactive compounds into EVs are also discussed. This review highlighted the effect of EV-delivered bioactive compounds on several therapeutic mechanisms and applications, providing new insight into nutrition and pharmacology.

Keywords:

• Bioactive compound
• biotherapeutic
• extracellular vesicles
• nutrition

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The work was financed by the Fundamental and Applied Basic Research Fund for Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangzhou (grant number 202002030383), the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Lingnan Specialty Food Science and Technology (grant number 2021B1212040013), The Key Fundamental and Applied Basic Research Fund of Jiangmen City (grant number 2021030103330007214) and Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2020-030365-I).