Role of exosomes and its emerging therapeutic applications in the pathophysiology of non-infectious diseases

ABSTRACT

Exosomes are a type of small extracellular vesicles (EVs) which play a crucial role in various diseases. These micro molecules have a macro impact in the pathophysiology of non-infectious diseases. Exosomes involvement in the different diseases has been studied as they regulate intercellular communications and can be derived from various sources. Exosomes role is complicated as they not only promote pathogenesis but also act as a suitable therapeutic agent in most diseases. The presence of a complex molecular cargo consisting of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, miRNA, siRNA, etc.,) renders it a very effective delivery molecule, which acts as a biomarker for many non-infectious diseases like cancers, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. They can be used to selectively target cells and activate immune cell responses depending on the source from which they are isolated. Currently, exosomes based immunotherapy is an area gaining importance due to the proteins present in them and their specificity to target cells. This review discusses in detail on the role of exosomes in the diagnosis and treatment of non-infectious diseases.

Keywords:

• Exosomes
• intercellular communication
• miRNA
• cancer
• cardiovascular diseases
• neurodegenerative diseases

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.