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ABSTRACT
In plant cells, nanoparticles containing miRNA, bioactive lipids and proteins serve as extracellular messengers to mediate cell-cell communication in a manner similar to the exosomes secreted by mammalian cells. Notably, such nanoparticles are edible. Moreover, given the proper origin and cargo, plant derived edible nanoparticles could function in interspecies communication and may serve as natural therapeutics against a variety of diseases. In addition, nanoparticles made of plant-derived lipids may be used to efficiently deliver specific drugs. Plant derived edible nanoparticles could be more easily scaled up for mass production, compared to synthetic nanoparticles. In this review, we discuss recent significant developments pertaining to plant derived edible nanoparticles and provide insight into the use of plants as a bio-renewable, sustainable, diversified platform for the production of therapeutic nanoparticles.
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest
No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.
Funding
This work was supported by grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs (BX002526) and the National Institutes of Health of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney (RO1-DK-071594 to D.M). M. Zhang and E. Viennois are the recipients of a Research Fellowship Award from the Crohn's & Colitics Foudation of America. D. Merlin is a recipient of a Research Career Scientist Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs.