Fig. 3

Exosome therapeutics session. Exosomes, the smallest (30–150 nm) type of cell-derived extracellular vesicles, are present in all body fluids and serve as carriers of information across the body in both health and disease. This session focused on the emerging role of exosomes, in particular how they can be harnessed for both diagnostic and targeted drug delivery applications. a Dr. Richard Kraig reported that interferon gamma (IFN)-stimulated dendritic cells (SDCs) release SDC-derived exosomes (SDC-exos) containing specific miRNAs which promote myelination and reduce oxidative stress when administered to brain slice cultures. Image courtesy of Dr. Kraig. b Dr. Anastasia Khvorova and coworkers are examining the surface lipid and protein composition of EV membranes (left image modified from [108]) through high content proteomics and lipidomics analysis to better understand how these elements contribute to EV function. Right image courtesy of Dr. Khvorova. c Dr. Huang Ge Zhang described a novel approach for grapefruit derived nanovector (GNV)-mediated intranasal delivery of RNA in general and therapeutic miR17 specifically to brain tumor cells as a proof of concept. miR17-mediated downregulation of MHC1 expressed on tumor cells leads to activation of Natural Killer (NK) cells and targeting of tumor cells. Image courtesy of Dr. Zhang. d Dr. Dimitrios Kapogiannis and coworkers developed a method for enriching peripheral blood EVs of neuronal origin using L1 cell adhesion molecule (L1CAM) immunoprecipitation. In case-controlled studies, L1CAM + EVs showed diagnostic differences for AD, and perhaps fronto-temporal dementia, multiple sclerosis, and TBI. Image courtesy of Dr. Kapogiannis. e By using EVs as the “body’s antigen delivery system” for targeting a novel prodrug 6-chloro-9-nitro-5-oxo-5H-benzo(a)phenoxazine (CNOB)/ChrR6 regimen specifically to HER2 positive cancer, the cytotoxic product of this regimen, 9-Amino-6-chloro-5H-benzo(a)phenoxazine-5-one (MCHB), can be visualized noninvasively in living mice. Image reprinted with permission from [58]