Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important mediators of intercellular communication that participate in many physiological/pathological processes. As such, EVs have unique properties related to their origin, which can be exploited for drug delivery applications in cell regeneration, immunosuppression, inflammation, cancer treatment or cardioprotection. Moreover, their cell-like membrane organization facilitates uptake and accumulation in specific tissues and organs, which can be exploited to improve selectivity of cargo delivery. The combination of these properties with the inclusion of drugs or imaging agents can significantly improve therapeutic efficacy and selectivity, reduce the undesirable side effects of drugs or permit earlier diagnosis of diseases. In this review, we will describe the natural properties of EVs isolated from different cell sources and discuss strategies that can be applied to increase the efficacy of targeting drugs or other contents to specific locations. The potential risks associated with the use of EVs will also be addressed.
Keywords: drug delivery; exosomes; extracellular vesicles (EVs); microvesicles; targeting; theranostics; tracking.