What Are Exosomes?
Exosomes are nanosized extracellular vesicles that serve as an intercellular communication system. Exosomes can be found in all tissues and biological fluids and can transport, protect and deliver biologically active molecules or cargo that have the ability to alter the function of recipient cells. Exosomes are highly concentrated with just one milliliter of solution having as many as 1 billion to 15 billion exosomes.
Exosomes act as messengers to regulate the functions of neighboring cells. Preclinical research has shown that exosomes can direct, or in some cases, re-direct cellular activity. Their size, ease of crossing cell membranes and ability to communicate in native cellular language make them an exciting, emerging class of potential therapeutic agents. Additionally, because exosomes are cell-free, they can be stored, handled, reconstituted and administered similarly to common biopharmaceutical products such as antibodies.