Milk exosomes: Nature's abundant nanoplatform for theranostic applications

Abstract

Exosomes are a unique subpopulation of naturally occurring extracellular vesicles which are smaller intracellular membrane nanoparticle vesicles. Exosomes have proven to be excellent nanocarriers for carrying lipids, proteins, mRNAs, non-coding RNAs, and DNAs, and disseminating long-distance intercellular communications in various biological processes. Among various cell-line or biological fluid derived exosomes, milk exosomes are abundant in nature and exhibit many nanocarrier characteristics favorable for theranostic applications. To be an effective delivery carrier for their clinical translation, exosomes must inbuilt loading, release, targeting, and imaging/tracking characteristics. Considering the unmet gaps of milk exosomes in theranostic technology it is essential to focus the current review on drug delivery and imaging applications. This review delineates the efficiency of exosomes to load therapeutic or imaging agents and their successful delivery approaches. It is emphasized on possible modifications of exosomes towards increasing the stability and delivery of agents. This article also summarizes the specific applications and the process of developing milk exosomes as a future pharmaceutical drug delivery vehicle.

Graphical abstract

Highlights

• •

  Milk exosomes are nature's abundant drug delivery carriers.

• •

  These exosomes exhibit superior stability, biocompatibility, half-life, and very low immunogenicity.

• •

  This work describes isolation methods, drug/imaging agents loading, and therapeutic implications of milk exosomes.

• •

  Engineered milk exosomes offer superior theranostic applications.