Research Progress of Extracellular Vesicles-Loaded Microneedle Technology

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanotechnology
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Microneedles (MNs) are painless, minimally invasive tools for drug delivery, vaccination, and sample extraction.
• Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are natural nanovesicles with therapeutic potential, low immunogenicity, and cell-specific markers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the advancements in using EV-loaded MNs for tissue regenerative repair.
• To explore the extraction of EVs using MNs for diagnostic and prognostic applications.
• To forecast future research directions in EV-based regenerative medicine.

Main Methods:

• Literature review synthesizing current research on MNs and EVs.
• Analysis of EV-loaded MN applications in various tissue repair models.
• Examination of EV extraction techniques using MNs for diagnostics.

Main Results:

• EV-loaded MNs demonstrate efficacy in treating conditions like tendinopathy, hair loss, spinal cord injury, and diabetic ulcers.
• MNs facilitate targeted delivery and enhanced concentration of EVs at injury sites.
• MNs are effective in extracting EVs from biological fluids for diagnostic purposes.

Conclusions:

• EV-loaded MNs represent a promising platform for regenerative repair across multiple tissue types.
• The dual application of MNs for EV delivery and extraction offers significant potential in both therapy and diagnostics.
• Further research is needed to optimize EV-MN systems for clinical translation.