Exosome-based therapeutics: Advancing drug delivery for neurodegenerative diseases

Neurodegenerative disorders include Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, cause gradual neuronal loss, protein misfolding, and accumulation, resulting in severe cognitive and movement deficits. Despite substantial study, therapeutic interventions are hampered by the blood-brain barrier, which prevents medication distribution to the central nervous system. Traditional pharmaceutical methods, such as small compounds, peptides, and inhibitors, have shown minimal effectiveness in addressing this obstacle. Exosomes are nanoscale membrane-bound vesicles that are primarily engaged in intercellular communication. They have the inherent capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier, which allows them to be used as medication delivery vehicles for brain illness therapy. Exosomes may be derived from a variety of cells like microglia, astrocytes identified according to origin, increasing their flexibility as drug delivery vehicles. Advanced engineering approaches optimise exosomes for tailored distribution across the blood-brain barrier, paving the path for novel neurodegenerative disease treatments. This review discusses the promise of exosome-based drug delivery, focussing on their composition, biogenesis, engineering, and applications in treating central nervous system illnesses, eventually overcoming the unmet hurdles of crossing the blood-brain barrier.