Novel bioengineering strategies for drug delivery systems

Cellular membrane-derived vesicles (CMVs) have recently attracted attention as a drug delivery system (DDS) because CMVs offer unique advantages, including nanosized particles, superior transcellular cross-communication, excellent biocompatibility, and active targeting ability. However, some challenges remain in the design and production of CMVs, such as their low yield, chemical and mechanical instability, and difficulties in functionalizing membrane surfaces. In this paper, we introduce three strategies to overcome the limitation of CMVs. First, hybrid vesicles combined CMVs from cellular membranes with synthetic liposomes (SLs) offer new engineering solutions to tackle such issues. The membrane fusion of SLs and CMVs can increase their production yield and stability while allowing for the presentation of surface proteins from donor cells. Additional compounds, such as targeted ligands and imaging agents, can be easily integrated into CMVs by using functionalized SLs. Second, core/shell nanostructures composed of synthetic nanoparticles as cores and cell membrane structures as shells can offer unique advantages for improving the stability and preservation of the inherent capabilities of the various nanoparticles in these core/shell nanostructures. Lastly, CMV/scaffold complexes are also a pronounced approach for DDSs because the scaffold structures help CMVs or loaded therapeutic agents to sustained release. The sustainable released system extends the bioavailability of CMVs or loaded therapeutic agents for a long time in vivo. Altogether, we suggest a combination strategy of hybrid vesicle-coated nanoparticles or hybrid vesicle/scaffold complex could be a promising drug delivery system.